Paul Paterson

I grow those wee beasties too, usually in 12 litre pots. Successfully grown five now, I got slightly carried away.

Here's one getting some sunshine before being fed and watered

I'm hoping to encourage some birds into my empty field in the future but have my concerns, might try fence off a small area for the birds to land and eat in safety from the cats.

Hi folks,

I came across this while trawling through the internet which I found quite interesting, maybe others will too.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35945417

I hadn't heard of the book or author until finding this article. Its amazing how some things change and some stay the same. The issues highlighted about reliance on fossil fuels/ industrial environmental damage, we are still in the same position today if not worse.

Anyone from the UK might remember the sitcom mentioned "A good Life" which the book was thought to have inspired, I was only a kid when this was out but I still remember it being quite funny with the two contrasting households.

Looking good so far, I'm hoping to grow some peppers and chilli peppers myself soon. Those should give you plenty to experiment with recipes. The Florida sunshine must be great for peppers?

I was reading about slugs and other garden pests  the other day and came across this which might help with the root knot nematodes problem

https://tendergardener.com/how-to-control-nematodes-organically/

Good luck

Hi Triguna

I'm still trying to soak up all the science/information around organic growing myself.

My experience comes from working as a chef and working with lots of mass produced mono culture type farm produce over the years.

One of the chefs I worked with when starting out used to complain about how things didn't taste as good from when he was younger and I used to think it was hearsay so to speak but there seems to be more and more evidence that fruit and veg grown today has less flavour/nutrients compared to decades ago due to soil depletion and agricultural processes that increase crop yields but disturb soil health (such as irrigation, fertilisation, and harvesting methods that also disrupt the interactions between plants and soil fungi, which reduces absorption of nutrients from the soil.

I haven't tried this out yet but going to give it a go this year hopefully once I move and start growing things.

Seems like an easy organic liquid fertisier to make up.

https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/expert-advice/garden-management/soil/comfrey

Thanks again everyone for the tips 👍

Had a look through your blog Nancy, great stuff, Skye looks like it brings a few challanges to growing things.

I had considered Skye and the Shetlands (Island of Yell) and a couple other little islands when looking for a piece of land, was very tempted, the scenery is amazing . My solicitor thought i was mad I think.

John - Yeah I will definitely have a good look through and maybe try put up some nests/bird boxs elsewhere to try and encourage them away.

Ara - Getting a rash was a concern, I'll make sure I am well covered before getting stuck in.

I'll have to start a little blog soon, I dont want to highjack this thread

Thanks Alina and Joylynn, for the tips.

lasagna-style garden is definitely on my to do list - hopefully I will be able to get some bails of hay from a local farmer to start layering.

I just happened to stumble across a good video on youtube earlier about fungi for improving soil by a very cool Japanese organic gardener called Yoshida Toshimichi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvHJKqU-mZo&t=1385s

Thanks for the Ivy link, I think the roof might be used by some birds in the area to nest and as a source of food, I will have to give it some thought on how to tackle it with minimum impact on them.

Thanks again👍

Good luck everyone!

Im just starting on the self sufficiency road so only time will tell what this year will bring.

I bought an old dilapidated croft house with 2 acres in the Scottish Highlands a few months ago and have been tidying up all the rubbish etc to get ready for this year.

Its not been used for about 10 years a neighbour mentioned and from what I can make it was used as a party weekend destination for who ever stayed there.

The previous owner clearly liked their booze there was loads of smashed glass bottles, drink cans, suspicious medication tubs all over the place, tattoing stuff.

They must have decided to have a massive bonfire with all their belongings at some point, there was a big pile of half burnt stuff.... bedding/clothes/batteries everything, loads of junk metal through the soil.

I'm not living there yet, still clearning out some belongings but hope to be up there by end of Feb full time with my five cats

Then the real work begins!

This year I hope to get a lot of trees planted as it just a bare field sadly, and try and attract some birds to the area and also some flowers for the bee's - two easy things to get started.

I'm not sure what condition the soil is in, so will have to investigate and see what I can grow veg wise.

I would be happy with some basic veggies  like potatoes /leeks / broccoli /cabbage for my first year, oh and some cat "grass" for the kitties to run about daft in.

Got a wee bit of Ivy clearling to do also

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/AEdFTp58ETipi1ePC7knzXCSMz1tV38dkxACJkUH980T=s288-p-no

profile pic test

Your process is correct hmmm

I work as a chef and made a few variations depending on whats to hand etc at the time over the years, but tend to use the same method as you are... making a basic white mother sauce.

I have used a few different types of flour over the years doesnt tend to make alot of difference taste wise I would say.

The main thing I can think might have happened if over cooking the roux to high or too long?

Try a low heat for the roux and as soon as the mix has combined slowly add the milk.

Taste wise the main thing is the cheese and as much pepper as you can handle obviously, a white sauce is tasteless on its own

Its the cheese that makes or breaks a sauce

I got sent back to an old hotel to train some chefs to make cheese sauce a few years ago as there where complaints since I left which was odd as the chefs knew what they where doing.....turns out the boss had changed the cheese they where buying to a cheaper one with basically no taste, it was like plastic bleh.