I feel I am losing a lot of house heat up the chimney when the fire isn't lit. We used to stuff a bag of scrunched up newspaper in a bin bag up the chimney, which worked well enough, until we saw these http://www.chimneysheep.co.uk/ . Between the OH and myself, we made half a dozen of them, gave 3 ...

This guide is quite a good one, although I wouldn't recommend cutting the root ball back by 50%, I take around a third off mine every 2 years, when the plant is dormant. http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_5745834_care-potted-japanese-maples.html I have 5 which are about 6 years old and one which is over 20 y...

You take a male flower off the plant, remove all the petals and place the middle bit into the female flower, then give it a shake, seemed to work for me. The female flowers have a large bump behind them, the males a smaller one. Male is on the left. http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x376/vegalot/i...

I like to grow something every year that I have never tried before, this year it was asparagus peas and Galia melons. The peas grew well, but none of us really liked them, luckily we found someone who did, so they won't get wasted. As for the melons, well I didn't really expect to get any melons, a ...

I make 4 different teas now, comfrey, nettle, seaweed and dandelion. Comfrey for flowering, nettle for nitrogen and the other two everywhere.

If you want to remove the smell from comfrey tea, use a fish tank air pump and stone, I have a 12v one attached to solar panels.

This page may help Helen, I have been thinking of getting a fig for my garden too.

http://www.readsnursery.co.uk/fig-trees-tips-and-advice-on-how-to-grow-fig-bushes-in-uk-gardens/

If you mix it in your soil, the wood, as it rots down, will rob the soil of nitrogen. So composting is the way to go, if you want it to rot down quicker, then a thin layer of grass cuttings fron the lawn will help, since grass has a high nitrogen content. I have two 'hot' bins which I put a layer of...

Over the years I have built quite a few, but never for myself. I'm in the process of collecting the timber at the moment, to build one, which should end up like this, hopefully. http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x376/vegalot/Projects/greenhouse.jpg It won't be ready for this season, but if I get t...

Someone told me that a few years back and I have never kept a sharp edge on the splitting axe since. I also learnt not to swing the maul with too much energy. First time I used it, I destroyed 3 large plastic plant pots, that were over 4' away, I now have a cage that sits around my chopping block, s...

Could it be a scale build up? are your bathroom pipes newer than the kitchen ones ?

I like to keep at least a year ahead on logs, to make sure they are seasoned before use and for the last few years we haven't had to buy any. Whilst we have next winters fuel sorted, I hadn't been able to find any for free this year, so it looked like I was going to have to buy a load, that was unti...

If there isn't anything like concrete or paving slabs there, you could drive timber posts into the ground at each corner and one in the middle of each long side, then run a timber frame around them, the greenhouse base would screw to the top edge of the timber and the greenhouse to that, a bit like ...

Put a bin bag inside the coal sack, with a few small holes in the bottom of it.

Thanks Jannie, my order went off today

sazchops wrote: At home you say?
Does my garage count? Its 20 yards away.
Thanks so much for this Jacquih. I always like to try new, frugul ways to enjoy natures bounty.

So if I hear a loud boom and there is a smell of whisky in the breeze, I'll know who has done what.