What are your frugal and sustainable tips and tricks?

[gtaus]

Hah! Yay! So my suspicion that it would clean itself after a season was correct! YAY! Thank you, I am glad to have the confirmation.

Well, the way I read that info is that you can eat the new Purslane growth from the parking lot plant that same season once you have it in safe soil. You just don't want to eat that original cutting piece. No need to wait a full season before you can start eating the Purslane.

 

[Rillowen]

Well, the way I read that info is that you can eat the new Purslane growth from the parking plant that same season once you have it in safe soil. You just don't want to eat that original cutting piece. No need to wait a full season before you can start eating the Purslane.

Probably true, it would make me nervous though, an waiting a season isn't so bad. Especially for such a drought resistant weed suppressing edible border!

 

[gtaus]

Sounds like you are very close to what it takes to make bone broth. The biggest difference is how long you cook it. You might want to look into the benefits and uses of bone broth if you aren't familiar with it.

Since bone broth extracts out more of the minerals from the bones, they will likely compost faster.

I'll look into that bone broth. As for composting, I really don't care if it takes years to break down the bones. We toss all our chicken soup bones out into the chicken run as well. I have no idea if those boiled bones compost faster than the fried chicken bones, but it seems like that would make sense.

 

[gtaus]

I could see that, sorry didn't mean to offend! I was fortunate in that my mom had a rudimentary knowledge of foraging and taught me things like Dandilion and plantains as a child. This really helped leave the door open I think.

I was not offended in the least. I was just expressing my ignorance on the subject of foraging. Foraging is something I have just recently considered. I think I'll start with Purslane this spring - maybe dandelions as well.

 

[gtaus]

We dont buy rotisserie chickens, too many preservatives for pur tummies to handle, but we do like to get those big flats of chicken thighs or wings that go on sale! I toss the whole thing into a large crockpot with salt water (maybe onion or mushroom if im feeling fancy) and cook it over night. In the morning i strain it, and debone. The meat and broth get saved, the skin/collagen and bones go back in for another round withh a bit of vinegar for bone broth. After the second night the bones get dried and powdered for bonemeal (instant breakdown plus P for garden) and the skin/other goes to the dog. A flat of wings can make 4 meals of meat for our 7 person family! The bone broth is especially treasured.

I'll have to talk to Dear Wife about that. We have never made bone broth. I also like the idea of making bonemeal for the garden. That sounds better than just tossing the leftover bones into the chicken run.

 

[Rillowen]

I was not offended in the least. I was just expressing my ignorance on the subject of foraging. Foraging is something I have just recently considered. I think I'll start with Purslane this spring - maybe dandelions as well.

Chicory root is a nice one to ease in as well, its pretty easy to identify (being the only tall blue flower i have ever seen!) And the root makes a very nice digestive aiding tea, high in fiber, that tastes a bit like coffee.

 

[Rillowen]

I'll have to talk to Dear Wife about that. We have never made bone broth. I also like the idea of making bonemeal for the garden. That sounds better than just tossing the leftover bones into the chicken run.

Yes, when I realized how much our plants liked the bone meal, plus they aren't just sitting there forever, i was sold!

 

[Molpet]

the bones get dried and powdered for bonemeal (instant breakdown plus P for garden)

I'll have to talk to Dear Wife about that. We have never made bone broth. I also like the idea of making bonemeal for the garden. That sounds better than just tossing the leftover bones into the chicken run.

This and blood or blood meal attracted something to dig it up at night. Not sure if raccoons, opossums or skunks.
I do this in beds I'm not using that year.

 

[fuzzi]

I took a Senior Citizens cooking class a few years ago when it was offered in our community. Our cooking instructor suggested that we save all our vegetable juices from canned veggies in a container in the freezer and then use those juices for making soup instead of using plain water. That's what we do now. All our juices from canned corn, peas, and beans goes into a plastic container until we make a chicken soup. It does add more flavor to our homemade chicken soup.

Frugal Tip for Chicken Soup: Dear Wife likes to buy ready cooked chicken about once a week. We both prefer the rotisserie chicken...

View attachment 4267071

For the two of us, we get a number of meals just from the chicken meat. After a while, we get down to little meat remaining on the bones. At that time, we toss the carcass into a bread bag and store it in the freezer until she makes chicken soup out of it. Honestly, I like her chicken soup better than the chicken meals. In any case, we get another ~3 meals out of the chicken soup.

Dear Wife will also pick up take out fried chicken, but there the leftovers get tossed directly into the chicken bucket and tossed into the chicken run composting system. It can take forever for chicken bones to compost, but I have a nice compost sifter setup which rejects the sticks and bones which I can just toss back into the compost pile.

My mom taught me to keep the "veggie water", whether canned or fresh.

I was cooking some bratwurst in my frying pan, and added the water from a can of mushrooms, before covering the pan with a lid. Yum.

 

[fuzzi]

We dont buy rotisserie chickens, too many preservatives for pur tummies to handle, but we do like to get those big flats of chicken thighs or wings that go on sale! I toss the whole thing into a large crockpot with salt water (maybe onion or mushroom if im feeling fancy) and cook it over night. In the morning i strain it, and debone. The meat and broth get saved, the skin/collagen and bones go back in for another round withh a bit of vinegar for bone broth. After the second night the bones get dried and powdered for bonemeal (instant breakdown plus P for garden) and the skin/other goes to the dog. A flat of wings can make 4 meals of meat for our 7 person family! The bone broth is especially treasured.

Very similar to what I do!