POLLEN KEEPERS: Tea Packages that hold tea bags make good pollen keepers. Just write the name of the flower on the outside, collect the pollen inside, and freeze in a plastic freezer box. I figured this out when I ran out of film canisters and pill bottles. Glad to finally find another use for them, so I can throw them away. (Smile)

BUG PICKERUPER: A toothpaste box with the flaps cut off and cut into three cubes can be used to easily pick up dead bugs without wasting a paper towel. Just place the box over the bug and squeeze.

SOIL FILTER: Used coffee filters placed inside plastic gallon nursery pots before the soil is added help hold the soil in when the pots are watered.

NOTE CARDS: Cereal boxes and other light cardboard boxes cut into 3x5 cards make notes cards for the garden.

PLASTIC TRAY: Cut the top off vinegar, bleach, milk, water or other gallon jugs and place under the gallon nursery pots for a perfect water tray and seed starter.

SLUG BAIT: If you don’t mind emptying it EVERYDAY, pour the cheapest beer in a tuna can and place it beside the plant the slugs are chewing, but it can be deadly if left to rot.

Can anyone else share you ideas. If I think of others, I will add them later.

Happy trails from The Chism Trail Garden
Chism

PLASTIC WHITE UTENSILS - use as markers for plants. I write the name of the plant in permanent marker and stick the fork/knife into the soil.

YOGURT/PLASTIC CONTAINERS - poke holes in the bottom and use as temporary pots. The tops of the containers can be put on the bottom to keep water off the surface.

Rini

Dried Eggshells sprinkled around tender seedlings to impale the slugs while nourishing the soil.

Great thread!

oh I love this idea!!!

Paper towels---I've been trying to get away from using sooooo many----but I use some for lining pots--holds soil in

Old boards--use to make cute signs---a little spray paint

Rusty loaf pans---another GWebber gave this tip on another forum---use old loaf pans for holding plants on a window sill ---works great!

I'm testing this one----the container thingys that come with cookies that have sections---plant 3 types of seeds

Kitty litter pans---we bought one of those fancy covered ones for our kitties---well, they didn't use it---too dark in there, I guess! lol I'm using the top and bottom to hold planter pots

I'm also testing this one---old floor lamps---had 2 ready for the dumpster---after looking at them I decided to make some adjustments and use as topiaries for Morning Glories. I plan on putting a couple of planter pots at bottom---attached with wire and let them grow up the lamp. I've already sprayed them green.

» Plastic soda bottles or milk jugs: You can cut off the top of any size plastic soda bottle (and add drain holes) and have a see-through container. My daughter loves to see the roots growing in these!

Vases rarely fit in the cup holder of my car. So when taking someone a bouquet, I use a soda bottle to hold the flowers until I get there, then put them in the proper vase.

Not garden-related (unless your garden is WAY bigger than mine - LOL!) but I also wash these and fill about 3/4 of the way with water and freeze. When going somewhere, fill the rest of the way with water, add lid & you've got ice water to drink until the ice is all melted.

Also great to put in a cooler instead of ice cubes so the cooler doesn't get full of water. (And you can drink the water when it melts, or use to rinse dirty hands and feet.)

My Uncle used to do this with gallon milk jugs. He took them on his tractor and he could stay out all morning or afternoon with plenty of ice cold water to drink.

» Baby food jars: These make excellent seed containers. Poke a few holes in the lid to sprinkle the seeds, like a salt shaker. (Holes also prevent seeds from molding until ready to use.)

» Spice containers: Same as above, but with holes already.

» Film canisters: Same as above, add holes.

» Plastic forks: Stick in containers or other garden areas (tines up) to prevent squirrels from burying nuts, and cats from defacating.

» Fishing line: Use as a trellis for vines.

» Wire hangers: Untwist and use as stakes, or guide-wire for wayward branches. Use several to create an obelisk (with fishing line) to grow a vine. You could also create a little fence bending them into "U" shapes and sticking the ends in the ground, as close or as far apart as you like.

» Bits of broken clay pots and bricks: Excellent for keeping drain holes in containers from clogging.

HYBRIDIZING TAGS: Cut little rectangles from a plastic bacon sheet that bacon is lined out on. Use a hole punch to put a hole near one end and slit with scissors from the hole to the end. Write the name of the pollen parent on the rectangle piece of plastic and gently push it onto the stem at the bottom of the bloom. Many blank tags can be cut from a single sheet.

WALL POCKET: Cut the bottom end out of a used coffee can. Step on the lower end to press the sides together at the end. Crimp with pliers. Punch two holes on each side near the top and insert a wire coat hanger for the handle. Paint, decorate and fill with soil. Now you are ready to plant. They look great hanging on a fence or outside wall.

STENCIL FOR WALL POCKET: With a permanent marker, trace a design onto a plastic bacon sheet. Cut the design out with a sharp blade. Now you are ready to put it over your painted can and dry brush paint into the hole.

I second the venetian blinds for the plant markers.

I also cut up old T shirts in strips and use it to tie up tomato plants etc. If you use small pieces it isn't too unsightly.

For gardening - we have a chest freezer in the garage and when it's not stocked, I take milk jugs and freeze them. That way the freezer doesn't work as hard. When it's time to re-stock the freezer, I put the frozen milk jugs in the sun to melt and water my containers. Then I recycle the jugs.

Use the tops and bottoms to scare birds and squirrels out of the garden, by punching a hole in them and tying them to a post or tree brach. When they move in the wind, the wild animals are spooked.

Tin cans make handy and durable seed scoops for wild bird seed and chicken feed.

Cheryl

Maybe I am too fanatical, but no plastic in the garden... except for the soda bottles I use for watering.

It takes some effort to avoid piling up grocery bags, but it is fun. An aunt gave me a cloth bag, then the museum gave me another for our membership... and I decided to give them a try. I leave them hanging next to the back door so I don't forget to take them to the supermarket. It is 4 years now. And when I don't have them, I bring back paper bags, which I use for recycling paper, one in the pantry, one behind the couch for easy sorting.

I guess the main problem is that stores "stuff" people with grocery bags. My college roommate was pretty skilled at saying "I don't need a bag, thanks" when she was buying items she could hold well without a bag. So I learned from her. At first my husband was embarrassed... now he is used to it and learned as well! LOL

I am glad I read the idea about the potting soil bags... I tried to decrease my use of bagged soil when i started the compost pile, but they are unavoidable for now...

Oh, and the twissty things, or any kind of string that comes in packaging, are great for tying up plants... I guess it all comes down to designating a place to store them next to the kitchen counter.

(Then summer came and the sun hit some of my ziplocks and my cuttings cooked but that is a different story.)

*giggle*

that would be me.

