2015 – Page 2 – Sustainable Life Birmingham

Reducing Waste – Handkerchiefs & Flannels

Waste is a big problem today, let’s face it – we really can’t buy anything these days without producing a lot of waste. In many areas much of this waste is non-recyclable including many plastics. One thing I want to cut down on in aid of waste reduction and to help avoid adding to deforestation is the Humble toilet roll.

In my home we use toilet roll for many things but mainly for blowing noses and toileting. In fact we get through quite a lot! In order to reduce this and cut down on our shopping bills we invested in two things, Handerchiefs and Flannels.

Switch Toilet Roll with Handkerchiefs

I purchased 12 Handerkerchiefs – enough to see me through the week and a bit more just in case I have a bad washing week! One handerkerchief a day for me to blow my nose on throughout the day should I need to. I bought patterned ones NOT plain, as with a one sided patterned handkerchief I could always make sure I folded it correctly every time and always blow my nose on the same side. This is quite important if you want to contain your snot not spread it around!

Switch Toilet Roll with Flannels

A damp flannel when toileting is kinder on the bum and a more thorough clean! The only downside is the sheer amount of flannels you can go through if you want to avoid handwashing and reusing throughout the day (I sure do). Stock up on as many as possible, if you have other people in your household get a small range of colours so everyone has thier own coloured flannels and no one has to feel unsure about whether or not a flannel has been used by someone else. Also invest in a seperate flannel hamper to dispose of the flannels after every use until they are washed. We are giving this one a go this week, so I’ll update this with further information as it arises.

Borage

Name: Borage

Location: Grassy areas, plots, gardens, forest floors

Months: All Year Round

Edible Parts: Flowers, Leaves

WARNING: Not to be confused with Foxglove and Comfrey.
Foxglove – feel the leaves, are they soft and fur like? If so then you probably found foxglove before it flowered which is poisonous.
Comfrey – Flowers are purple instead of blue. Comfrey is the perrenial version of borage which is annual.

Borage works much like Comfrey in the compost bin as a brilliant plant stimulant for leafy growth. However, it is also considered an edible herb with tasty crisp leaves (if a bit furry). Some report they taste liek cucumber but I am less convinced. The flowers are also edible and as such make a brilliant garnish and addition to salad mixes.

Collected leaves and flowers from the borage plants on my allotment. Many garden shops now sell borage seeds to grow yourself and they excellent plants for attracting bees.

Borage leaves and flowers used to boost the contents and appearance of Elderflower cordial. I found that in this mixture the leaves slowly turn neon pink from the tips inward creating a pleasing and pretty drink garnish.

How to Make Camomile Tea

Ingredients

Camomile Flowers

Method

Pick the flowers whole and leaves to soak in cold water. Change the water to ensure no soil or bugs remain. Leave to soak for a couple of hours and then dry out using a dehydrater or oven on a low setting.

Pack into a clean dry container such as a glass jar. Your camomile is now preserved!

To brew the tea simply add a few flower heads into your cup of boiled water and leave to stew for a few minutes.

Camomile

What at first glance looks like a barren field with a few daisies actually turns out to be a little field full of camomile.

Name: Camomile

Location: Grassy areas

Months: April, May, June July

Edible Parts: Flowers

They look like tall slender daisies with feathery leaves. The yellow center is bulbous and smells strongly of camomile. Smell some camomile tea if you are unsure of what that smells like! The smell is very distinctive and unmistakable.

Make your Own Chicken Nest Boxes

It’s easy to make your own chicken nest boxes out of almost anything. If you have a place that’s sheltered from wind and rain for your chickens, like a roofed run or polytunnel then you don’t need to spend a fortune on nest boxes or hutches. Assuming you already have a hutch where the hcickens will sleep, you can pop nest boxes anywhere off the ground and almost any box type object will do. If you have a broody hen, you can suddenly find yourself without the use of a selection of nest boxes and a hutch and these extra nest boxes may be just what you need in a hurry.

What makes a good nest box?

dark
no breezey gaps – fully sheltered from the wind (unless you don’t want any broodies but we like to encourage ours to go broody)
non slippy surface Or straw for grip if it is a bit slippy
Removable top so you can extract broody hens if you need to relocate them.
Easy access for the chickens and for you when you collect eggs
Dry/waterproof
Big enough for your chickens but small enough to be “safe” feeling. Bantams require very little space, but medium and large fowl will need at least 25cm high and as wide/long as possible. Larger is better because it will be too late to change the nest box if you find your chickens are a bit awkward trying to get in and out.

Wooden Boxes
Can be costly or require specific and accurate tools to construct properly. Wood may be purchased or salvaged but salvaged wood will be harder to turn into nest boxes.

Metal Buckets

Can be costly if purchased. Will require stableising on the bottom. Metal can get too hot or too cold with british weather.

Plastic Tubs

Can be costly depeding on wher eyou shop. Can be easily salvaged from skips and require little modification. Can be too bright – will need a coat of paint.

