Readers' Solutions

Homemade Elderflower Wine
Carl Legge |
Friday, 27th May 2011

This is a delightfully light and fragrant wine redolent of spring days and civilised living.

The elderflowers are a joy to pick: a feast for eyes & nose. There's...

 

How to Harvest Swallow Guano (& turn it into natural fertilizer)
Jo Duff, Poukawa, New Zealand |
Thursday, 26th May 2011

We had swallows roosting in the eaves, right above a table we used for outdoor dining. Birds nest above means poop below, and hence a very dirty table! We love having swallows around, so...

 

Making A Wildlife Habitat From Recycled & Found Materials
Tim Harland |
Tuesday, 24th May 2011

Here is an idea developed by Chris Beardshaw, that I spotted at Hampton Court Flower Show in 2008. The idea has been widely proliferated at flower shows since then and I have since seen many...

 

Seasonal food for free: Sephardic Nettle Omelette with Jerusalem Bagels & Za'atar
Carl Legge |
Monday, 23rd May 2011

There's a great tradition in the middle east of using eggs to make baked 'omelettes'. They are often also called 'eggeh' or 'kookoo'. Sephardic Jews are thought to originate from the Iberian...

 

Using Diatomaceous Earth and White Vinegar for Pests and Weeds
Brad Rowland |
Tuesday, 17th May 2011

We are controlling ants with Diatomaceous Earth. We used this years ago in Texas to control beetles and cockroaches and...

 

Seasonal Perennial Salad
Patrick Whitefield |
Wednesday, 11th May 2011

Today's salad: red oak leaf lettuce, endive, wild rocket, Welsh onion and garlic chives. Wild rocket and garlic chives are perennials which take over when annual rocket and ramsons go to seed...

 

Seasonal Food For Free: nettle & hazelnut tart
Carl Legge |
Wednesday, 4th May 2011

This is a tasty recipe that combines different tastes well and will delight your guests. The quantities make enough to fill a 20cm container that is about 3cm deep. It will feed 4 to 6 people...

 

How to harvest chicken manure & accelerate your garden compost
Gabrielle Anderson |
Tuesday, 3rd May 2011

Chicken manure is a wonderful output of the pleasurable process of keeping permaculture chickens: highly nutritious for the garden, via the compost heap. One of its less endearing qualities,...