When I use Jiffy peat thingys(technical name..lol) for seed starting, if germination does not occur I pour boiling water over them and rip off the mesh and put in potting soil.

I ahve used old burned mattress springs for trellises for my beans and cukes this year.

I use string from bales of straw for tying up plants.

Take bags from my chicken feed that are mesh plastic and use it to line in between rows in my veggie garden to keep weeds out.

I collect wood scraps, some very good quality, from a cabinet maker. Use them for stakes, signs, barriers, ect.

Obtained a VERY LARGE wooden box form a cement company that was used for shipping. I use it to store my straw and tools. I still have to paint it and get hinges on it though.

I use an old ice chest (large) to store small garden supplies.

Kathy

paper grocery bags: shredded, they go into the compost

yogurt cups with holes poked in the bottom: perfect indoor seed starting cups

20 oz water bottles: cut in half, they make two hot caps for small seedlings put out in spring. Punch holes in the bottom half for air. They also protect from nibbling critters.

glass jars: I decorate them with glass paints and fabric tops and fill them with homemade treats at Christmas. Bigger ones for candy and cookies, smaller ones for scented candles and bath salts.

toilet paper tubes: use to start seeds. Cut one end into 4 inch long sections and fold them under to make a bottom. Plant entire tube outside later. Great for sensitive-root things like morning glories or cypress vines. They will get moldy, so when they do you should transfer them outside, with a cover if it's cold.

Here's mine:

#1- i use meat trays from the supermarket as water holders
under small pots and seedlings, Also the tops of foam egg cartons.

#2- lemon, grapefruit,limes, oranges. etc.. after the friut has been cut in half, used and cleaned out, i poke a hole inthe bottom and use them as seed starting pots. (Rind can be placed right in the ground later on.

#3-Milk/juice cartons
lay it on its side, cut out the whole panel, line with a plastic bag.. poke some holes through bag and carton.
fill with dirt. I use this to start plant cuttings.
(And i put a meat tray underneath)

Plastic bread ties, (the square flat ones)
I use them as little garden markers, if you wipe them with
rubbing alcohol the ink comes right off, I Mosly initail them with the plant name, and write the date i started them.

Also, on my mature veggie plants, i'll tie a string to one "arm" of the bread tie, loop it over a branch, then tie the other "arm" and write the veggie name. ie "EB" early boy.

This way i dont have to guess whats what should the ground ID markers get moved.. its tied right to the plant. lol

Hope these help :D

Great topic!

be back later. SillyB

Here is the trelis now, planted with hyacinth bean vine and morning glories, ignore the weeds please!

Here is my most used repurposed object this year, my laundry-soap-bottle-garden-caddy =) With napping kitty!

I reuse 2 litre bottles and baggies for little greenhouses...

Glass bottles for borders....

I also reuse...
*Mini blinds for plant markers
*Butter/sour cream/chip dip/cool whip/etc. bowls for starting seeds
*Newspaper and cardboard for mulch, and adding 'browns' to the compost pile in summer
*TP and paper towel rolls for protecting seedlings when mailing. I also tried using them as peat pots, but they didn't work all that great, the plants were puny =(
*Milk jugs- not enough space in the world to list all the uses! But a few are mini greenhouses/cloches, watering cans, cut off the tops to use for small buckets, etc.
*Meat trays- sorting seeds, under pots, deeper ones for starting seeds, holding peat pellets and small pots
*Old CD's- suncatchers, bird-scarers (only in the berry patch), other garden-junk crafts
*Coffee filters- I use these over and over for collecting and drying seeds, and when they won't stand up anymore, I use them for sprouting seeds in baggies

There is more, but I have to get ready for work =)

fabrics of all kinds: cut up and hook or crochet a rag rug

old socks make great dusters, we also tie them together in knot wreaths or balls for the dogs to play with--they love them!

whatever...make into garden junk object of some kind...
(whatever there is there is a way....of creating)

plastic bags we also crochet into rugs, bags, mats, and reuse for liners, quick shoe covers -so as not to track in from the garden on a quick bathroom trip when you're muddy!

cut cereal boxes or others make great little organizers for seed packs, cards, or desk drawers

junk mail envelopes for seed collecting & writing grocery/to do lists

old clothes for scarecrows & of course quilting
old denim for aprons, pieced hammock covers, dog kennel bed liners, bags, bed covers, etc..
plastic bottles, milk jugs, containers for winter sowing and seed starting

I love re-using those mini m&m containers for needles and such....can also use tic/tac containers for seeds....

rooted plants in old mugs/tea cups or recycled plastic cups for quick gift giving

we do alot more but I can't think (re-use all the old coffee cans for pencil sorting to nails, tools to crafts, and tin can men and wall pockets...).

Julie

The corks- I'm working on this right now. I bought two 8" unfinished shadow boxes from Michaels. Cost me $3.99 each. I sanded them, then put some polyeurethane on. Let dry. I took the corks, laid them down lenghtwise in the shadow box so that the designs/words on the sides show through the glass. I filled up the entire shadow box, then put the back on. Viola! Instant french country style art. Everyone I've shown them to thinks they're great! Only problem is it takes quite a few corks to fill up one. I think I have about 24 in each. I had enough to fill two up completely, and I'm halfway through a third. I'll post a pic if you're interested.

Other ideas for wine corks: put them on a square or rectangular tile or piece of wood for a trivet.

If you don't want to do a whole bulletin board in wine corks, you could get some of those cork squares and put the wine corks around them as a border (mount on a foam board or piece of wood). That might be a good compromise for my dh and I in our kitchen -- I could stick the push pins into the cork squares and leave the wine corks untouched. I just might have to try that one!

We also took cast off wiring from a remodel project and used it as a permanent trellis for morning glories. We wrapped the terra cotta pots with the copper wires and then run the wires up to the pergola roof rafters. Never rots in the sun!

Used an old tool box as a home made water filtration system for the pond.

Broke up an old and cracked up stone bar-b-que grilling area and resused the river rock for pond and run-off pavers. (the old concrete traces look like lichen!)

Used two old plastic garbage cans as compost bins -- can handle anything I throw at them for a whole year!

Use shredded paper from work as packing materials for mailing. Take home all the paper supply boxes and use them for packing food pantry items.

I spray paint odd picture frames gold so all the various shapes/sizes coordinate on any wall. Buy lots for 25 -50 cents each!

They're really simple to make. Going to hang them up as soon as I can figure out where I want them!! I have a couple other pics on my webpage.

If you must buy something go to the thrifts first; Goodwill and such. I get the vinyl blinds there for $3 or less to cut up for markers. New Orleans also has a group known as the "Green Project" (think thats right) where they collect donated recycles for resale cheap; paints, building supplies and on and on. Just discovered "freecycle" in Yahoo groups too. Its local folks posting "free" stuff that they about to toss. Start one in area!
Mike

I have a black wrought iron towel hook in my garden shed that I hang the twine from straw bales on. I used twine for tying up plants too. A cute metal bucket hangs on the wall of the shed too. It holds plastic bread bags, so I can scoop up dog bombs from the garden. My daughter picks up dog bombs 2-3 times a week, but sometimes there is one right in my way that has to go now!

