Getting the Greenhouse Ready for a Survival Party

On Sunday Dan is 10 years old, a whole decade of life passed by. So we are having a survival party. Fortunately we have a large greenhouse in case it rains but  we had to spend the day tidying up. We found lots of broken glass and discovered it made a really interesting material for a small sculpture. We love living dangerously.

Chutney And Jam Day With Lovely Friends

Making Chutney and Jam can be incredibly labour intensive. But with friends around to chat to the chore becomes a pleasure.
Look at the fantastic colour of the elderberry and apple  cooking . Later we drained the fruit mixture and added sugar to make a clear jelly.  Take a peek at Wilderness Wigwam website for details of how to make elderberry syrup, elderberry and apple jelly, apple and tomato chutney and many others!

winter gardening

Over the last few weeks I have planted lots of  veggies for a winter garden.  The thought of some lovely peppery leaves, dressed beautifully  in sweet vinaigrette over the next few months is spurring me on!

I am have planted such vegetables as

• florence fennel
• rocket
• winter purslane
• giant mustard
• mizuna
• onions
• spinach
• cabbage 
• cauliflower
  
  
  
  
  
  

Elderberry Syrup

It is a hard call to make between the beauty of the elderberry and the elderflower.  The white flowers held in open umbrella shapes that adorn the tree in the spring time are followed by clusters of round black berries.
We have been told by a very sage and reliable source (Olive, over the hill!) that the taking of elderberry syrup through the winter stops the family getting any colds.
It only mid Sept and Papa Stone developed a cold. So we all marched out into the fields which are fortunately lined with plenty of elder trees and picked heaps of elderberries.
See our Website Page Home Remedy for Colds for more details of this simple and effective cure for the common cold.

Abundant Gooseberries

George in his gooseberry picking gear

I picked punnets and punnets of gooseberries on a friend's allotment.  It was totally inspiring to see how much fabulous produce he and his friend have grown this year. 
Although it was a scorching  hot day, George has his full battle gear on., long sleeves and gloves.
 My arms, in contrast, were shredded but I was rewarded with a couple of punnets of gooseberries that I have made into gooseberry crumble and gooseberry jam.
Look out for the recipes on our website.

I also loved the the sweetcorn trying to burst through the roof of the greenhouse.  Brilliant!

Raspberries

I heard a brilliant top tip for raspberries today!
I was told that raspberries which usually fruit in late summer ( called Autumn Raspberries) can be pruned differently to give  two crops, one early summer and another in autumn.
Autumn Raspberries are usually pruned in March and cut to the ground, then they grow new canes which produce new fruits that autumn.
BUT  if you don't prune them to the ground and instead cut them down to a foot or 18 inches above the ground then raspberries will grow on those shoots and be ready early summer, AND they will also grow new canes form the base which will be ready in autumn.

Raspberries are a great fruit to grow. They don't need a very fertile soil and like to sucker and make new plants. They appreciate a good mulch.
I am making a fruit garden for a friend at the moment. Look out for a page about it on the Wilderness Wigwam Website

A swimming pond

I have been looking at a swimming pond. Note, I am looking at it and the Boy Stones are swimming in it! It is a bit nippy for me.
I am fascinated by the design. It has a part  which is planted up with oxygenating plants that clean the pond and a larger part that is open, with no plants in, for swimming in. It is Brilliant. All the animals from insects to birds, small mammals and children are all benefiting.

A great idea that I would love to copy one day.

Simple Pancake Recipe

It is started as one of those days when boy stones hanker after a pancake breakfast.

We decided to go for an old fashioned buckwheat pancake recipe.  I have often had these at creperies in France and wondered at the paper thin crepes. One on occasion I did get chatting to the lady making the pancakes and she told me her secret to a great pancake is Free Range Eggs.
You know what I think she is most probably right.  Free Range anything sounds great to me.  Self sufficient living off the grid is all about being free to me!!
This blog is all about documenting and investigating the frugal lifestyle and it is totally about being Free Range, Being who ever you are!!
But back to our simple pancake recipe.

Here are our STEP by STEP PHOTO instructions on how to make pancakes with our Basic Pancake Recipe

Here is OUR Step by StepVideo if you want to see how we made pancakes with our SIMPLE Pancake Recipe VIDEO


I like the idea that the frugal lifestyle is about focusing on what you have got and not worrying too much about what you have not got.


Poppy
at the Wilderness Wigwam Tribe





Today the boy stones had lemona dnsugar on their pancakes and I had equally deliciuos strawberry jam. YUM......

Home Made Elderflower Fritters

• Home Made Elderflower Fritters

Today I made Elderflower fritters  for the first time, and it was EASY!!

We cycled down the lane and found 6 elderflower trees bursting with flowers. In fact it was such a good spot that I made a mental note to to go back there when the berries are ripe to make some homemade elderberry wine.  I wonder whether anyone has a simple elderflower wine recipe ? Do leave me a comment if you do .

I was thinking about being more skint at the moment has made us so much more inventive and creative.  Frugal living doesn't have to mean boring, does it?  It can mean an adventure, having new experiences and having fun.

• Picking the Elderflowers

I love the way the flowers are held together in a beautiful umbrella with a flat top.  I took a picture of a head of elderflowers in bud and one in flower because for elderflower fritters the flowers have to be open. I stuck my nose in like a bee and took a big sniff.  The smell is fabulous.  

Using the scissors on the pen knife the boy stones snipped off enough heads to fill a bag.  We did try to just pull them off but ended up with a confetti of the delicate little elderflowers as the umbrella exploded with the vigour.  Lovely but useless for fritters.

We found a lovely simple batter recipe for the elderflower fritters.. I will share photos and step by step instructions for making elderflower fritters on our Wilderness Wigwam site.. stay tuned..

Poppy at the
The Wilderness Wigwam Tribe

Meet The Wilderness Wigwam Tribe

Welcome to the Wilderness Wigwam Family.. we are glad you found your way here ..

Wilderness Wigwam is all about sharing our experiences with self sufficient living off the grid, living frugally, creatively and resourcefully in unison with the land.

Feel free to walk alongside us for a little while as we explore our Family Project Self Sufficiency coupled with a creative dose of bushcraft living .

Wilderness Wigwam Tribe, Meet the Tribe and our Self Sufficient Living Project Ideas, An Introduction to Who the Wilderness Wigwam Family is & Why Self Sufficient Living is Important to us as a family

We have started a Wilderness Wigwam Website to document and share of our experiences, our travels, our joys and tribulations of exploring Living in Unison with the Land.

off on a hike ..
The Wilderness Wigwam Tribe