Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: PurpleHeather on May 25, 2008, 06:45:54
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Yup, I am one. Proud of it too.
Most of us grow our own just because we like to do it and the vultures are out there trying to sell us every gadget and chemical they can think of to get us to part with money.
I have plenty of things I do to 'save' but would love to know from others, what cheapskate things they know work too.
This is also an environmentally friendly quest, re-using packaging is top of the list.
Lots of replies please.
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I use supermarket mushroom boxes as seed trays - make some holes in the bottom and away you go. I also use them as "havesting baskets", just right for 1 trip to the greenhouse. I use marg tubs to make plant lables. Inside out compost bags cut to make hanging basket liners. Compost bags to grow spuds in. Lawn clippings as mulch. I can't think of any more things that I do but it's early in the morning!
Helen - also proud to be a cheepskate.
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Butter tubs make good seed trays vending machine cups for individual pots
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semantics, semantics ::)....some may call it 'cheapskate' - others think of it as a Top Tip ;D....lots of good ideas on that forum, PH :)
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I was going to say about the mushroom things but you beat me to it!
;D
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hi all
I use egg boxes for seed trays then in the recyle bin
so 3 usees in 1 product and no waste.i also use lids
of a4 cardbroad to make tube for celery.old coffee
jars for next years bean ,pea seeds.
:D :D
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plant pots out of newspaper, held together with those elastic bands that for some reason postmen are allowed to chuck on the pavement without being classed as littering
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I have found that the 1 litre ice cream containers (Morrison's Classic, ALDI has them too) which are black, make good pots for cuttings. About 5" square, you can get 8 or 9 cuttings in one. When the cuttings have rooted you can then transplant singly into the containers to grow on.
Naturally that is my favourite ice cream.
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I use 500ml yogurt pots for putting individual seedlings in to harden off. Saves needing labels as I write directly on the pot. Also good as cane tops at the plot to stop the netting sliding down
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Where would we be without toilet roll tubes as root trainers?
Pallets made into compost bins.
Plastic trays from the supermarket make good saucers for the greenhouse.
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I use all the clear plastic fruit tubs over and over again, perfect for sowing seeds and collecting berries, containers for almost anything in the greenhouse
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All of the above plus half lemonade bottles for mini cloches and slug barriers.
Collecting blown down fences for compost bins and planters (after storms of course)
Ive used an old wicker lampshade as a planter for Bizzie Lizzies.
Old black tights or stockings as soil containers for 'Mind your own business' around the pond, the roots and stems will grow happily covering the stockings.
Empty 4 pint milk cartons with one side cut off makes an ideal container for toilet roll pots.
A left over sheet of corrugated plastic, one slatted outdoor table and bunjie straps = a good cloche for pots if you run out of cold frame or greenhouse space in spring
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.....those old tights and stockings? Make good ties for toms, etc. as they stretch to accommodate the thickening stem.
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Save my own seed (where I can).
There is currently a 3x3foot area on my allotment crammed full of autumn sown rocket that went to flower a few months ago. The bees are happily pollinating it and a quick rough and ready calculation shows I should collect about £50 (at retail prices) worth of seed later in the season.
Many of you will have probably seen the minute amount of seed that many seed companies put in their rocket packets and they charge (I was going to say a packet but stopped myself) about £1.50 for this sprinkling. As I like to eat rocket at every opportunity I save myself quite a bit.
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Tights-stockings. for storing onions.
Wash out the tights and cut at the gusset
pop in an onion, push down to the toe end, tie a knot. keep knotting each onion and then they will hang from a hook in the shed/garage roof for over winter. Cut off one by one the knot will keep the others in place.
Emergency cloche:-
Plastic bag over the plant, pegged or held down with a stone. or
Empty two litre or larger soft drink container cut in half.
Free from most supermarkets:-
plastic boxes shaped to hold yogurts in place will also hold your little pots in place
Plastic boxes which have contained baguette sandwiches; use a double thickness and punch in holes for seed trays.
Big black flower buckets, drill holes in the bottom for larger flower pots.
Spray cleaner containers, (thoroughly washed out of course) can be filled with soapy water for spraying aphids.
Can also be filled with a weed killing solution but always make sure that you rinse it out and throw it out after using to avoid accidents.
left over plastic pipes or plastic curtain track which are bendy can be arched pushed into the soil and used as a bridge to 'lift' plastic sheeting or fleece over plants.
Labels can be made with those self adhesive address labels and wooden skewers or cocktail sticks, the labels are folded in half, sticky to sticky to form a flag. Use a thick soft leaded pencil to write with because the sun bleaches out biro ink and water makes felt tip ink run.
polystyrene packaging, cut into chunks makes good drainage for the bottom of large pots. Lighter than gravel too.
Old paperback book pages will roll from top to bottom form root trainers, fix with a staple at each end. (There is a limit to how many toilet roll tubes you can acquire).
Dandelion clocks (that suddenly appear)
Set alight with a cigarette lighter, lit match or gas cooker lighter to stop them flying off and spreading.
Picking fruit from tall trees.