A beautiful Longaberger basket with plastic liner (OK, way not frugal here!!) hangs high up on the kitchen wall to hold milk caps for the five cent education rebates for schools, and also the plastic circles from gallons of milk for the neirghbor's kitty. (Neighbor sticks a bunch of them on the back runner of her rocking chair. Hours of live kitty entertainment!)

A lovely wooden box (actually, it's a one foot tall chest of seven little drawers,) picked bought at an antique sale holds various bits of string, twist ties and wire. The wire is the stuff that holds live Christmas wreaths together. I scrounge the wreaths from our church when they are being discarded, compost the branches or use them to provide winter cover for my perrenials, and roll the wire into a ball. The wire has lots of little uses, and but breaks down quickly. I'm still trying to figure out how to use the heavy wire rings left from the wreaths though. For now they go into the trash.

Various assorted pretty enamel containers to hold potting soil, sand, rabbit food. Also have a large enamelware pot by the back door to put compostables in. No trudging through the snow everyday to dump putriscibles for me! It hold a couple of weeks worth. Sometimes I have to haul it into the sunroom to thaw it out so I can dump it though :-)

By finding pretty containers for everything, DH doesn't complain. Heck, he probably doesn't notice what's in those things! Rummage sales, trash day, and Goodwill are my favorite sources for all of the lovely little storage containers. (That Longaberger thingie was an aberration. Please forgive me.)

I save the clear large bags that things like paper towels come in to make cover cuttings that I am rooting.

All disposed paper is composted (we must haul our own garbage in the country) Worms love it! Cover with grass and you don't have to worry about putting your financial docs out there.

I reuse potting soil and disinfect for prior disease by pouring boiling water over it.

When tidying up my houseplants I put the brown leaves back on top of the pot to decompose and nourish the plants (how do you think forests do it?)

I will be using pine needles from neighbor's yard for my mulch this year.

1. save xmas tree netting for use in the garden. looks exactly like bird netting. Makes a good trellis for peas and pole beans, discourages squirrels when draped around the fruit.

2. Large, holey trash cans make good frost caps for overwintering peppers.

3. gal jug w/3 small pushpin holes for slow drip watering. Drill small holes into old 5gal bucket to deep water tomatoes.

4. large meat tray under toaster to catch crumbs

5. stuff an old pillow case w/plastic bags. makes a great punching bag for the kids!

1 Use large waterproof bags/sacks (potting mix sacks/bags) for newly planted trees as guards. Plant three tomato stakes around the newly planted tree, cut the bottom off the sack/bag and turn up the bottom to the inside like a pocket (about 10 inches deep) Put the bag/sack over the stakes around the tree and fill up the 'pocket with water'.Those sacks that are not waterproof can also be put around trees as wind protectors in a new garden.
2 Bottomless yugurt pots (or similar) as seedling protectors. when planting large seeds in a vegetable/flower bed put a bottomless yogurt pot over it to protect the seed when it germinates. Also stops much falling in and burying a youg plant.
3 Hessian sacks from potatoes etc can be used to cover sown seeds instead of covering them with soil. This helps to keep the seedbed moist. Remove once the first seed germinates.
These are all useful if you live in a hot, arid climate or you are going through a dry spell.
4 For those who live in a wool raising area. Sometime the wool bulk bags are thrown out slightly damaged. If you have a favourite young tree that need protection from frost in the winter these are usually big enough to put on stakes around the tree.
5 Late next winter/Early spring I am going to make a mini propogation 'tent' for my cuttings and vegetable seedlings out of one of these bulk bags. I found a new pristine one at the tip white in colour it will let enough light in (Australian hot dry climate) and keep the atmosphere humid.
regards
Dorothy

I use old toothbrushes to clean those gardening fingernails, works great!

I use 1/2 gallon paper cartons, cut lengthwise to make 2 shallow trays to start seedlings in. I put those in a recycled germination dome and get lots of seedlings fast.

use stale chips to feed your pet fish in the pond as a treat. They love chili cheese fritos!

I was moving my "garden art" under cover for the winter the other day and when I picked up one of the lamps to move it, the "shade" was filled with water! So, instant bird bath! It's nice and high so good protection for the birds from the local kitties. So, I'll leave it out until it starts to freeze.

egg cartons for sorting/counting seeds or beads for jewelry making

cracked plastic bowls for hanging plants; pot directly into the bowl, make holes around top edge with hot ice pic, add coathanger wires or jute twine

wooden chopsticks for combing the kinks out of chenille fringe on pillows & afghans

foam packing peanuts for filling outdoor furniture cushions

use an old bicycle to grow morning glories on. my bike's blue & looks good with re/white/blue m. glories.

an old metal child's wagon makes a good planter for cacti & succulents. drill or punch drainage holes in the bottom.

handicap bathtub stool with 4 legs is great to sit on while pulling weeds; wide seat, handle for carrying, right height for me, no squatting involved, no falling while trying to stand after squatting.

paint old plastic things with the new paint that sticks to plastic & you can recyle tons of plastic things.

long sections of a downed tree are plant stands in the flower garden; trim them to size with a hand or chain saw.

pictures from garden catalogs glued to storage boxes to decorate the boxes & hide the original printing on the boxes

make pictures using old seeds glued to cardboard & framed; draw an outline of a flower & instead of painting or coloring, glue seeds on. pumpkin seeds make a pretty daisy, with hibiscus seeds for the center of the flower

I saved a child-sized toothbrush and heated the neck with a lighter till it was pliable, then bent it backward at a 45 degree angle (bristles facing outward) and let it cool. It's perfect for washing up hard-to-reach areas on some kitchen gadgets, such as the manual nutgrinder I have, and the inside of the garlic press, etc.

Frozen cheesecakes come with very tough plastic covers which are clear. These work great under large pots--they're very deep so spillover isn't a problem. They're sturdier than the flimsy plastic covers which come over deli trays and the like, and I'm sure there are a 1000 uses for them.

Plastic rectangular mushroom trays are also sturdy and nicely hold 2 small square pots on a window ledge (think herbs). Plus they're a pretty blue color and aren't printed with any ugly logos. No painting needed!

