Author Topic: scavengers anonymous thread..... (Read 8167 times)

gunnerbee · « **on:** February 04, 2006, 18:08:32 »

Post here your lastest scavengings.... come on we all do it!!!!!

Columbus · « **Reply #1 on:** February 04, 2006, 18:23:29 »

Hi Gunnerbee

I love to scavenge stuff.

Today I planted 4 big tubs of daffodils. I hadn`t paid for the tubs, the potting compost or the bulbs. :D They are sitting in my big fruit cage for a few weeks, I didn`t pay for any of that either. Its amazing what you can get just by asking nicely.

Col

gunnerbee · « **Reply #2 on:** February 04, 2006, 19:00:05 »

Blimey columbus, you done well, where did you scavenge that lot from?? lol.

busy_lizzie · « **Reply #3 on:** February 04, 2006, 19:30:43 »

We haven't started our scavenging for this year yet as we are not very active on our plot at the moment. Just wait though we will have our heads in all the skips in the area before too long.

In the past we have bordered all our beds with wood from skips. Our Greenhouse is made from all scavanged stuff, our pathways along the side of the plot are from pallets, our compost heaps and manure compound all from scavanged wood, and one of our water butts was rescued from a skip. Our biggest find with the owners consent was a fax machine from a skip which my OH swapped for a welding kit, so that was a great one. So watch this space .... ;D busy_lizzie

John_H · « **Reply #4 on:** February 04, 2006, 21:25:08 »

If anyone hasn't heard of it before, freecycle is a useful way of picking up stuff which people are just going to throw out

http://freecycle.org/display.php?region=United%20Kingdom

Roy Bham UK · « **Reply #5 on:** February 04, 2006, 21:44:53 »

I’m a right old scavenger, :o :-[ I don’t know where I get the bottle as I am a shy boy really. :-[ Apart from loads of timber, an incinerator, a water butt, a mini butane gas fire, a double door hanging kitchen cabinet for food & drinks, big roll of polythene, blue plastic water pipe for cloches, two red stacking chairs, shelving for greenhouse, several wooden pallets and builders sacks full of wood chippings, I also have these below, the deep freeze I spotted in a front garden last Christmas, two BBQ’s dumped last spring, a shed from a friend last spring, a wheel barrow dumped by a local tarmac firm, slabs from my daughters back garden and finally a tumbleweed composting bin from a friend. Oh and a cuddly toy. ;D

Edited to say The wheel barrow was a Christmas prezzy, I don't have a piccy of the builders barrow. ::)

busy_lizzie · « **Reply #6 on:** February 04, 2006, 22:56:41 »

You are "The Master" Roy! ;D busy_lizzie

Columbus · « **Reply #7 on:** February 05, 2006, 08:39:21 »

wow Roy You are amazing :D :D :D

Hi all, I can get stuff because I cycle and walk everywhere I go and I check for what is available especially when building work is going on. But then I have transport problems for bigger items so I have to carry ropes with me to tie large items to my bike and I built a bike trailer which I use for repeat loads.

The Zen of scavenging. Quite often asking for smaller things will get you a bigger thing that you didn`t see.

Last year after taking an interest in stuff left outside I was invited to empty the cellar of a local newsagents that had had a plant selling venture and had heaps of left over stuff including sacks of compost and pots.

I am much braver about asking than I used to be. I will ask workers for stuff or haul stuff out of a skip right in front of people. Sometime I just want "unusual stuff" - at the moment I need the rear triangle of a bike, preferably a BMX. This is so I can build a stronger hitch for my trailer so I can use it more. I also limit the amount of wood I collect and just go for long peices because I can get so much of it.

The saddest thing is living next to the "biggest city centre building development in europe" and other huge building projects that just won`t give anything away. Although I`m interested in the Starbucks coffee grounds thing (thanks for that tip) as I`m sure there will be one in the development.

Col

Paulines7 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 05, 2006, 10:51:29 »

We got a free fruitcage which was advertised on our village noticeboard. We just had to dismantle it and take it away. As you can see from the picture, it is quite large.

We also got some free paving slabs and old bricks, through the same board.

Curryandchips · « **Reply #9 on:** February 05, 2006, 13:21:58 »

The Zen of Scavenging. What a wonderful description for an approach to what is in reality a very rewarding activity, ie creating a secondary use out of what are discarded goods.

Trixiebelle · « **Reply #10 on:** February 05, 2006, 13:32:50 »

ROY: I ADMIRE YOU ALMOST AS A MUCH AS MONTY ;D

I love scavenging! Me and my dad used to go 'skip-diving' when I was a kid. The rush of adrenalin when you see a flash of yellow skip on a pavement curb never goes away ;)

Mubgrub · « **Reply #11 on:** February 05, 2006, 13:59:21 »

ooh ooh ooh! So far this year:

Tonnes of carpet off cuts

Several bundles of bamboo canes

A dustbin for planting potatoes in

gunnerbee · « **Reply #12 on:** February 05, 2006, 19:38:35 »

abandoned caravan on the side of the road the other day, it was a beauty, big one aswell, when i mentioned it, he rolled his eyes as he usually does, pity my car wasnt on the road, id have had it!!!

amphibian · « **Reply #13 on:** February 05, 2006, 19:54:47 »

Lots of roofing joists, big 2x8" about 10' long. I am very pleased with them. I had to carry them individually half a mile.

MrsKP · « **Reply #14 on:** February 05, 2006, 22:03:30 »

our bessie mates donated their pine divan base to our cause today. i'm going to use it to make a raised bed or two ... question is do i have to treat it with anything before i get it planted up or will that affect the soil in my beds ? to treat (and with what?) or not to treat ... that is the question.

???

grawrc · « **Reply #15 on:** February 05, 2006, 23:01:17 »

I've used freecycle quite a bit: good for getting things but also for the things you want rid of.

Jitterbug · « **Reply #16 on:** February 06, 2006, 15:58:05 »

My dear dad always says "one man's rubbish is another ones treasure" - I always remember that when I've 'found something. I remember as a child he had a wonderful garden and most of it came out of skips - thinned out bulbs, cannas, etc.

Anyway, I transgress from the subject - what have I scavanged -- well... Last week I was driving around quite late from a meeting when I spied three HUGE bags of leaves that the Council had scooped up ::)- well I nearly got whiplash from stopping so suddenly and I had to go around the block to have another look but lo and behold - three huge bags of leaf mould are now happily sitting in my backyard rotting away? I was only doing my bit and helping the council dispose of it :-[ Anyone for any leaf mould? ;D

Roy - what a lovely picture of your lottie - neatest one I've every seen.

Robert_Brenchley · « **Reply #17 on:** February 06, 2006, 17:30:10 »

A few years ago I got rid of a wasps' nest for someone, and in return I was presented with several binbags full of plants he was getting rid of. Neither of us knew what they were. i ended up with a large quantity of Trillium kurabayashii and a nice clump of Podophyllums.

Roy Bham UK · « **Reply #18 on:** February 13, 2006, 23:08:02 »

Just to add to my collection, I picked up today a bag full of what appears to be metal tent poles, with lots of different angles on them, anyone have ideas what I could use them for on the lottie? ???

They have dumped the material too that I left behind, not like the normal tent canvas, it looks thinner and white in colour, any ideas? As I could always nip back and get it. ;D

sjg12 · « **Reply #19 on:** February 14, 2006, 03:35:57 »

Roy

you lucky devil i am on the hunt for some old tent poles as i thought about using them to hold fleece or netting off plants.

I will have to keep looking

Simon

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Author Topic: scavengers anonymous thread..... (Read 8167 times)

amphibian