Grow Your Own Magazine

we now only have a tiny bin in the kitchen (Like the kind you might out in your bathroom)and this only gets filled up twice a week...even less in the winter when the wood burner is on cos almost everything gets burnt...so much can be used ...BUT they eventually fall apart and then have to be thrown - i use the polystyrene meat trays for seed trays etc in the garden but they do get worse for wear after a while and these cant go in the recycling bin - anybody know if they can be used for anything else once they get really tacky?

You can put polyestirene (sp???) in bits to aid drainage in the bottom of pots, and it makes them lighter than using stones.

has anybody got a good idea for using stones? I've got trillions.........

You and me both

I use them to make paths.

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Mark

http://vegetablekingdom-capsid.blogspot.com/

Hi Blue, I've merged your thread with this older one. Iit should help give lots of hints...

Yup, many of us seem to have the 'dual use' bug when it comes to the garden

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Shortie

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children; one of these is roots, the other wings" - Hodding Carter

margerine tubs well washed and chopped up to make plant labels for seedlings anything vaguely traylike (readymeal dishes, prepacked veg dishes, if it;s shallowish and flatish I'll use it ) for under pots, and anything vaguely potlike (including old tins) as pots my windowsils are currently bursting with a wid array of containers all with seedings in

Glass fronted wooden book case, against a wall in the garden is my plant creche, on hot days its easy to open the doors and let some air in. Painted up it looks half decent too. I plan to start my cabbage seedlings off under cover this year, a 2L pop bottle cover to keep the slugs at bay.

what about creating a rocky garden?
I started to put all the stones in a sunny corner, against a south wall, and now its a nice pile....I then add a bit of topsoil to fill the gaps and I will grow thyme together with rocky flowers...

Its great to see peeps recycling either for reuse within own home or to the bins for industrial recycling etc.

I do almost all of the usual stuff including reusing anything for other purposes.

There is one exception.....I SELL all my aluminium cans and foils. I'm lucky enough to live quite close to a scrap merchant who will pay CASH - yes, that luverly mucky stuff we hand over for our garden and other household bits. Last time I sold I was getting around 50p per kilo cans and 35p for foil - approx per carrier bag - crammed and crushed. look on internet for nearest dealer. I store and sell around once a year but there is no official minimum amount for selling unless the scrap merchant dictates. Even steel drinks cans often have an alu centre and ring-pull - this Scrooge removes them for sale!

If you have somewhere to store bags of alu-can or foil I think you'd be quite surprised how quickly you could pay for a few seeds or a special piece of equipment - in fact it is a great way of reinforcing to the kids that recycling DOES and can pay - immediate dividends if they wish!

Have you got one of those squashers for the cans.

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My phone has more Processing power than the Computers NASA used to fake the Moon Landings

Compacters, phew they are expensive about £500 new

Cool idea Quark1, I don't know that the missus would be happy with me taking over the garage to do it though.

I use margarine tubs to make plant labels, and of course the computer discs and freebie DVDs for bird scarers. I also have the bottle openers that come in xmas crackers as bird scarers a fellow allotment holder did ask me where the beer was !.

We use any drink cans (alcofrolic or soft drinks) as cane toppers where ever we use a bamboo cane, not only does it stop you putting an eye out, but also they move in the wind and help scare the pidgeons away from any seedlings!

Loo roll tubes are kept and used for planting sweeticrn, broad beans and anything else we can into them.

The plastic trays that meat and mushrooms come in are washed and reused, the meat trays as a place to stand plants in for watering, and the mushroom trays for harvesting.

Egg shells are crushed and used as a slug barrier on beans.

Pop bottles are used to provide an easy way to water to the roots of many plants, they can also make a great compost scoop!

Cardboard Bike boxes from work are brought home, and used to put atop some of the beds to act as a cardboard mulch, the plants are planted thru the cardboard which helps retain moisture and prevent weeds from growing between the plants.

Freebie computer disks become bird scarers, as does old video tape (tie it onto the supports for peas / beans / rasps etc, it flutters in the wind and makes a gentle noise and reflects light to scare birds away from your fruit!)

Compost bags are split in half and used to line the bottom of our paths, which are then barked over.

Broken pallets from either of our works are brought to the plot and split to provide wood for edging the beds and paths.

Any disused display shelving units from work are recycled on the plots and in the greenhouse as staging.

Ice lolly sticks make great plant labels!

There's as many uses of anything as you can find for it, the more creative you are, the more you will find a use for it!

Personally, I think I watched too much Blue Peter as a child!

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Blessings
Suzanne (aka Mrs Dobby)

'Garden naked - get some colour in your cheeks'!

The Dobby's Pumpkin Patch - a blogspot work in progress!
Last updated 13th July 2008

I use 500ml drinks bottles as cane toppers, they also rattle in the breeze so maybe they double up as bird scarers

I use 2lite bottles as waterers. I cut off the bottom and push them onto the soil near the plant so when watering it goes directly near the roots, less water wastage.

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http://www.freewebs.com/notesfromtheplot/

I do all the usual pop bottle toilet roll stuff that I think most of us do.

Our old washer drum we have on the lottie and use as a braizier, it works really well and we burn all the wood card etc we cant use to keep us warm or roast spuds.

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Yo an' Bob
Walk lightly on the earth
take only what you need
give all you can
and your produce will be bountifull

We broke up an old piece of trellis and used the poles as row markers, and use CDs as bird scarers, along with some other stuff already mentioned like loo rolls for parsnip and sweetcorn plants.

I'm using 1 litre orange juice boxes (square Tetra packs) as pots ~ cut the top half off, punch a few drainage holes in the bottom, and Bob's your auntie.

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

I've got this really fun image in my head now of passers-by looking in all your lotties and thinking they are some kind of landfill site instead with all the c**p that's around, stuff growing out of weird things! You're great you lot!

I've got a mahoosive stove-top type kettle that I found in a dump which I use for giving the plants a drink now, nettle tea only though! Recycled old windows into a coldframe and found some old corrugated clear plastic roofing sheets which are brillient temp cloches for direct sowings.

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Dwell simply ~ love richly

i used an old wooden slatted double bed base to make a fence, plastic tubs from everything for freezing stuff, growing stuff, or hoarding stuff,

some square bits of wire panels that they use for stones to stop land slippage, .... as a compost heap,inside is surrounded by an old paddling pool and black bags, then covered with a carp mat from my dad (insulated and waterproof) with polystyrene underneath to keep the heat in.

i had a big BBQ party last year. and there were loads of plastic cutlery left, so i'm using them as plant labels, and the plastic glasses protect seedlings.

recycle everything its possible to recycle, compost everything compostable, stick everything not wanted (even broken washing machines) on freecycle, or ebay.

and theres lots of great ideas on here so looks like i'll be using more stuff

Lynda xx

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sometimes i do talk complete and utter rubbish ...... just ignore me if i do ........i'll go away eventually

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