I, too, have been a big fan of cloth grocery bags. They used to sell them all over the place--now they're hard to find. So I use the large, almost indestructible tote bags that I can get for my local public radio station membership. Tote bags plus classical music--what a deal!

margarine containers--pots, seed starters. I use the lids under my houseplants

Not exactly gardening-related, but in the spirit of the season, I've used wallpaper samples (you can ask for throwaway sample books from stores) for gift wrap, and twisted produce netting as "ribbon", or grocery sacks looped then scissored into pompons. I have also used brown grocery sacks, gold paint, and a star-shaped stamp to create wrapping paper. Tie with raffia twine and it looks fabulous.

After your onions are cured, insert the onion head into a freshly washed old stocking. Knot. Insert a second onion. Knot. Repeat. You might prefer to only use the 'leg' section of the stocking here. Hang from the rafter in your keeping room or wherever. When you need an onion, simply cut a knot. The knots prevent the onions from touching, so if one begins to rot, it doesn't damage the others.

Nail the screw lids of babyfood jars to a square of plywood. Nail the board to the underneath side of your work bench. Fill the jars with the nails, screws, other small items and screw the jars into place. (The jars will now be suspended underneath the table, held in place by the lids.) You can see what's in each jar while keeping them out of your way.

If more people used less and had the wisdom found in this thread, we'd be way less in the mess the world is in now environmentally... we'd be HAVES and HAVES...
We're part of the solution. Congrats all 'round.
Homegrown

Use the foil whenever you need to give a gift plant to someone in the hospital, for a birthday, etc.

Cut out cardboard stars and cover with the foil. Punch a hole in the top of the star and hand as an ornament next Christmas.

Use the red foil to wrap gifts and make decorations for Valentine's Day, the green foil for St. Patrick's day, the gold and green for Mardi Gras.

If the foil's damaged, roll it into small balls and use a darning needle to string them for Christmas garlands.

Ray

Recycling Rocks!
-Christina

To add--

Some egg cartons are clear--perfect mini-greenhouse. My eggs come in pressed-paper--perfect individual seed-starter-straight to ground.

I just re-used my last plastic grocery store bag tonight!!! I forget to take the cloth bags often, but use 'em more than some I know (in IRL). Tonight I re-used my last plastic grocery store bag! (I eat pot pie at work and wrap my used bowl and fork in a plastic bag to keep my cloth bag clean when I tote it home.) Which reminds me...

Frozen food bowl/tray things can be re-used. Most of the little black ones are great for mixing and using small amounts of paints, but so are most of 'em. Little foil pot pie bowls can be the beer bowls to kill snails or filled w/ beans and stapled together for children to play "music" on. I think I used a couple of frozen dinner trays to mix carrot seeds with sand last year.

Also, pre-schools will take a lot of stuff. Their budgets are miniscule. One where I worked used yogurt containers, frozen dinner trays, etc. for mixing paint, paint trays, playground shovels (also used washed, cut and taped-to-avoid-sharp-edges laundry soap bottles for this; milk bottle tops were funnels), washed out spray bottles (from cleansers) were used to make spray-paint art. And of course, what is childhood without making something from paper towel and toilet paper tubes? Or cutting pictures from magazines. Preschools will usually take clean donations of this nature, but you should save up, like, 25 or more of whatever before you donate it; make it worth it for them to find room on a shelf.

When I worked in an office, the bottom drawer of my desk was devoted to non-confidental papers. When it filled I took it to the pre-school center where I worked as a student. Kids color on the other side. Save REAMS from going into the dumpster that way.

Children's artwork can be laminated and recycled as placemats. If you make a set of 6-12 placemats and give sets to each grandparent, aunt, uncle... Also, children's artwork can be used as photo mattes. Framed photo of child matted w/ child's own artwork=cheap, recycled, sentimental good gift. And there's always decoupage.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Sorry it's not all completely garden-related, but I feel strongly about donating to the preschools. That's a chance to avoid LARGE AMOUNTS of trash from going straight to the dump.

Tracy

I use freecycled wood to make garage crates. Some crates have gaps between the slats for air circulation if I want to store bulbs for the winter.

Bottoms of 2L pop containers can be used to start seedlings. The top makes a great funnel.

It's worked great...You just have to remember to lift it up and water!
Sarah

In general:
- Use scrap fabric to make cloth napkins. Just cut into a square and hem the edges. You'll never need another paper napkin again. When they get too stained for the table, use them for dusting, then in the garage, and finally the compost pile (I guess I did tie that into gardeing haha).

not really recycling but important for the enviroment:
Stop Using Harsh Chemicals to Clean Your Houses!! Vinegar, Hydrogen Peroxide and Baking soda are all you need. They work better, are cheaper and more importantly are non-toxic and enviromentally friendly. Vinegar and Hydrogen peroxide are great disinfectants. Do a goodle search on cleaning with vinegar and you'll find all the information you need. Sorry I had to vent, I just don't understand why people use that stuff.

The plastic ones get used for bathroom trash, taking lunch to work, hauling extra shoes in the car, etc. We reuse several times before they fall apart.

What size hook do you use? Do you have a pattern?

Any additional information on making bags or the other items you mention would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

I ran across these last year when finding out how to make a rug. Haven't tried it yet, though--I'm interested in that rug to use in the garage by the washing machine.

misc About.com (more links at the bottom too)

Tote bag

Rug

Juice Boxes(haha, Juicy Juice ones are my inspiration) with the tops cut off can also be used to plant seeds/seedling in. Though I'm sure that ties in with the milk/juice carton idea...Same for pudding cups.

Laundry detergent/bleach bottles with a slot cut near the top (I used an exacto knife, but do be careful not to slice yourself) makes a great "piggy bank" (to tie it into gardening, use the money you saved to buy seeds, hehe).

This is a questionable one, but use those pesky plastic bags to smoother weeds. We had a couple somehow wind up in front of our porch where there used to be random stuff growing (last year) and this year, just a few days ago, I pulled up the plastic bags so I could clean out the area and there was some really nice dirt below where there used to be wild plants. Just a thought.

I'm going blank right now. I hope to see some more replies with new ideas!

Styrofoam Egg Cartons: Save and use in packaging for mailing instead of buying peanuts.

Old no good CDs: Hang to discourage deer from your plants and in fruit trees to discourage birds.

Old (free) pallets from the feed store: Wire four together in a square and use for compost bin.
Small pieces of carpet: 1st use as a doormat for muddy feet 2nd use as a mulch to keep weeds from growing and worms like to live underneath. You can put regular mulch on top or even soil and plant a shallow rooted ground cover on it.

Large carpet: Use under rocks when building a rock wall or path to keep weeds from coming through.

This is my absolute favorite:

Use the tub part of an old wheelbarrow to move rocks and soil around. Drill a hole at each of the 4 corners and thread cable through so that there is enough extra left over to pull it without breaking your back. Thread a piece of old garden hose about 2-3 feet long over the cable at both ends so you can pull this contraption around, then off course fasten the cable.

