I've done the same as you, plugged up some oak logs and left them outside in a fairly sheltered spot. I also got an indoors kit (spawn and substrate) which is fruiting well and requires very little effort.
Have you tried putting beer traps around the place to control the slugs?My veg plot was left fallow last year as we were away quite a bit over the growing season. It's been covered with compost to supress the weeds and I'll turn it over in the next week or so.
Then comes the best part - planning what to put in. Though these days we stick to the norm - carrots, parsnips, leaks, beans - then, depending on our mood, mange tout, broccoli, sweet corn, maybe cabbage (but we are infested with slugs) and, usually, something different to try.
It doesn't save money in the long run but the taste straight out of the ground is what makes it worthwhile.
www.gardeningknowhow.com
What i wouldn't give to have a place like yours Hugh.We grow
All our own fruit
Most of our own veg (we buy rice & maincrop potatoes)
Fruit cage by English Countrylife, on Flickr
All our own chicken, venison, duck, rabbit & pigeon are shot.
Chicken feeding by English Countrylife, on Flickr
Crispy duck by English Countrylife, on Flickr
Venison portioned & packed by English Countrylife, on Flickr
Lamb & pork come from friend (paid for by selling extra chickens)
We can, dry, pickle & brew
Pantry by British Red, on Flickr
We heat and cook on wood that we cut, split & season.
Woodyard by English Countrylife, on Flickr
The reasons are many. But probably break down into
1) We stopped enjoying our day jobs
2) Food in the shops is usually low quality & inferior varieties
3) We wanted our meat to be raised more humanely than most supermarket meat is
4) We wanted to live with more environmental consciousness
5) We find the idea that we can continue to expand population , increase debt, reduce pollution, increase standards of living, extend life expectancy, consume less & grow the economy all at the same time to be absurd.
Since we can't fix the world, we chose to fix our corner of it.
The log is still there, well whats left of it. Its been a few years since i plugged it so i know im getting nothing from it.I've done the same as you, plugged up some oak logs and left them outside in a fairly sheltered spot. I also got an indoors kit (spawn and substrate) which is fruiting well and requires very little effort.
Shame the lion's mane didn't fruit. I'd like to try growing it too. I seem to recall reading it does well on smaller limbs. I think it's fairly slow to colonise.
It's a lot of work Mark - but given the choice of growing things, chopping logs and raising livestock, or doing a job that bores me to make money to pay people to do things that I enjoy doing, I know which life I would choose.
I'd also be interested in hearing a bit more about this. We've had a few chickens over the years and fed them an organic feed but it isn't that easy to get hold of something we were happy to use. Our last ones free ranged and could probably have got by on wheat along with what they foraged for but have an interest in UK grown feed. We did try growing edible lupins a few years back and our hens did love our pea crop.
I'll see what I can do! Previous attempts at the UK protein problem were to sprout legumes to remove the antinutrients using a continuous drum sprouter, and raising mealworms on waste from milling. Both were too labour intensive to be viable with around 2000 hungry crops to fill!
Hens are always after protein! They do get some from inverts when free ranging, and can survive on wheat plus what they find but won't lay particularly well. If you could find a source of peas or beans to add in as a small percentage you'd get good results. Only a few percent though or the antinutrients make it counter-productive! Organic protein in small quantities is difficult to find though. There are plenty of organic layers feeds out there with the ideal (16-ish%) protein content but it's mainly from Chinese soy and prices of pre-packaged feed have gone mad in the last few years. You could always raise mealworms on a domestic scale... and sprouted wheat has more readily available nutrients which is easy on a small scale.
Puuuush
Cant do anything at hospital, you need to pass a kidney stone the painful way.
