Silver beet leaves are the only part usually consumed, but…if the stalks are cooked separately and thickened with whatever flavour you like,(cheese, Maggi onion/mushroom etc.) you have another vege for the table. Cook stalks in minimal salted water for about 10 minutes, and drain some of this water over the leaves in a separate pot […]
Last week Silvana from Wellington asked if anyone had any suggestions for removing a musty smell from a home, which she thinks comes from the carpet. Karen from Palmerston North writes, “I recommend baking soda, sprinkled onto the carpet, brushed in and left overnight if possible. Vacuum thoroughly the next day. I repeated the process […]
Those with apple trees will have codling moths around causing damage. Shake the tree every day and those apples that will fall and rot on the ground can be harvested fresh and frozen until it is juicing time. Also, pick those fruit that have major moth damage showing and add those to the frozen stock. […]
A reader recently wrote to us all wound up about the cost of a spring washer. The problem was that he was being charged $6 for a washer on a mower repair job and he was not at all happy about it – especially when he checked out the price elsewhere and found another company […]
My home smells dirty and musty – the smell never goes away even when I eliminate rubbish bins, compost buckets etc. Yes, it could be damp or rot but there are no signs of this so I have concluded that it must be the carpets. Do fellow oily Do fellow oily raggers have any tips […]
To soften hard sugar in your pantry, place a slice of bread in the jar and seal it up overnight. The moisture in the bread softens the sugar. Mine was so hard I couldn’t chip it out with a knife so I put a slice from the deep freeze in the jar. The next morning […]
Oven cleaner: I haven’t tried this one but perhaps someone would like to. I once tried siting a dish of cloudy ammonia in the oven overnight but all it did was stink the kitchen out. Oven cleaner: 3 parts cloudy ammonia to 1 part water. Fill spray bottle. Preheat oven to warm then switch off. […]
Buttermilk costs approx $4 for 600 mls. Here’s how to make your own. To 1 cup of whole milk add 1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice (acid). Stir in and let stand for 5-10 mins. It will thicken. Other buttermilk substitutes are 3/4 cup plain yoghurt and 1/4 cup water mixed together or sour cream […]
Low petrol prices are good news for frugal motorists, but an oily ragger has asked why, given the collapse in crude prices, petrol pump prices are not a lot lower. The answer is actually quite simple. At US$27 a barrel, crude oil prices are at their lowest level since 2003 – and a long way […]
We have 2 Feijoa Trees, 2 Crab Apple trees,1 pear tree, 1 apple tree, and 1 loquat tree. To use these with minimum waste, we harvest as follows.:- Loquart. Harvest in Nov-Dec. Skin and clean, stew for eating or make jam or freeze. Feijoas. Scoop and eat or freeze. Save skins in bread bags and […]