Welcome to FRUGALDOM
Frugal Living with a degree of Self-sufficiency
It's not just about gardening, it's about earning, spending, budgeting, bargain hunting and a frugal lifestyle. Talk about it, chat with friends, swap hints, tips and recipes, see what's available to buy, sell and trade. Could you be a frugal entrepreneur?

The Frugal Living Diary of Events & Monthly Progress

Select a page then click 'GO' Daily diary & chat July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008

All surplus to requirement equipment, eggs and birds will be listed FOR SALE HERE or via eBid online auctions

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Where is Frugaldom? Operation 'Frugaldom' is based in south west Scotland within a military Low Flying Area (LFA 16). We don't mind the occasional low flying jets, helicopters and other military aircraft, although even we can be taken unawares when they appear just 100ft above us! Visitors to the area can be caught unawares, as most places conveniently 'forget' to mention the fact that this part of Scotland is a Tactical Training Area for the military (LFA 20T). Regardless, Galloway Hills, Forest and surrounding areas are spectacular all year round. Take a walk with us here

I hope to be able to provide the household with enough vegetables, preserves and eggs to last from one year to the next and have enough left over to trade, making the entire project self-funding. It's almost a full time job already.

Poultry Keeping We started off with 6 broody hens. By buying pure bred fertile eggs and some cheap, homemade incubators, it meant chicks hatching out all over the place in 2009. As numbers escalated, it also meant registering them all with DEFRA.

Being a registered poultry keeper, I hope to develop my hobby into a frugally, self-funding enterprise, so most of the garden has been reserved for that aspect of the project. Most of the hens and the ducks freerange, the quail need to be enclosed. Protective measures are being incorporated wherever and whenever possible. In 2009, however, the feathered marauders won the war against many of the vegetables! 2010 has seen the arrival of more fenced off corners in Frugaldom.

Duck Keeping We hatched 3 unrelated ducklings in 2009. By sheer luck, we got 2 ducks and a drake, Phoebe, Monica and Joey. In 2010, we hatched 5 more unrelated ducklings and one chick from our trio to test for fertility.

The Frugaldom project includes square foot gardening, raised beds and container gardening. We've now managed to incorporate a small greenhouse and a raised patio with pergola for vertical growing. A mini orchard has been planted and we plan on learning how to rotate fruit & veg crops to encourage perpetual growing and a self sufficient supply of vegetables. We've joined the Galloway LETS group, where we trade home produce, plants and eggs. Frugaldom now has an online store, free public messageboards with a daily forum.

Growing Fruit & Vegetables What's growing in Frugaldom? Potatoes, radishes, cabbages, leeks, turnips, carrots, onions, spinach beet, broccoli, peas, beans, cauliflower, beetroot, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, courgettes, butternut squash, artichokes, garlic, herbs, strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, Tayberries, apples, pears, cherries, blackberries and rhubarb. Homemade wine, home cooking & baking and preserving are all part of frugal living. Elderflower champagne is my favourite.

The garden is fairly exposed, so high winds are something we are having to fight all the way. We lost the first greenhouse, albeit a plastic one, to the January gales and, from May's gales (07/05/09), it is clear that vertical gardening is going to be a major challenge. Root vegetables are looking better by the day, although I'm counting on the now solidly built greenhouse staying put so I can cram as much as possible into that. However, we have already had to do emergency roof repairs following storm damage! Update - we now have a gazebo type structure securing the greenhouse and providing vertical growing space plus hanging space for baskets in 2010.

Preserving and Frugal Cooking Frugal living doesn't mean doing without luxuries. When lemon curd making is done, it means meringues get made from the leftover egg whites and there are frequently fruit loaves or biscuits baking in the oven to use up leftovers.

Nothing beats home cooking - it's fresh, it has no additives and there's far less packaging to worry about even if it's being stored in the freezer. Despite this, t we do not rear any livestock for our own consumption. Our hens, ducks and quail are for eggs only. Surplus get sold or traded.

Pie Making & Baking Aiming for a self-sufficient (ish) lifestyle means there's a lot of pie making and home baking goes on as a means to preserving foodstuffs. By food sharing, we can have a varied diet all year round, including meat pies and fruit crumbles.

If we can produce enough from the garden to keep us fed, plus enough to sell or trade to make the project self funding, I'll be extremely happy. To help improve our chances, I'm building up a small flock of hens that will lay blue eggs. My chosen variety is the lavender Araucana, so the next generation of garden hens should be blue egg layers. By having broody hens, I should be able to remove the need for electric incubators and brooders other than for quail. Being in rented accommodation obviously means we are restricted in how far this self-sufficientish project can go, so we won't be rearing our own meat. We'll stick to fruit, veg and eggs. Purebreed poultry includes Lavender Araucanas, Silkies and Pekins. Surplus birds and hatching eggs will be sold or traded. Quail rearing is something I enjoy, so there should be plenty of quail eggs from Spring 2010. (Updated - first eggs laid04/06/10)

If you're in the fortunate position to have a choice of supermarkets, always compare prices. You can compare prices at mySupermarket.co.uk - Asda, Tesco, Sainsburys & Ocado