Mom taught me most of this: The women in my family have sewed and kept *every* scrap for generations. Several closets have been lost to these scraps, but from them we make quilts, many cloth dolls and doll clothes, baby clothes, and sew bits together to make new heirloom fabrics for sewing vests, shirts. I made stockings for Christmas from heirloom scraps and topped them with bits of gathered organza curtains from the 30's. By the way, Walmart has a dollar/yard table from which I have brought home way too many yards! Three yards will make almost any garment, and some of those fabrics are silks, linens and woolens!

Looking for something reasonable to do with the doubleknit scraps from the 60's. Probably braided floor rugs, but are there other ideas out there? They are so strange and space age!

Very old feather beds/pillows have been remade by several generations, they last a long time! My mom bought new ticking in the 60's and converted her grandma's feather bed into pillows. When she died I got them and recut her pillow tickings into smaller pillows, washed and bleached the tickings and replaced the feathers. They have made great gifts to others in the family. Got the idea for smaller pillows from Mary Jane's Farm Magazine.

Wine corks are saved for cutting stamps in both ends for scrapbooking or bookmaking. My friend Rose uses old tire intertubes cut small for cutting into shapes for stamps also. She glues them to small bits of wood when they are the right shape.

Tin cans make great dog toys around here. My teether loves to chew on them. When he's thru, I use them for starting cuttings and seeds. Buster also loves plastic jars, which he treats like chewing gum, chews them into small bits.

Another thing with wine bottles and corks, and resealable beer bottles is to sterilize and refill with homemade beer and wines. Great gifts and good for us too. I make chickweed beer, dandelion beer, wild lettuce beer, will make elderberry wine this year, I hope.

Cereal boxes get flattened and stored for craft projects. We cut quilt patterns from them, use them for soft cover handmade book covers, postcards and gift bookmarks, homemade paper dolls, etc. They can be painted over with acrylics, and covered with recycled pretty papers.

There's more. When I have some more time, will write again.
Jeanine

Those wire flags used by utility companies to mark your underground lines are great for fastening soaker hoses and rabbit fencing to the ground. Cut off flag end with wire cutters, cut to desired length, and bend in half.

Old newspapers: use to line planting hole when planting among tree roots. Gives the new plant's roots a chance to get established before tree roots invade. Also good for smothering grass or a weed barrier under mulch.

Use shredded leaves in bottom of pots to keep soil from washing out.

Mesh onion bags are useful for drying flower bulbs. Fill and hang for air circulation.

Kitty litter buckets! Oh, the possibilities in a garden are endless!

Milk cartons--fill 2/3 full with water, freeze, then bash ice with a hammer to have ice for making homemade ice cream.

Put fresh catnip from yard in old socks for cat toys. They love to grab and bunny-kick them!

5-qt ice cream buckets and coffee cans--use to store bird seed, grass seed, etc. so mice/chipmunks/etc. can't get at it.

Old wooden laundry baskets (the woven kind) are great at planting time. I put my trowel, gloves, pruners, plants, etc. in them for toting to each bed.

Rinse soiled hands in the rain barrell.

Old shower curtains make a drop cloth or tarp.

Put plastic grocery bags under astilbes at planting time to hold moisture at roots.

What a fun thread!

My bucket is currently starting to compost itself into sludge in my kitchen and unless you pull the lid off, you'd never know the horrid rot that's in there.

wha? you can be lazy and still recycle, heh.

Just wet the grass/weeds where you want to plant the bed and lay the clear curtain out over the spot and weight it down with some rocks. Come back several days layer and remove/reposition. All vegetation is dead...

• Credit cards are great to use for small mess clean-up. Clean out corners of a drawer, pick up last bits of broken glass or spilled sugar, bird cage scraper, dish scraper. I save all that come in the mail for these little jobs – best use for a credit card!

• Wire coat hangers make sky hooks. They’ll hold small tools for gardening and sewing. I have one with over a dozen baskets hanging ready to use for whatever, and one with aquarium tools, one with clothespins holding notes and seeds, another with kitchen sink stuff . . . and when I need another one I just make it.

• Bacon plastic makes great cutting board for small jobs – you don’t have to get out the big cutting board. Punch a hole in it and you can hang it on the back of a cabinet door on the ready. You can also use them instead of paper napkins or plates if all you want is a sandwich.

• Gerbils shred my junk mail -- what I don’t send back in the postage paid envelopes. I keep them in an aquarium with a lid incorporating a bird cage on top where they come up for food and water (OK, and a little bit of visiting and petting). No mess of cage, and the shredded stuff (sweetened by the little fellers) goes straight into compost or into pots. Plants love it. They like cardboard boxes, too, like from boxed foods

• Dry coffee grounds and scatter them (or confine them in fabric bag) to de-odorize your car – or wherever. They are great to use as sweeping compound on floors, too. They’ll clean some of those discolored spots and sticky stuff. I’ve been told they’re used to clean Oriental rugs. I’ve tried it and its nice. Coffee beans are great deodorizers. Nice in a pretty bowl or jar.

• Jars of all sizes. Tiny ones hold beads . .. larger ones hold marbles, game pieces, tiny junk. I use only the transparent ones so I can see what’s in them. Remove labels, then remove glue with peanut butter. The peanut butter jars make good bug-catching and observation jars for the kids. It’s easy to cut out a section and glue screen wire over it for air.

• Anywhere you put something down to cover the ground will be quickly found by earthworms. I have an old rug that shelters them. Easy to get bait for fishing!

• Plastic grocery bags go into huge floor cushions made from upholstery samples. Kids love ‘em.

• Paint brushes are better for dusting anything with crevices and the stiff small ones are great for cleaning all kinds of things – woodwork, window sills, anywhere it’s hard to get at. It gets birds’ spill out of the grooves in the window.
• You can plant in a piece of gutter and wire it to a chain-link fence. If you plant vines, they’ll fall gracefully. I guess you could do that on other fences, too, but mine was on an unsightly chain-link fence.

We reuse as much as possible.

Phone books, shredded around grape vines, or in the chicken pen and afterwards go to the compost (prefertilized).

Pallets can be used as anything really, they are great. We have made small things from little boxes, to shelves, to animal pens, a feed shed, and with some longer purchased boards a house.

The cardboard backs off of notebooks can be used as gaskets (I used one in a car and it was still holding on 5 years later)

We use the wire from straw bales as fence clips, to rewire baskets, and crafts.

Cd's are great to string on line and hang outside, when a light hits them at night it confuses the little predators that are after the fruits of your labor.

Cd's also make good corner markers for fences, drives, buildings.... etc.

Olive oil old, it can be used in oil lamps as fuel.

Old egg shells can be crushed fine and mixed with feed for poultry to add the calcium they need to make shells.

