Tuesday, 14 December 2010

Alternative Building methods: First Monolithic Dome Home in Moscow

This house was built in 1998.

EXTRACT from Featured Homes:

see the full article here http://www.monolithic.com/stories/first-monolithic-dome-home-in-moscow-russia

Sviet Raikov, a native Russian, built this Monolithic Dome home, 36′ × 18′, after learning the technology in a Monolithic Workshop.

According to Sviet, there are two bedrooms upstairs with built-in beds and desks. The staircase turns back in on itself; it uses less room than even a spiral staircase would. As one enters the home, the kitchen is on the right and the living room, with a fireplace, is on the left. To protect the home’s interior during cold winters, the entryway has a double door.

Friday, 3 December 2010

USES: Blackthorn Tree

Prunus spinosa

Most people know that the purple berries of the blackthorn tree are the main ingredient of sloe gin but many do not know that the blackthorn tree also has several other uses as an ancient folk medicine.

The parts used for other reasons are the dark green leaves, white flowers,gray/orange bark and the berries have medicinal uses.

Other uses include using the bark, fruit and leaves for dyes.

A well known effective product is Blackthorn Berry Elixir . This delicious product is benificial for milk production for breastfeeding mothers as well as for convelecants/those recovering from a long illness or sufferning from exhaustion.

Some say that where Blackthorn grows near Hawthorn, the site is especially magical. Others say the two should not be planted as Hawthorn will kill Blackthorn.
Witches were appently known to carve the Norse rune THURISAZ (thorn) onto a Blackthorn stave for protection.
In Scotland, winter begins when the Cailleach (also the Goddess of Winter) strikes the ground with Her Blackthorn staff.
Blackthorn is found throughout the British Isles, and dwells on the edge of woodlands forming dense thickets and hedgerows.

NOTE: Always check with your doctor before using any herbal remedy.

Ref:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2126238_use-blackthorn-health.html
http://www.oakenwoods.co.uk/html/blackthorn.html

Read more: The Blackthorn Tree
http://www.shee-eire.com/Herbs,Trees&Fungi/Trees/Blackthorn/Factsheet1.htm

Tuesday, 26 October 2010

Newspaper seed pots vs. plastic plant pots

Thursday, 7 October 2010

Online wild foraging course

Online distance learning wild food course - bridges the gap between going on a course with a professional forager, and learning from a book.

THE COURSE COVERS:

More than 80 wild edible plants
Historical information
Expert know-how
Food preparation and exciting food ideas
Plus much, much more...
It is suitable for anyone who wishes to deepen their interest in British wild food... whatever their level of foraging experience.

http://www.woodland-ways.co.uk/wildfoodmentor.html

Solar showers - They really do work well when they are set up

BUT

what can go wrong while your setting everything up....

This is a very realistic and funny look at setting up a solar shower. It takes longer than you imagine and it has its trouble shooting but it does work really well.

Watch it and if you have had any experience with this black hose, was we have had, you will have yourself a good laugh and not feel so bad about your attempts.

We ran our own solar bath for 3 years using just garden hose heated up in the sun. By 8am it was ready to use because the sun was so effective in the southern hemisphere, where we lived then. We moved on from that to a donkey boiler using a fire underneath a big drum which worked fairy well for timing as its not always convenient to have a bath/shower at 8am. You really need one before you leave for work in the morning or when you come home. By that time the water in the hose is too cold. Otherwise its too hot but mixing in a bath is ok.

So the donkey boiler was a challenge and leaves one very smokey from making the fire and waiting for it to heat the water which took about an hour if we were lucky. We filled the drum with a hose from our raintank. Then we used to bring it inside to the "bath-room" via buckets. The water was a bit discoloured from the drum as time passed by but living out in the stix and working the land and raising livestock means your really want a hot bath fairly often!.

Living off the grid has it challenges but I would say in the end that solar is the best. Wind power is also good for some things but not the way they are doing it with windfarms. The old way of each person/farm having their own windmill was a good one.

If we had had the resources and people to brainstorm with and the way to store hot water, I still think the days of our midday solar baths were some of the best. No-one for acres around and a bath out in the sun. our little kids used to enjoy it a lot too.

You have no idea how hot that water gets in the sun! And when it runs out you sure need the cool water to cool the bath water enough to be able to get in.

Monday, 6 September 2010

Looking at Polytunnels

Poly tunnels are both useful and necessary in colder climates to extend the growing season.

Hopefully we will be able to get one next year to improve our harvest a little.

Here is a link to one I saw advertised. No doubt it will not be hardy enough to survive our strong year round winds but it may suit you?

8ft 2.5m Polytunnel Garden Greenhouse Outdoor Pollytunnel Grow your own Kit - Feel Good UK

Wednesday, 1 September 2010

.................................Only the summer days: Evening Gathering

.................................Only the summer days: Evening Gathering: A post all about our wild rose petal adventure. We went picking rose petals and made rose petal syrup and nettle soup (Separately of course!)

