Photo: Fiona in a bee suit with smoker
My name is Fiona Nevile. I want to share our journey towards our goal of partial self sufficiency. It is such a satisfying, old fashioned endeavour, that provides moments of glowing pride alongside the occasional smelly disaster.
I started this blog after we decided to invest in our future. Retirement looms in a few years time. Before I fell ill I often worked in houses where people had recently retired. Usually they were testing the water. They had plans that they had dreamt about and tweaked for years:
- Raising a few chickens
- A small vegetable patch
- Bees
- Homemade wine and liqueurs
- And the individual extras which could include stock car racing, dabbling on the Stock Exchange, breeding terrapins, planning the trip of a lifetime and dreaming about a lottery win that would finance the lot.
Watching from the sidelines, I realised that often the first four of these interests can take years to get up and running. So I decided to start early. These activities are so satisfying that within months I was peering over the parapet. Why not cure and smoke our own bacon and make salami? How about making sausages and homemade butter? And where could we find food for free?
Six years later we are investing in now as well as our future retirement.
Why just plan for the future? Investing in now can be a bumpy ride but generally we’ve found that it’s fun and our quality of life is so much better than before. Each week our horizons expand.
This website charts our journey towards deluxe self sufficiency and beyond. Our aim is to live like kings on the lowest possible budget. Visit our new forum for inspiration and ideas from our readers.
My articles have appeared online in the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Chicago Sun Times and many other publications. Use the ‘contact us’ tab to speak to me. Writing commissions are always welcome.
Some people like to visit us here at the Cottage Smallholder.
Because I have been ill and unable to work since July 09 we decided to host advertising on the Cottage Smallholder site from December 09. Click here for more details.
a brief potted history of Fiona’s career, which has ended up in our attempt at partial self-sufficiency.
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FD
Hi jdpolson
I’m sorry but I don’t have a single most important question about weight loss.
Perhaps that’s the reason why I’m chubby!
Hello Phyllis
What a shame about the tomatoes. Are the leaves a bit wilty and blackish brownisg at the edges? If so you probably have blight and need to burn the infected bits. Blight could easily spread to your potatoes – they’re the same family.
Garlic is easy to grow in tubs. It needs a sunny, sheltered location. Buy a head of garlic from your local garden centre and split it into cloves. Make a hole with your finger about 2 inches deep and drop in the cloves, pointy end up cover gently with soil. Allow about four inches between each clove. You can plant the cloves closer but the heads of garlic will be smaller. Start feeding every other week from February and lift in July.
Planting garlic in October works very well for us as they need a frosty period to get them going.
Hi Patricia
Great that you are enjoying the site! Thanks for leaving a comment, much appreciated.
Hi Gini
I™m not sure about using the crab apples for chutney. Personally I think it would be a waste as apples are so easy to come by and crab apples are precious in this neck of the woods.
We make a wonderful hot crab apple jelly which is a real hit with everyone. We finished our batch of six jars in a couple of months. Our recipe is here https://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=470
Hi There,
I came accross your website looking for a crab apple jelly recipe. I can see your apple chutney is a real hit; do you think I can use crab apples in this recipe? If not can you recommend a crab apple jelly recipe to me please?
kind regards
p.s thanks for such an interesting site, i have really enjoyed reading through all the entries and recipes!
Hi Like most other people I’ve stumbled on your site by accident (whilst searching for natural salami casings!!)
I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve read so far and am now waiting for my husband to go to work tomorrow so I can spend the day reading through your archives whilst pretending to do dutiful wifely chores!!
Pat
Hi I have just found your site and have been happily reading my way through. I am in my first year of beekeeping and also keep hens and smoke my own salmon and make my own bacon and bread. I have a small plot and grow as many vegetables as I can so your site is right up my street. Keep it up I especially enjoy all the recipies…
Diane
Hi Fiona,
I discovered this site by accident, looking for advice on my shallots, which you very kindly gave me. Thanks for that…i have a small garden, which i am growing leeks(very successful, potatoes(also successful),shallots…still to find out….and I would love some advice on how to grow garlic…this is all in large tubs…
My son is growing tomatoes, but they all have rotted underneath, which we think is because of erratic watering?
Anyway, many thanks for all the advice that you give to everyone, it makes for fantastic reading… I’m hooked…
Phyllis
Hello,
I’m currently researching various weight loss programs and courses.
So, if you don’t mind please answer in this topic: What™s your single most important question about weight loss?
Cheers, JD
Hi Val
I Google marbled bean pods and some varieties have marbled pods! See here http://www.innvista.com/HEALTH/foods/vegetables/stringb.htm
So I think that they are safe to eat.
Thainking about it, Netto coudln’t affors to sell beans that were not safe to eat.
its the pods that are marble effect, and i’m a bit worried about cooking them as they are dwarf beans and not runner or broad beans. therefore i will be eating the whole pod
Hi Fiona,
Slightly random but I think I have quinces popping up in the back of my garden, they are greenish, shaped like a misshapen lemon with red blushes developing – does that sound right? If not any clue?
Hi Philippe
Thanks for leaving a comment, much appreciated.
Hi Charles
Glad that you are enjoying the site.
Isn’t Austin, Texas supposed to be a really cool place to live? I heard a programme on the radio about Austin recently.
Hello Hannah
Oh I do hope that it set! Lucky you having a bumper crop this year – ours are rather sparse.
Thanks for dropping by.
Hi Fran
Without seeing a photograph, it’s difficult to say.
I think that these may be wild plums or cherry plums – they are about the size of a 50p bit. We have two recipes using them – wild plum jam and wild plum jelly. Our delicious damson chutney can be made with wild plums as they are quite a bit tarter than the average plum.
Hi Val
I am assuming that you are referring to the beans rather than the pods. Lots of bigger beans (runners and broad) have marbled beans and they are fine to eat. I’ve never seen dwarf runners with marbled beans but there are hundreds of varieties out there!