Old buckets, with or without lids are great, store feed or seed, cover lid with padding as a light weight garden stool with built in tool storage, or decorate and cover to use in the house for extra storage as a stool or table. No lid... poke hole in the bottom and use to plant about any plant you would in a veggie garden. We also use the bottom half of buckets for feeders and waterers, the top half can be used to surround plants as needed.

Those pesky plastics are everywhere shopping bags, newspaper, bread bags, produce bags....... http://members.tripod.com/pacycrochets/frugal/ This link has other links at the bottom that are very creative. Don't forget to checkout pacy's home page.

Veggie cans can be used as luminaries, by filling with water, freezing, use a nail or punch and a hammer to add design, and thaw.

Our feed store will refill feed bags, the paper ones if kept flat and opened with the string (can be refilled 2-4 times) and saves money, I think it's around 50 cents to a dollar a bag.

Milk jugs are good to paint black, fill with water and use in a greenhouse to catch and store heat during the day, and it releases it at night.

I use my husbands pill bottles to store all my small desk supplies, crafts, beads, small screws, washers etc. I found an ark at a sale that appears to be for spices (it hangs on the wall) and the hole sizes are perfect, just write on the lids (my ark holds 34 bottles)

New, unused sections of sewer pipe (leftovers of course) can be cut and laid on their sides, glued together and painted for seperating yarns, jars of garden seeds, hand tools, or those homemade bottles of wine.

Things I remember from when I was younger .......
distributer caps as pen holders, Bicycle rims and hub caps as the tops of windchimes, sawdust mulch, bed frame trellis', gears as weights for self closing gates, broken dishes used for tile, old pans and nesco's used as feeders waterers and planters, and old flashing with recycled windows used to make pie safe doors........

I could go on forever, I have great neighbors who teach me more almost daily. We all work together to do our part (now if I could just keep up.....lol)

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc250/Jazzygardener/Fountaingarden. gif

Nobody has mentioned what you do with the elastic that is left when DH's tidy-whities wear out! I remove it by using a razor blade as a seam ripper and cutting the threads that attach the elastic to the cotton knit. I then have a good strong elastic band that I put around my trash cans, just under the lip. It keeps my liner bag from falling down into the trash can. I also just started some seed (in my newspaper pots) and lined them all up in an old square cake pan. Covered with plastic wrap and slid the elastic around the pan to hold the plastic wrap on. Probably there are other uses.

buy an old window at a junk store and hang it on the wall. Use it as a bulletin board, sticking things on the glass with a little tape. Also you can buy 5 of them and make a mini-greenhouse (4 for the sides and the 5th one for the top.)

I use a metal teapot to pour my cooking oil in after I've used it. When I need a little oil for something I pour it out of that.

Planting tiny seeds but don't have one of those gizmos that ejects them (and they don't work as good as you'd expect, by the way) -- put them in a salt shaker.

I bought one of those can openers that opens the can by breaking the seal rather than by cutting through the metal. I really love it. Then if I want to use the can for anything -- and by the way that luminary idea for cans was a cute idea! Not only can you do that to the can, but you can take the lid, which has a nice rim around it, punch holes in it in a heart design or snowflake or whatever, paint it and you have something to hang on your Christmas tree. The lids will even fit back onto the can when they've been removed this way, so you could even use the can to store things in.

I use spring-style clothespins as chip bag clips. You could also glue a magnet to one side and use them to hold things on your fridge.

I buy freezer baskets at garage sales. They're great for storing things in the pantry, especially those bags of chips and cereals. I bought a bunch of plastic crates from a greenhouse that was going out of business -- they were about 3'long by 2'wide by 8" deep -- they fit on my pantry shelves perfectly, long-ways. I was able to put my shelves closer together because once I had my canned goods in the crates, all I had to do was pull the crate out a bit to see what was in there. Works really great when your pantry is deep and you have a hard time seeing things in the back. I guess you could say I just love crates because I buy them every time I see them at garage sales. I bought several "recycling crates" one time. I use these in so many ways. They are big, about the same size as my greenhouse crates but about 12" deep. I use some under the bottom shelf of my pantry to hold big things like jugs of oil, vinegar, etc. They stack and kinda lock together so they're sturdy enough to stack sets of two and use as the base for a work table or a garage sale table by using an old door.

Oh, and don't get me started on old doors. When we moved into the house we live in now, all the doors were those hollow core veneered doors. The previous owner had cut them down to clear the carpet and the veneer had peeled and they were just flat-out ugly. We replaced them as soon as we could afford to. But the kept the old doors. We use them when we need a quick work table. --But keep them dry or they won't last very long.

Pringles cans! If you have a large container you want to fill with silk flowers you can tape a bunch of the cans together and set inside the container. This keeps the flowers standing up. Store things like paint brushes and steel wool in them, either taped together and laying on their sides or singly. Use small Pringles containers to store seeds (but clean them really well to remove the salt residue).

Gallon glass jars are my flour, sugar and cornmeal canisters. My shelves are too close together to stand them up but I lay them on their sides. If I want the contents to show I put them in with the bottoms facing out. But I find them easier to grab with the tops facing out. For things I keep in smaller amounts, I use glass jars that match the gallon jars but are only half as high. Restaurants still get maraschino cherries and I think some other stuff in half-gallon glass jars. Or watch for them at garage sales.

Mesh bags, like what oranges come in, are good containers for black walnuts. As black walnuts dry, they need air circulating. You can hang the bag from the rafters by a hook, keeps the squirrels from tearing up the bag and running off with the goods.

I put everything in the compost except meat scraps. I use a bagless vacuum cleaner (those pesky manufacturers! How dare they sell us a vacuum cleaner we have to keep buying bags for!!) and even dump the contents of that. For me, a garbage disposal is a waste of money. Also fireplace ashes go into the compost bins. If you have vines, you can run over 'em with the lawn mower. Things with stalks, like sunflowers, I just cut the stalks in 2" or 3" pieces with my lopper.

Johnson grass and Bermuda grass are the bane of my existence. It gets into everything. Now we fight back. DH quit using the mulching blade and now uses the bagger on the lawn mower, and we mulch with the grass clippings. Leave a space around your plant stem if you're putting down more than an inch or so, as the grass gets so hot it smokes! We did very little weeding last summer and had a really productive garden. Till it in the following spring. Yes, you're planting grass seeds. But if you're going to mulch again, they won't get past germination.

Old curtain sheers are good for covering up your zucchini and squash as soon as you see that little yellow butterfly/moth flying around. It lays eggs in the stem of your zucchini and then when the larvae hatch, they eat your plant from the inside out! If the plant is covered, the moth can't lay her eggs there. You can remove it after a week or two, when you aren't seeing the moth any more. I also use curtain sheers to shade things when the sun bears down too hot. If you get a surprise rain, the rain will still get through to the plant.

