When planting my strawberries I have given them a mulch of wet shredded paper from my shredding machine. It matts together nicely keeping light out to prevent weeds and I should have nice clean strawberries to eat. Makes use of your old bank statements too. Or your advertising junk is very colourful when shredded. Will […]
Compost. To date I can’t put my veges in but all the agrapanthus/leaves now noxious weed. I cut off the green leaves and add to my compost. We have tons of it here as well as Ginger which is excellent for the compost heap. Don’t forget to layer with brown vegetation. This will speed up […]
The NZ Herald has a fun story about a one-owner Toyota Hilux that has 1,200,000 km on the clock. The owner says, “The original engine has never had the head off and the gearbox and differential have never come out. However, the radiator was replaced about 200,000 km ago.” He said the secret was changing the […]
Regarding the hot water cylinders, your cyclinder should reach 60 degrees C EVERY day to kill any legionaire bacteria that thrive in lower temperatures. Two people in NZ have caught legionella recently, a respiratory infection, from the water in their cylinders not being hot enough, one had to have her feet amputated. The temperature of […]
Does anyone have a suggestion for homemade eye cream or oil?
Being an oily ragger myself I stopped buying shampoo nearly three years ago and now just wash my hair in warm water while showering. But once a week I beat an egg, pour it onto my hair and massage it into my scalp. Result – lovely soft and bouncy hair. Follow that with a vinegar […]
Happy Oily Ragger from Mangawhai writes. “Last year one of your columns inspired us to get some chickens. We made a nice cage for them so they are well housed and free range through an orchard we put in recently – also inspired by an oily rag lifestyle. It is all working so well. We […]
The Hawke’s Bay District Health is warning people against turning down their hot water cylinders to save money after two people contracted Legionnaires disease from water in their own homes. Here are some key points for a media report about the matter. – The most common sources of Legionella are hot water cylinders and garden […]
A tip for making compost using nothing more than large black plastic rubbish bags, helps with the slug and snail problem too. I fill the rubbish bags with soft green waste rather than stalks, keeping them in a warm sunny place, and turning them occasionally. The warm bags attract heat seeking slugs and snails. I […]
I always had a problem composting, till at a night class I was told to simply wrap peelings etc in newspaper and put in the compost. The newspaper provides carbon and so balances the green nitrogenous waste.