There are a few rules, do’s and don’ts to making compost in this way, so I thought I would start with one bin (of the 2 I have) to test how it would go and if it would go well, I will start to use the other one too. I have been using it for
Besides being totally adorable and super cute looking, hedgehogs are really useful animals to have in your garden. Especially because they eat a lot of snails and slugs who can’t eat your vegetables anymore! But did you know hedgehogs are on the endangered species list? The hedgehogs are struggling and their numbers have gone down
Domes are such an ideal use of space in the garden, providing heaps of ground area as well as protected height if you need it. My reason for building this dome is probably obvious: to prevent the larger critters from stealing my vegetables and fruit…I grow produce for myself, not for them! At my place,
In case you missed it, late last year I released an introductory video about the Prong garden tool on my YouTube Channel and this blog post is a follow-up of that… What wasn’t mentioned in the video was the fact that the inventor of this simple yet clever and tough tool design is a man
Humans fermenting food to change/improve the taste, preserve it, or make it healthier is not a 1000 years old… it's more like 1000's of years old. Indeed, over 2000 years ago Jesus would have eaten his fair share of olives. These delicious fruits would have been fermented in brine for several months to remove the
Freshly ground spices are heavenly for those of us who are true connoisseurs of good healthy homemade food and the best way to grind up your own homegrown spices is by using a good electric spice grinder. Now, you could buy an expensive grinding mill but a small coffee and spice grinder will generally do a
With the popularity of raised bed gardening growing faster than weeds in a newly tilled patch so too is the growing array of materials available to build them. And, gabion raised garden beds is the latest material/method I've come across that has now entered the market as an alternative to the old wooden style sleeper
Before I get into other points of interest regarding cat runs and enclosures, we'll first detail our own build so that those who are visiting this article after watching my How to build a cat run video on YouTube can read the relevant information they are after. If you haven't seen the video you can
Cooking over a flame grill BBQ on your very own homemade fire pit in the backyard for family and friends is something special indeed. Thankfully, these days there are lots of different grill plate options to choose from off the shelf for reasonable prices without having to weld your own purpose-built mechanical cooking monstrosity! When I was a
Kogan's Certa Garden Greenhouse (3m x 2m) for around $130 seems like a great buy. These types of inexpensive "portable" greenhouses have been around for a long time now and are becoming very popular in the USA. The quality of the materials used in these types of products is improving each year and the prices are
I ended up buying a Harvest Fiesta 5L fermentation crock (also called a Decorative crock) but there are several good brands to choose from and this just happened to be my personal pick when I was searching at the time. I based my decision to buy this particular fermentation crock on where the product was actually manufactured,
New Zealand based lifestyle magazine NZ Life & Leisure (In Your Backyard) has included our firepit design in their latest release! Emma, the Magazine's Editor, contacted me several weeks ago requesting the use of our firepit design images and the steps to make it. Naturally, I had no problem sharing this information with such a top
I've literally only had my Pickle Pipes for 3 days and they're working for me already by helping me lacto ferment some organic, heirloom, homegrown rainbow carrots. How these silicone fermentation airlocks perform over the next several weeks will determine whether I decide to purchase more Pickle Pipes or not. Fermenting rainbow carrots (image above)
Article updated on 15 Nov 2017 – I'm a keen food plant gardener and usually prefer to plant fruiting and other food crops in lieu of ornamentals; however, there are times and places in the garden where ornamentals are necessary and food crops just wouldn't be appropriate. Today, I planted 50 Arthropodium Matapouri Bay plants, which
Preserving jars (the really good ones) are expensive to buy; however, if you keep an eye out you can still find excellent quality preserving jars for "free" scavenged from products we use. The pic (above) shows this free jar in action used to preserve cucumber, Jerusalem artichoke root, and mustard stems Now, most standard jars
If you are not saving seeds for your food garden and prefer to buy seeds or seedlings as you require then you may need to rethink your growing strategy… In a food crisis the first things to fly off the shelf are the fresh and packaged food goods then after that it's all the seeds
Besides bringing that camping feeling to your backyard, having a fire pit can unleash many other positives. In this article, I want to chat in general terms about fire pits and what I like about them plus brush over a few points of consideration on cooking with wood fuelled fire. If you would like to know
The DryCASE But, I'll write about the benefits of training in the rain or “rain training” perhaps, another day. In this post, I want to review my latest training purchase to help me enjoy my exercise routine in bad weather and get the most out of my workout. These days, we are loving our
(This post was updated on 13th May 2013) Ever since I first started jogging seriously back in my high school days (around 1985/86) when I was preparing for a career in the military, I’ve always needed music on my runs. Whenever I’ve had to run/jog without music the experience for me has been less enjoyable.
This article was edited on 13 May 2013 I’ve written reviews about wireless headphones before specifically the Motorola S9 HD (two models back from the Motorola S11-Flex HD) and I also compared the S9 with the Jabra Sport Stereo Headset. To me, exercise is important and it’s part of the self-sufficient culture and lifestyle I
Self Sufficient Me is a blog about self-sustainment by growing our own produce (plant/animal), and self-fulfilment by looking after our health (physical/mental) through exercise and slowing life down a little.