I really loved the looks of that broken cement bed, Jazzy! Wish I'd thought of that when we jackhammered out some old steps and sidewalks!

I don't know about styrofoam. Could you break it all up into tiny pieces, run over it with the lawn mower, run it thru a shredder maybe and incorporate the small pieces into the garden?

I really loved the pocket idea, made with a coffee can. It's getting harder and harder to find coffee in a real can now, but they still sell institutional sized cans of veggies and fruit and they'd probably work as well.

DH made me a "dibble". It's a block of plywood with holes 2" apart. Stick golf tees down into the holes. They need to fit tightly. Press the "dibble" into the ground, makes several rows of evenly-spaced holes to drop your seed into. If you want the holes spaced further apart, remove some of the tees.

I think stockwire -- or cattle panels -- or whatever you call them in your area -- is fantastic stuff! They are sections of galvanized wire fencing, welded where the horizontal wire crosses the vertical wire. They are 4' x 13'. If you have raised beds, you can make arches of these panels by fitting the ends into the inside of the bed. Great for climbing things like beans and cucumbers. The fruit hangs down and is easier to see and pick. Because they're growing up, you can plant the seed really close together this way. DH made me a grape arbor frame out of pipe and we cut the stock wire to fit across the top and down each vertical section. Really makes an outstanding grape arbor.

Also, if you have raised beds and you have just planted your seedlings, you can lay a piece of stock wire across the top. the spaces are big enough to let the plant grow through, but is very annoying to a cat or dog. Once the plants get bigger, you can take the wire off, or not.

That's about all I can think of for right now. --Ilene

I feel really "green".

Glass jars with lids keep my pantry arranged and keep seeds well ordered and dry.

Yogurt containers get drilled for drainage and painted, then sit on salvaged styrofoam trays on a windowsill. They're also great for small quantities of leftovers, sans the drainage holes.

Bleach containers (for the well system) are chopped in half. One side acts as a watering tray or seed planter. The spout side is a waterer for potted plants when we're away. Just poke 2 holes by the top and leave the cap on.

Most of the other things mentioned we already do. We're waiting for the trash can to go south so I don't have to buy an expensive composter.

What a great thread :)

got a lot of great ideas in this thread, and confirmation that some of my loony ideas weren't so loony after all.

despite the return deposit the 2liters seem to pile up around here. i like to use them to haul water around because of the limited faucets in this old house (i garden in the attic where there is no water supply) and recently hit upon the idea to make a "rain head" for one. I used a very tiny bit and drilled about 15 holes in a bottle cap. As long as I leave a little bit of air space to squeeze the bottle I have a nice gentle somewhat-controllable "shower" effect in a very small radius.

i was beginning to despair that i would have to shell out big bucks!

i would imagine it would work as well with a wider-mouth juice bottle for larger applications that are not large enough to require a hose.

1. You can use old aluminum foil for a scratcher thingy to clean an iron skillet, or any metal type pans.

2. Old magazines have beautiful slick paper (those pesky ads - haha) that can be used for crafts, seed pkgs., and even gift tags. Some junk mail can also be used.

3. There's a plastic cat-food container that has a handle on it -- I forget the name, but it can be used for bird seed, and of course, pet food storage so you don't always have to deal with the large bags.

4. You can make a great seed/chaff sorter - just take a sheet of any kind of paper, or even a cut up box might do ---take a hole puncher and punch several holes in it ---lay your seed/chaff on it and watch the seeds fall through the holes and the chaff stays on top. Of course, if it's really small seeds this won't work.

5. For plant tie-ups I bought a skein of green yarn (the cheapest) and the green color fits right into my garden areas. I've been using it for 3 years now. You can also spray-paint the stakes green or black and they don't show up as much.

6. Use small boxes, like from Pop Tarts, or spaghetti, etc., as organizers in desk drawers.

7. The 2-litre soda bottles (big ones) have so many uses. Of course, I have several sitting near, or on, my window sill with little seedlings already popped up. Just cut the bottom (use a serated knife --- the jaggedy kind --hold on to the bottle really good --so you won't cut yourself--been there, did that!!) take cap off, cut about 3 inches down. You can use these for years, just wash them good.

8. Another use for the large, or even the small ones, is to cut off the top about 3 inches down. Put several together and lay them on their side. Use clear tape, or even duct tape for the garage or closet, and tape them together. Makes great storage.

9. Broken mirror pieces can be used with seashells and glued on to small tables, or frames, or boxes, just about anything. They sell these little mirror things at the craft stores.

10. Old kitchen plates can be used under pots to catch the water. And they're attractive!

11. You can clean those plastic chairs that have turned a greenish color -- I used Comet and it works good---just takes a little elbow grease.

12. An old metal wheelbarrow makes a great little table outfit. Just add an old metal oven rack or piece of wood to the center and add a cute tablecloth that lets the bottom part show. Add a couple of chairs and a vase of flowers. Instant decorating. And, you can still use the wheelbarrow when needed. I also painted mine.

13. Easy tab-top curtains --- take a sheet and use some of the rolls of ribbon you can buy at Wal-mart -- some you don't even have to sew----the edges are okay ---then hand, or machine sew, the ribbon (after you cut it into 6-8" lenths for the loops at the top, to the top of the sheet. Very easy -- nobody's gonna see it! There are all kinds of colors you can buy. I throw mine into the washer on delicate and it does fine.

14. You can use the sleeves of old long-sleeve shirts and tops for doll clothes. A little elastic, a little trim, and Barbie can have a new wardrobe.

Well, that's all I can think of right now, except this -- I use white sheets a lot since I like the shabby chic look. I find these at local thrift stores for about $2.00. They wash pretty well and can be used as throws, drapes, for cushions, tablecloths, etc. You can bleach them, or use the tea to dye them an off-white color.

Well,I have read almost all the posts in this thread and thought it would be great to keep it going.Most gardeners are good recyclers,but I'm sure there's more we can learn from one another.

One thing I do is to use newspaper as weed barrier,as well as old carpet.I'm sure both have been mentioned.

I also use old shower puffs to scrub planters and outdoor furniture.Hang it on the faucet along w a pantyhose w soap scraps and an old toothbrush to clean my nails.

