Hello and welcome to The Compost Bin. I'm Compostwoman and I live with my family in rural Herefordshire. We have nearly four acres of garden and woodland, all managed organically and to Permaculture principles, which we share with Chickens, Cats and assorted wildlife. We also grow a lot of our own food, run courses in all sorts of things and make a lot of compost!

I am a Master Composter and have spent more than a decade as a volunteer Community Compost adviser with Garden Organic and my local Council.
I'm a self employed Environmental Educator so I run workshops and events where I talk about compost, veg growing, chicken keeping, cooking, preserving and sustainable living. I also run crafts workshops and Forest School/outdoor play sessions in our wood.

We try to live a more self sufficient lifestyle here, as best we can, while still having a comfortable life and lots of fun.


To learn more about us click on the About Compostwoman tab and remember to click on the photos to make them full size!


Monday, 18 August 2008

Using the Dehydrator

I finally have some figures and times for using the dehydrator.

1 Kg courgettes and 2 Kg Tomatos ( sliced not halved) took 15 hours and used 2.5 Kw of electicity so cost around 30 pence in total.
















I have just loaded it up again with a mixed load.

1 tray of sliced aubergines ( Long Tom) 0.5 Kg and a sliced banana
1 tray of sliced courgettes 1 kg
1 tray of chopped green peppers (Californian Wonder) 1 Kg
1 tray of half cherry tomatos ( Red Cherry) 1.5 Kg







This is what 4 Kg courgettes and 4 Kg sliced tomatoes look like when dehydrated...the boxes are 2 L capacity!




and these are 1.5 Kg cherry tomatos.












Despite feeling utterly carp today and over the weekend I AM so happy!

I have found a way to store EVEN more of our home grown produce and feed it to us in the depths of winter! AND what is more this stuff can be made into a meal in a saucepan with hot water...which the woodburner top can provide! ( or the Kelly kettle I am soon to buy for Forest School stuff anyway!)

Huh Powercuts? I spit in your eye! ( oops, only joking!)
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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous19 August 2008 at 00:32

    WOW! that looks an amazing way to preserve stuff!

    Can you buy them in shops?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Compostwoman19 August 2008 at 12:49

    Hello there!

    most seem to be only available from online shops.

    ReplyDelete

Hello! Thank you for reading my blog and for commenting. I try to reply as quickly as I can and I really appreciate your interest in my life and doings here in The Compost Bin.

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