How do you keep amused in the winter

A place to chat about anything you like, including non-gardening related subjects. Just keep it clean, please!

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oldherbaceous
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Thank you Snooky.....much appreciated.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.

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Stephen
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It goes against my grain to throw excess vegetables on the compost heap. My granny, who fed a family of six during the First World War, and my mum who similarly struggled with rations in the second World War would come back and haunt me !!

Absolutely! I had this thought when there was a news item this week about food waste (and obliging councils to collect it separately, to ensure it doesn't contribute to methane emissions from landfill).
For me "food waste" is potato peelings and the trimmings from vege from the 'lottie, all of which go into my own composting. Should I be offering it to the council?
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Primrose
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No Stephen, yiur food trimmings like peelings are more valuable to you on your own compost heap. But I found myself the other day getting some washed supermarket carrots out of the salad tray in the fridge and asking myself why they needed to be peeled when they already looked immaculate. So I simply washed them and used them as they were. Is it because we are automatically programmed to peel them from from habit from a time when they were bought covered in earth?

Some veg obviously do need peeling when the skins are tough but many supermarket purchased carrots look almost as if they have been grown in sand and have very fine skins. Surely peeling them is just a wasteful ha it I,m trying to wean myself away from.
tigerburnie
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Primrose wrote:Some veg obviously do need peeling when the skins are tough but many supermarket purchased carrots look almost as if they have been grown in sand and have very fine skins. Surely peeling them is just a wasteful ha it I,m trying to wean myself away from.

A lot of carrots are grown round here in our coastal sandy soil, there's a company that grows them under contract for the supermarkets and hire fields from local farmers.
Been gardening for over 65 years and still learning.
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retropants
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I usually just scrub the shop carrots, I didn't peel my own either!
This winter, will be my first for 27 years without the allotment. I think I'll do the book thing too, plus some experimenting for my soap business - I don't normally have the time to come up with anything new.
Stephen
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I had to trim a lot off the leeks I lifted. All scrap directly into the allotment compost.
Whether I wash or scrape or peel depends on how I am using the veg and its condition. Precious little waste whichever way.
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