Craigslist is one of my favorite resources - I've swapped fabric for shelving, a big ugly china cabinet for a smaller sideboard-and-hutch model that doesn't block the way in to the kitchen so much, found the peacock-style rattan chair of my childhood dreams, and gotten to give away tons of pack-ratted stuff I was never going to use, not even if I lived to be a hundred...which my husband refers to as 'recycling' our storage space.

another thing I love to recycle is plants - my hostas are mostly rescues, people buy a house, and the first thing they seem to do is rip out the ring of them around the tree in the front yard : ) my irises collections started as a trade for some of the spiderworts that came with my house - most of them have been replaced with lily of the valley, in that dead zone in the shade of the house -

and the garden wall used to be the neighbor's sidewalk, the concrete guys doing the demo schlepped it over to my house for me, since I saved them the dump fees : ) they're doing road work near my house, and I've already talked to the crew about when they're going to 'abandon' the project - there's a broken section of culvert pipe that would make a grreat planter, if I can get my hands on it : )

My brother just moved in an old house and took down an old 'lean to' that was made from scrap lumber and old decorative posts.The posts are coming to my house to be refurbished into large candle holders or a plant stand.

I'll be repairing and painting old lattice rescued from the trash.I'd like to make a screen of sorts and plant a running vine to help shade the centrael air unit.

Rescued 4 older office chairs that we are sanding,painting and then covering the back rest with old denim.These will be given to a friend or sold at the next yard sale.

Plan on reusing magazines to make paper beads for jewelry,to sale and give as gifts.

We have a stack of odd size boards that will be turned into birdhouses and little quotation signs.Again,to sale and give as gifts.

I save candle stubs and broken tapers.Also,buy old candles at yard sales,usually by the box or bag.These are melted down and made into new candles.Easiest way is to pour into an old candle jar.

I'm sure I'll think of more things.Lets keep this thread going.

Use #6 plastic (usually take out containers – clear not styrofoam) to make your own shrinky dinks in the oven. You need flat pieces of plastic and permanent markers. Just cut the piece about 1/3 bigger than you need, as it will shrink and write or colour your picture. Hole punch if needed. Bake for 1-2 mins in a 300 degree oven. And recycle the parts of the plastic you did not use. This is a project kids will love to help with!

Rhianna

The tops of 2-liter bottles make great funnels. The tops of gallon jugs cut below the handle also make funnels, or with the lid still on, a big scoop. The bottom makes a pot for planting cuttings. Cut near the bottom, mini-greenhouses. The bottoms make little trays for holding miscellaneous small items: small hardware, twist ties etc.
I keep two plastic pitchers in the bathroom that I use to catch water when starting up the shower until it warms up. I let them sit for a day to let the chlorine evaporate.
I then pour them into old wine bottles to water my seedlings and houseplants. The long necks help with water high hanging plants or the seedlings on the back row.

I have big canvas tote bags (pharmaceutical giveaway from Mom's chemo drug company) with a sturdy flat bottom and wide sturdy carrying straps. I use them for grocery shopping. They will hold three 1-gallon jugs without tipping over, or the contents of about 4-5 plastic-grocery bags. They fit over my shoulder and are much easier to carry than anything the store will give me.

Rescued an old,broken,plastic statue from the neighbors trash pile.I'll re-glue and paint if with 'stone look' paint that I already have.Will be a nice addition to a flower bed.

Was cleaning out an old shed at my mom's and found the top for a toilet tank.No cracks or chips....white porcelain.I'm going to check the price for special paints and maybe paint some flowers or something and add to the garden.
The tank is still there.I might drag it home and use as a planter...lol.

Picked up 3 thick plastic utility sinks...free.Plan on painting,because they are a dirty white and I don't want them to stand out.Will use as large planters.

Old wheel barrow....no wheel and a broken handle.Might use as a planter.Put the metal piece where the wheel was in the ground and put a few big rocks around it to disguise it sort of.

More old carpet and an old bathroom mat,along with cardboard boxes were used today as weed barrier in the future rock garden.

I have about 30 old windows that I was blessed with last summer.I'm going to paint a beach scene on one and hang it from chains in front of my bathroom window.This will give me a bit of privacy even when the other window is open
*I live in a rental and didn't want to glaze the actual glass.*

There's a 5 gallon bucket in the bathtub to catch water while it warms up and to catch shower water.Used to water flowers.....not veggies.

Well,it's late and I must get some sleep.I'll be back with more another day.I'll post pics when I get things completed.Keep the ideas coming.

Good gardening, Mary

1. When my husband's t-shirts become old and are in need replacing, one of the things he does is cut the sleeves off and use them as sweatbands for when he's working in the yard. You can easily toss them in with the other laundry and reuse.
2. To keep the sweatbands handy I put them all into an empty tissue box on a shelf in the garage. Keeps them neat and in one easily accessible place.
3. Plastic grocery bags, a sore spot for many, are easily kept tidy by stuffing them into the empty cartons that hold 12 soda cans. Just pull one out when you need a replacement. We use them instead of store-bought trash bags. At least we're not tossing them in the trash bags with the other trash :)
4. Need sheets to cover plants when there's a danger of frost? Goodwill, Goodwill, Goodwill! King and queen sheets and even cloth shower curtains and lighter weight curtains are so affordable there and, when needed, can be easily washed, dryed, and stored for the next freeze warning.

I've thoroughly enjoyed reading the suggestions on this never-ending thread! Just when you think it is about to vanish... someone new finds it and adds another post!

Save all those cardboard egg cartonos, toilet paper tubes and paper towel tubes for your local Head Start or kindergarten class. They use them for craft projects.

As for those plastic bags, you can avoid a lot of them with old headscarves folded into bags,Japanese furoshiki style. I stuff my old scarves into the bottom of my purse, pockets, sometimes I just wear a pretty one around my neck until I need it for a bag. They are very strong and will hold a lot of groceries, or wine bottles, or just about whatever you want to carry. Plus they make wonderful gift wrap. You can even stuff them into a cloth bag. One bag will carry a whole bunch of scarves, and you will never need a plastic bag again! You can find them by the bunches, cheap, at most resale shops.

i try and recycle everything, in fact if im buying certain things that will likely break or deteriorate before i die, i think about how am i going to dispose of it. it saves me money. my patio table/chairs was bought becuase its aluminum(if it breaks i can still recoup a few bucks)

lately my thing has been pallets. last weekend i brought 3 home from work, and built a crate (for 2 SWCs i built from neighbors cat litter buckets, wife wasnt thrilled about the sight of cat litter buckets in the yard, dont blame her) a build as you grow potato bin, birdhouse(funny story, that was a bet that i could build a birdhouse in 30 minutes, i took me 45, but still) and a nice toasty fire outside while i admired my creations. i love pallets

check out global buckets.org? just google global buckets. great stuff.

google "self watering container plastic tote" at my thrift stores theres ALWAYS(unless im looking for them) plastic totes.

you can make a seed starting heat mat out of xmas lights, cardboard and an old cookie sheet(items usually at the thrift store)

i save water bottles(we dont use alot) for mini drip irrigation waterers. poke 3-5 holes in the bottom and one in the cap. fill from rain barrel, sit down at base of tomato. 1 liter of water in the soil. less disease. less water wasted.

i can go on for days. i likely will.