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. 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). Keeping the mixture, strain and add sugar, stirring to dissolve. Spread the yeast onto the toast and float on the surface of the nettle liquid. Strain again and put into clean, strong screw top beer bottles, or sealable wine bottles (I used plastic bottles and it still worked). Growing in a small space tests even the greenest of fingers. False Economy Small Space and small budget
16 Foods That’ll Re-Grow from Kitchen Scraps By Andy Whiteley Co-Founder of Wake Up World Looking for a healthy way to get more from your garden? Like to know your food is free of the pesticides and other nasties that are often sprayed on commercial crops? Re-growing food from your kitchen scraps is a good way to do it! There’s nothing like eating your own home- grown vegies, and there are heaps of different foods that will re- grow from the scrap pieces that you’d normally throw out or put into your compost bin. It’s fun. Just remember … the quality of the “parent” vegetable scrap will help to determine the quality of the re-growth. Leeks, Scallions, Spring Onions and Fennel You can either use the white root end of a vegetable that you have already cut, or buy a handful of new vegetables to use specifically for growing. Simply place the white root end in a glass jar with a little water, and leave it in a sunny position. Lemongrass Lemongrass grows just like any other grass. Within a week or so, new growth will start to appear. Ginger
ferns flowering plant flowers Tropical Rainforest Plants Tropical rainforest plants grow in more obvious layers than temperate rainforest plants. Like in all tropical rainforests, there are the tall trees, vines and epiphytes, shorter trees and tree ferns, and orchids and other smaller plants on the forest floor. Some more famous examples are the bird of paradise flower, the giant lilys, and the carnivorous pitcher plants. © Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy Africa and Madagascar IslandAfrican rainforests are the second largest in the world after Amazon. There are evergreen, semi-evergreen, deciduous and semi-deciduous forests. Asian Tropical Rainforest PlantsAsian rainforests are smaller than those of South America and Africa. Oceania Australasia Rainforest FloraIn Oceania, tropical rainforests are only found in New Guinea, northern Australia, and some Pacific Islands. Custom Search
Neanderthals died out earlier than previously thought, new evidence suggests Direct dating of a fossil of a Neanderthal infant suggests that Neanderthals probably died out earlier than previously thought. Researchers have dated a Neanderthal fossil discovered in a significant cave site in Russia in the northern Caucasus, and found it to be 10,000 years older than previous research had suggested. This new evidence throws into doubt the theory that Neanderthals and modern humans interacted for thousands of years. Instead, the researchers believe any co-existence between Neanderthals and modern humans is likely to have been much more restricted, perhaps a few hundred years. The research, directed by the University of Oxford and University College Cork in collaboration with the Laboratory of Prehistory at St Petersburg, Russia, and funded by Science Foundation Ireland was recently published in PNAS Online Early Edition. The new dating evidence throws new light on when the Neanderthals became extinct and why.
European Neanderthals were on the verge of extinction even before the arrival of modern humans New findings from an international team of researchers show that most Neanderthals in Europe died off around 50,000 years ago. The previously held view of a Europe populated by a stable Neanderthal population for hundreds of thousands of years up until modern humans arrived must therefore be revised. This new perspective on the Neanderthals comes from a study of ancient DNA published February 25 in Molecular Biology and Evolution. The results indicate that most Neanderthals in Europe died off as early as 50,000 years ago. After that, a small group of Neanderthals recolonised central and western Europe, where they survived for another 10,000 years before modern humans entered the picture. The study is the result of an international project led by Swedish and Spanish researchers in Uppsala, Stockholm and Madrid. The results presented in the study are based entirely on severely degraded DNA, and the analyses have therefore required both advanced laboratory and computational methods.
Bunnies implicated in the demise of Neanderthals - 27 February 2013 BLAME it on the bunnies. The debate over what Neanderthals ate, and how it may have led to their demise, has turned to rabbits. Which, it is now claimed, they did not feast on. Signs that our extinct cousins hunted dolphins and seals were presented in 2008 as evidence of their sophistication. Now, John Fa of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in Trinity, Jersey, says the remains in caves around Europe became dominated by rabbits rather than large game around the time Neanderthals went extinct (Journal of Human Evolution, doi.org/kkn). It's not clear why they would have had more trouble changing prey, says Fa.
Handaxe design reveals distinct Neanderthal cultures -- ScienceDaily A study by a postgraduate researcher at the University of Southampton has found that Neanderthals were more culturally complex than previously acknowledged. Two cultural traditions existed among Neanderthals living in what is now northern Europe between 115,000 to 35,000 years ago. Dr Karen Ruebens from the Centre for the Archaeology of Human Origins (CAHO) and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) examined the design of 1,300 stone tools originating from 80 Neanderthal sites in five European countries; France, Germany, Belgium, Britain and the Netherlands. Dr Ruebens' investigations uncovered new evidence that two separate handaxe traditions or designs existed -- one in a region now spanning south-western France and Britain -- the other in Germany and further to the East. In addition, she found an area covering modern day Belgium and the Netherlands that demonstrates a transition between the two. "Making stone tools was not merely an opportunistic task.
Caveman Couture: Neandertals Rocked Dark Feathers Artist's conception of a Neandertal's feather decorations. Image: Antonio Monclova GIBRALTAR—Jordi Rosell removes a thumbnail-size piece of reddish-tan bone from a sealed plastic bag, carefully places it under the stereomicroscope and invites me to have a look. Peering through the eyepieces I see two parallel lines etched in the specimen’s weathered surface. Tens of thousands of years ago, in one of the seaside caves located here on the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula, a Neandertal nicked the bone—a bit of shoulder blade from a bird known as the red kite–with a sharp stone tool in those two spots. Experts agree that Neandertals hunted large game, controlled fire, wore animal furs and made stone tools. Cutmarks made by a Neandertal on a wing bone from a griffon vulture. Over the past couple decades hints that Neandertals were savvier than previously thought have surfaced, however. The Neandertals seem unlikely to have hunted these birds for food.