My Nest Boxes

I chose plastic tubs from the shop for my nest boxes. I measured up the space I had on the top of the main hutch and got appropriately sized tubs for £5 each. Then I cut a hole in the front of the the tub (one of the shortest sides) big enough so a chicken could comfortably get through (I have large fowl so this required some testing). Then painted the outside to block light coming in and let it dry. Add a bit of straw, place somewhere sheltered and viola, chickens are very happy with thier new choice of nest boxes.

If they look a bit confused, pop an egg into each one and sit the chickens next to the boxes so they can see. They will soon work it out!

WIP What the Allotment Looks Like So Far

As the allotment continues to change and develop these plans will be updated so check back to see that latest developments every so often.

last updated: 23/06/2015

Straw Bale Planting

There are many reasons why you would want to go down the route of planting on straw bales. My reasons are as follows:

I don’t have to bend down to reach the plants. (also very helpful idea for elderly/disabled/bad backs)
I don’t have to do any digging in that area (my plot is full of brambles and tree roots so this is a bit of a relief to cut down on as much digging required as possible)
The plants I am choosing for the straw bales are Squash and Pumpkins. These large heavy fruit will be easily kept away from the ground, supported by the bales, and stay dry and in good condition in whatever weather.
At just £3 per bale of straw, it’s cheaper than compost and as it breaks down natural goodness is still released!

Make sure you get your straw bales put into your chosen position in advance of plating out. You don’t want to plant your seedling directly into the straw bale as soon as you set it on the ground. I recommend a minimum of 15 days with the straw bales “out in the elements” and to make sure you visit them regularly and soak them in water whenever you can.

You do not need to add extra compost and nitrogen fluid but it does help if you can do so. I intend to use chicken manure saturated water on the bales to soak them in extra nutrients before planting.

In addition to this, think about what plants you are going to have near it. I chose a row of Borage right next to the straw bales. I waited for them to get big enough to not be bothered about the shade, this is a big hardy plant that is useful in many ways. In addition, Borage is reported to be a good companion plant for almost anything but in particular squash and strawberries. The straw bales on my plot are destined to have squash and pumpkins on them and in addition I have strawberries filling my fruit bush and raspberry bush area which is right next to the bales. This therefore seems like a match made in heaven!

Why is Borage Useful?

Companion plant for most plants. Strawberries – increases yield and improves flavour
Deters tomato hornworms and cabbage worms
One of the best bee and wasp attracting plant
Adds trace minerals to the soil and improves compost
Increases resistance to pests and disease for any plants next to it
Perrenial – plant once and never worry about it again
Flowers are edible!

To plant the borage, I dug a long trench alongside the straw bales, and then placed the borage evenly along it.

Remember the Pop Bottles?

On Day 3 of going over the allotment to prepare it for cultivation, we made a small handy pop bottle structure for planting along the fence by the pathway. This is known by many as vertical growing.

We didn’t plant anything at this time – it was totally out of season, but now I have a bunch of Spinach seedlings with no home and I decided this would be a great spot for them.

It’s important to note that I do not know if spinach really will be okay in these bottles. It’s shallow, its warm and it’s dense. However, I gave a handful of seedlings to my partner Alan for his standard allotment so I know either way I will still have Spinach on the table.

I added a handful of fresh compost to each of the bottles and planted a spinach seedling in each one. Then I watered it heavily and stood back to admire my handiwork. I will keep you updated how well this goes.. Just check out our sustainable life facebook page for allotment updates.

How to Preserve Carrots

There are two main ways to Store carrots for future use out of season and both are pretty good. Carrots are one of those wonderful vegetables that just keep on giving.

Method One

Store the carrots in soil or sand.
– Storing in the ground may not be wise, as slugs and other critters will gobble them up. However, if you planted them in a tub you can simply keep them in there above ground and they will last and last as fresh as they ever have been! If you need to uproot them, store them in sand to have the same desired effect.

Method Two

Store them in brine (salt water).
– Use a mixture of salt and water ( as below) to store these carrots by lacto-fermentation. I use this second method when it’s carrot planting season again so I can store the leftover carrots for even longer while I grow more.

Ingredients

Water (2 cups)
Salt (2 tablespoons) – You can source this from the sea to avoid extra expense! See our post on making salt for more info.
Carrots!

Method

Gently dissolve the salt in the water on a low heat and allow mixture to cool.

Peel and chop the carrots into sticks that fit easily into your jars.

Fill each jar with carrots and pour the liquid into the jar so that it is full. Shake or tap the jar a little to remove trapped bubbles of air.

Leave for a few weeks and monitor the pressure build up in each jar. Let the air escape every so often for the first few weeks.

Ready to eat raw or steamed and packed full of flavour and probiotic goodness!

Re-use old Seeds

Some seeds are healthy and bursting full of flavour – just add water! This week we had a big clearout of some of our older seed packets. These can become unreliable or you may just have decided that these seeds weren’t a great turnout for you and they have been phased out.

Check to see if the seeds can be sprouted or turned into micro-greens and use them up as part of your all year round salad.

To sprout seeds:

Place in a clean jar full of water overnight.
Empty the water out and leave in the jar on a windowsill
Rinse with water every day until sprouted
Ready to eat!

To grow Microgreens follow our handy tips on making juice box seedling containers.