Length of growing season and temperatures

The challenging factors that our vegetables faced in this location, proved to be largely, .... to much for them.

I see that the runner beans leaves have turned brown almost overnight due to temperature drops here and they have only just started producing those brilliant orange flowers. Not a single bean :(

After starting out in Spring, we managed to grow these herbs/vege's:

some onions (from waste cuttings) and we have a number of awesome seed heads for next spring,
some chives, (Edible flowers and chopped leaves for pastas)
a few strawberries,
a quantity of borage (Flowers for drinks and salads)
potatoes (Still need to harvest) and we grew them in tyre towers
lavender
fennel
peppermint (a variety of other mints from our local nursery all prove to be unpleasant and disappointing).
briar rose
suspect chamomile from the local nursery
corriander (saved seeds for next year)
celery (From root cutting/waste)
sage
nasturtiums
Rosemary from cuttings :)

The remainder of our seedlings never made it to maturity due to slugs and snails. Dont use poisons or squash them so did not deal with this issue. I did relocate a few to the other side of the garden though ina kind, gentle way.

To get back to the growing conditions, we have high winds here throughout spring and summer and it never gets very warm. Summer is short.

Without a polytunnel, I don't see much hope for us producing much.

We used a quantity of horse manure and I saw a huge improvement from last year as the soil here is very poor. We mostly grew in containers.

Some herb containers we kept on the front porch and they did quite well sheltered form the wind and in the sun. It did mean we needed to water them which I was not very good about.

The wild brambles are still not ready, which is really late as autumn in affecting the tree leaves already.

Monday, 26 July 2010

Scottish Thistle

There is a book I have been reading called Healing Threads by Mary Beith.

In there she mentions the old uses for thistle - a sweet for children and a tea for melancholy.

So we set about researching it and looking at the varieties we have growing near us.

There are several kinds of thistle that grow world wide. Looking at the flowerhead, leaves and stem give you a good idea of which one you have. The Scottish Thistle has a very different flower head.

There is little to no info on the culinary / medicinal value of Scottish Thistle.

We did find this site though that echo's the info by Mary Beith.

http://scienceray.com/biology/botany/thistle-do-nicely/

Extract: Once upon a time, tea was brewed from the mighty thistle. It was said that it was a good cure for depression and everyone knows that in time past depression was surely a good part of the Scottish psyche. If the thought of thistle tea puts you off then I can only imagine at how you would feel about the children eating the bulbous head of the thistle – rumour has it that it tastes chewy and sweet.

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Personally I think its very useful culturally to investigate the thistle further and we will be doing this over a period of time.

Certainly with herbs its essential to correctly identify the plant as many look similar with toxic results.

Thursday, 1 July 2010

Cleavers (Galium aparine)

(also known as Sticky Willy, Clivers, Goose Grass, bedstraw, catchweed, velcro plant)

Family: Rubiaceae

There is a lot of cleavers around at the moment, expecially around the vegetable/herb patch and instead of pulling it up and composting it, we though of using the opportunity to read up on it.

Most of the kids here call it Sticky Willy but we havea good little book that lists it as Cleavers. So we searched for Cleavers and positivly identified it by looking at several websites and photos as well as the book.

The most important thing about using wild herbs is correct identification and this can be tricky. You must look many pints i.e. size, leaf types, flowers, seeds, colour, location etc.

This is a summary of what we learnt about Cleavers:

It is an edible and medicinal herb that has been used for centuries.
It grows well all in many places around the world and sadly most mistakenly believe it to be a useless weed.
Cleavers is considered a safe herb and is usually taken as a tea but can also be eaten or freshly ground.
Cleavers is primarily a diuretic and blood purifier. Regular use detoxifies the body.
This species becomes increasingly fragrant as it dries.
For hundreds of years, a traditionally drink made of Cleavers was given every spring as a tonic to cleanse the blood.
Cleavers botanical name, Galium, is derived from the Greek word, gala, which means, “milk” and is supposed to relate to the fact that the plant has the ability to curdle milk, which was beneficial in the making of cheese. Cleavers is a longtime use in cheese making.
It stimulates the lymphatic system.
Cleavers has shown to be beneficial in skin related problems. Cleavers makes an excellent facial wash as it tightens the loose and sagging skin caused by wrinkling. This plant works very well in treating eczema, psoriasis, seborrhea, acne, boils and abscesses, arthritis and gout.
Cleavers is also useful in treating swollen lymph glands, or congested glands and congestion in the breasts.
The cooling properties of Cleavers makes is useful in reducing fevers and resolving infections associated with skin eruptions such as measles and chickenpox.
It also works in soothing tonsillitis, hepatitis, cystitis and arthritis.
This herb stimulates liver function and improves digestion and absorption. Externally the fresh leaves can be applied to cuts and wounds, or to help stop bleeding and enhance healing.
The leaves also soothe burns, sunburn, acne and other skin inflammations. Bathing in the juice of the plant works to soothe and heal varicose ulcers.
Galium/Ladies' straw was used as a red dye during Anglo-Saxon times in England. (Anglo-Saxon Crafts -Kevin Leahy, p75-76)
In 1947, French researchers discovered and extract of Cleavers to be effective in lowering blood pressure, by thinning the blood.

