The urban guide to being self sufficient'ish. This is an easy recipe to follow and creates a delightful, if not usual tasting beer. It is very cheap to make and follows a traditionally english recipe. Before hops were widely used in the 17th century all sorts of plant were used to flavor the ale including nettles. (Urtica dioica). It was also thought to help alleviate rheumatic pain, gout and asthma. Nettle beer has become more popular in recent years (we would like to think we helped influence that!). However, at the time this article was first published it could only be bought in the Czech republic and in the north of England where it is brewed with hops and is called internettle Ingredients 900grams (2lb) young nettle tops 3.8lts (1 gallon) of water 230 grams (8oz) of sugar, brown or demarrara sugar works best. 7.5 grams (0.25oz) of fresh yeast small piece of toast 7.5 grams (0.25oz) of ground ginger Method Boil the nettle tops in the water for half an hour (you will need a very large pan for this or preferably a cauldron).
Mushrooms. How to Build a Square Foot Garden. Update! Check out our new Square Foot Gardening Infographic for even more tips, diagrams, a plant list and much more. I recently stumbled upon a book (All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space! By Mel Bartholomew) with an interesting gardening method called square foot gardening, and decided we would give it a try. I’ve always thought the idea of having a vegetable garden would be a lot of fun. Walking out to your square foot garden and picking a fresh tomato for tonight’s dinner appeals to the self-sufficient nature of most frugal individuals. I know just enough about gardening to know that I am not very good at it, and that it is a lot of work. What is Square Foot Gardening? The idea behind square foot gardening is that you can plant fruits, vegetables and flowers in raised beds, above infertile soil and even out of the reach of pets. Materials Needed to Set Up a Square Foot Garden Material costs are variable, depending on the size of garden you plan to build.
Vertical Gardening : Milkbottles. Vertical Gardening : Milkbottles. As enviroschools, recycling and re-using is part of what we do on a daily basis. Here is what we did with our empty milk bottles and homegrown seedlings from our potting shed to liven up our tin shed wall at Tawa Montessori ... * With thanks to Juliet from "I am a teacher, get me OUTSIDE here! " and the Creative Star Learning Company for the idea! - Anja. Vertical Gardening : Hanging Shoe Rack. Vertical Gardening : Hanging Bottles. Photos: Rosenbaum. Brazilian design studio Rosenbaum collaborates with TV show Caldeirao do Huck in a segment called Lar doce lar (Home Sweet Home), which helps families in need re-designing their homes to improve their lives and self-esteem. In its latest work for a family living in the outskirts of Sao Paulo, the firm included this neat vertical garden made from recycled PET bottles. Although the idea is cool in itself, it's so much better knowing that it's part of a project to improve the lives of three women (mother and two daughters) that live in a one bedroom home with an income of 200 Reais (130 US Dollars) a month.
Putting together an urban farm was not the designer's whim either: the women already had an eco conscience and grew in small containers made from recovered food packaging. The arrangement is of course thought for vegetables that don't take a lot of space to grow, like spices and medicinal herbs. Vertical Gardening : Bottle Tower. Together with my friend Gilbert VAN DAMME (Zaffelare, Belgium) I have set up some successful experiments with vertical gardening in “container towers”. We are using all kinds of recycled containers, e.g. plastic bottles, pots, buckets. The containers are stacked into “towers”. Today, I will describe the way how to start a “bottle tower”, illustrating the different steps with some photos: 2011-09-07 - Step 1 :We leave the lid on bottle No. 1 (Photo WVC) 2011-09-07 - Step 2 : We cut the bottom part of bottle No. 1 (Photo WVC) 2011-09-07 - Step 3 : Bottom part of the bottle No. 1 cut off (Photo WVC) 2011-09-07 - Step 4 : With a sharp object (here scissors) the wall of bottle No. 1 is perforated at 2-4" (5-10 cm) from the top of the lid (Photo WVC) 2011-09-07 - Step 5 : A second perforation (drainage hole) is made diagonally across the bottle No. 1. 2011-09-07 - Step 7 : Bottle No. 1 is the bottom bottle of the future tower (Photo WVC) 2011-09-07 - Step 10 : A tower of the 4 bottles (Photo WVC)
10 Simple, Cheap Home Gardening Innovations to Set You on the Path to Food Independence. Alex Pietrowski, Staff WriterWaking Times The issue of food quality and food independence is of critical importance these days, and people are recognizing just how easy and fun it is to grow your own food at home. When renegade gardener Ron Finley said, “growing your own food is like printing money,” he was remarking on the revolutionary nature of re-establishing control over your health and your pocket book as a means of subverting the exploitative and unhealthy food systems that encourage the over-consumption of processed and fast foods.
Thanks to the internet, the availability of parts and materials, and good old-fashioned ingenuity, there is a wide range of in-home, and in-apartment, gardening systems that are easy to construct and maintain, and that can provide nutritious, organic, and low-cost food for you and your family. Aquaponics Read: Aquaponic Gardening: A Step-By-Step Guide to Raising Vegetables and Fish Together Vertical Gardening Simple Greenhouse Designs Composting.