Musings from a Stonehead | Tag Archive | Frugal Living, Sustainable Living & Self Sufficiency

Tag Archives: Frugal Living, Sustainable Living & Self Sufficiency

Planting tatties at last

3 May, 2010 by Stonehead 1 Comment

We finally started planting tatties today, having been delayed by prolonged snow, frozen ground, sodden ground following the thaw and a broken rotavator. The ideal planting time would be mid-April, but we keep a few weeks grace up our sleeve. The main thing is to allow the main crop potatoes to have had at least […]

Crofting, Farming & Smallholding

Frugal Living, Sustainable Living & Self Sufficiency, hoe, planting, plough, potato, potatoes, tatties

In rain and wind

2 May, 2010 by Stonehead 0 Comments

There have been days when the sun was shining, the wind had died away and the temperature was into low double figures. Perfect conditions for working the tattie field–except the ground was too wet and would have been churned into slop by the rotavator. Today, the ground was sufficiently dry to use the rotavator to […]

Crofting, Farming & Smallholding

Frugal Living, Sustainable Living & Self Sufficiency, potatoes, rotavator, tatties, Weather

The Stonehead key

5 January, 2010 by Stonehead 3 Comments

How does a Stonehead unlock a door? With a gas torch, of course. Snow and meltwater often find their way into hinges, hasps, bolts and the spaces between doors and their jambs. When overnight temperatures dip to -10C or lower, the result is firmly secured doors that no amount of levering can force open—or at […]

Crofting, Farming & Smallholding

Daily life, Frugal Living, Sustainable Living & Self Sufficiency, Weather, winter

Storing neeps

5 October, 2009 by Stonehead 1 Comment

There’s much more to storing neeps (aka swedes or rutabagas) than tipping them into a tub and leaving them in a dark place until needed. Neeps need a cold and very damp environment to prevent them from dehydrating, which leaves them shrivelled and flabby. Ideally, they should be stored in the dark, in temperatures of […]

Frugal Living, Sustainable Living & Self Sufficiency, Vegetables

Frugal Living, Sustainable Living & Self Sufficiency, Gardening, NEEPS, rutabagas, swedes, Vegetables

Storing root vegetables

25 September, 2009 by Stonehead 5 Comments

As well as freezing, pickling and preserving fruit and vegetables, we also store some crops as is. Most root vegetables can be stored in clamps—layered between straw with soil heaped over the top—or in boxes that replicate the effect of clamps by keeping the vegetable cool, slightly damp and away from the air. We used […]

Frugal Living, Sustainable Living & Self Sufficiency, Vegetables

beetroot, Frugal Living, Sustainable Living & Self Sufficiency, Gardening, roots, Vegetables

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