Dried or Fresh

Tonic
Purifying - cleanses and rids the body of toxins. Acts on lymphatic system - effective in removing /draining poisons /trapped bacteria from lymph glands and helps relieve glandular fever, swollen or enlarged lymph glands, adenoids and tonsillitis.
Cooling - treats fevers
Diruetic - increases urine flow (helps to rid the kidneys and bladder of gravel and stones & clear various urinary tract infections)

References / For more info:

http://www.anniesremedy.com/herb_detail215.php
http://www.herbalremedies.com/cleavers-information.html
http://www.altnature.com/gallery/cleavers.htm

Thursday, 25 March 2010

Olive Leaf Tea

See www.oliveology.co.uk

Not only has olive leaf tea a great flavour, but also detoxifying and healing properties. Olive leaves are exceptionally rich in vitamins A, B, C and E, and will give your body anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal boost. Great for colds, flu and infections.

Self sufficient-ish

See http://www.selfsufficientish.com/main/blog.php/

About Dave and Andy
For quite some time food has been Dave Hamilton’s passion. He began baking cakes as soon as he could pick up a spoon to stir the mixture. At the age of 10 he become a vegetarian and by the time he was 15 he was cooking all his own meals.

Andy is available for public speaking, freelance features, corporate and personal forages (wild food walks) and on a consultancy basis. To contact him please Email in the first instance – Andy at selfsufficientish dot com. (for Dave simply put Dave).

Photo ref: http://www.flickr.com/photos/68888883@N00/3647949351/in/pool-selfsufficientish/

The Highland People's Food Seedbank Project

See http://thehighlandpeoplesfoodseedbank.webs.com/

The aim of this project is to bring local communities together, by involving individual gardeners, groups, allotment holders and schools in growing heirloom vegetables well adapted to the Highland climate and soils.

To instruct them on how to collect the seeds, clean, dry and package them in a home/kitchen environment, using everyday household tools.

These seeds will then be added to the Highland Peoples food seed bank, so that within 10 years enough viable food seed is held in domestic freezers (seedbanks) in villages and towns across the Highlands to feed its 250,000 inhabitants.

Information is also made available on saving the harvest by bottling, pickling, drying, clamping so that gardeners can overcome the short harvesting season in the Highlands.

EARTHSHIPS: ENERGY EFFICIENT HOMES

Called "earthships", the homes currently under construction may not look like a typical des res but at a cost of £40,000 including solar power, own water supply and sewage system the tyre houses could provide a solution to the UK's low-cost housing crisis.

They are being built in Fife, Scotland and on the South Downs outside Brighton. When finished inside with plaster and outside with solar tiles and modern facing material they look like ultra-modern homes.
Each earthship requires 2,000 tyres and with 40 million being discarded each year in Britain there is enough free building material to construct 20,000 low-cost homes a year, according to Daren Howarth, of the Low Carbon Network, who is in charge of the South Downs project.

"I was both delighted and amazed at the positive attitude of Brighton councillors in giving planning permission," he said. "Sometimes there can be prejudice against new ideas but I said to them the Eden Project in Cornwall would never have got off the ground if the local councillors had not had vision. They decided to give us a chance."

Ref: http://www.sovereignty.org.uk/features/eco/eehome.html

A Scottish Earthship

"It is the aim of Sustainable Communities Initiatives to demonstrate the Earthship's performance in the Scottish climate, as well as the costs involved and the best route through planning and building control."

Both the functionality and the aesthetics of the Earthship have been adapted for Scotland in the Earthship Fife project.

Ref: http://www.sci-scotland.org.uk/earthship.shtml

Hobbit house saved from demolition as winds of change blow in pioneer’s favour - Times Online

Stone-age Orkney: Hobbit homes in the village of Skara Brae

Stone-age Orkney: Hobbit homes in the village of Skara Brae

Posted using ShareThis

For now at least, you can see the World Heritage-listed site in its original location. The village was occupied for 600 years before it was covered over with sand and dirt and grass. It remained hidden until a gale in 1850 ripped off the turf and exposed it to the world.

The houses and connecting passages are all made from stone.

Healthy Heather

Ref: www.scotland.gov.uk/.../2007/10/08091435/8

Earth-Children