Ask your council for a free litter picker, explain to them, that when you go on walks you always take a plastic bag and like to pick up other peoples dropped litter to protect wild life but are afraid of hypodermic needles. (you may well get free black rubbish bags from them too) These pickers double up well as fruit pickers. Even treble up for reaching things on high shelves!
Cuttings.
Always have at least one small plastic bag in your pocket.
Admire some one's plant (when they are there, no stealing) and ask permission to take a cutting. Never had a refusal yet.
I am trying to find a use for all those electrical leads/cables we always seem to get with every kettle, radio, tv, computer gadget and other things. Hate to throw them away. Any ideas. Just know there is a joker out there ready for this one!
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Strip insulation and make copper rings to keep snails off. I've just made some, everyone at the lottie was taking the p**s but they seem to work.
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Has anyone mentioned plastic magazine wrappers as bags for propagating?
I collect hops from the local brewery for free and use as a mulch. They come in raelly useful malt sacks- great for rubbish, rubble, and i've freecycled a lot, plus thya have plastic liners which I detach, rinse out and use as bin liners in my big kitchen bin, so they've had at least 3 uses before being thrown away.
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I collect the 'waste' from the seaweed concentrate factory! a bit like coffee grounds after the percolator type thingy! ;) It's great in the compost heap, and as a mulch for hungry crops!
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I'm near a cricket bat factory, and offcuts from cricket bats are surprisingly useful. Wood for BBQ, weights for weed suppressing fabric, supports for raised beds, heavy mulch, building compost heaps, all sorts of things.
Lately they have been woodchipping them, so free path covering.
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It looks like we all need to check what factories and manufacturers we have in our area.
Think what waste they may have which we can make use of and go along and get it from them before they send it to be dumped. A phone call does not cost much, they may even deliver if they are passing, cheaper for them than pay to have stuff tipped or skipped.
Everyone must have a scaffolding firm nearby, the old planks make good beds.
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Everyone must have a scaffolding firm nearby, the old planks make good beds.
my missus and kids refuse to sleep in them! ;D ;D ;D ;)
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A lot of the firms will not let you have them now because of the health and safety implications ;D
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A lot of the firms will not let you have them now because of the health and safety implications ;D
Positive responses only please, exactly who are the firms who have refused to let YOU have them on these grounds?
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Everyone must have a scaffolding firm nearby, the old planks make good beds.
my missus and kids refuse to sleep in them! ;D ;D ;D ;)
Quite right too. They are good enough for you though.Sleepwell
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some offshore scaffolding companies have to have a destruction certificate for their old boards, CAPE is the name of one in our town that does this, something about single use boards and offshore blasting/coating?
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I have not tried personally for scaffold boards as I do not use them.Consider why these boards are no longer used .Because they have a fault.Obviously people need sound boards who are working at height.
If you go and buy a board off them they will presume you will be using them for scaffolding and the company who supplied them could be held responsible for accidents.I have heard that some may supply them if you sign a disclaimer but I do not know if this is true.Do not mean to sound negative.I am quite a positive person really. ;D
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some offshore scaffolding companies have to have a destruction certificate for their old boards, CAPE is the name of one in our town that does this, something about single use boards and offshore blasting/coating?
Thanks for that link, I have contacted them so that we can recycle the boards for growing beds.
They do hire out scaffolding and it is important that they dispose of cracked, broken and damaged boards responsibly.
Now that we have clearly established that damaged scaffolding planks should not to be reused as scaffolding planks, (which most sensible people already knew), we want them for beds (which are on the ground). perhaps we can move on?
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Sorry,did not know scaffolding boards meant so much to you :)
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We had a massive lorryload delivered to the site last week, they were all gone in no time. Raised beds have clearly become popular!
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Purpleheather, is this an exam question?
;D
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No, that would be something on the lines of 'Why might a company refuse to supply used scaffolding boards to an allotment site? Give reasons, showing that you have considered more than one point of view.'
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0 out of ten for me Mr Brenchley :)
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Sir! Sir! I know, sir!
;D ;D ;D
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GREAT RESULT
Earlier on today when going shoppin we saw in some one's front garden a sign about new driveways with a phone number (it was probably for future customers) but I could see they were clearing things we could use on the allotments.
I phoned the guy (free phone calls after 6pm with BT)
Asked him what he did with soil, paving slabs and those old fashioned brick/cobbled drive bits.
He told me he charged the buyer of the new driveway for skips.
Told him to drop off at our allotment address.
Just had a delivery of the most wonderful top soil and some paving slabs.
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.....but did you also nab the sign?
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Back to the scaffold boards - I collected mine from Speedy Hire, they had lots of old ones, damaged, etc, behind their depot. They let me help myself to the ones they couldn't use and I had to load them myself onto the car, take them home,clean off the slugs and muck and then cut to size. It took a couple of years, but I got there in the end. No joy from scaffold companies, though.
I did try HSS as well, and they tried to persuade me that for H&S reasons I couldn't have any, even after I explained why I wanted them, the excuse was that someone might get onto the allotment (which is locked), dismantle my raised beds and use the boards on a scaffold. Then if there was an accident they would be liable because they gave the boards to me.
Pigs might fly ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::)
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Oh ,so glad I did not imagine it all ;D
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;D ;D ;D
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Reused dryer sheets keep soil from draining out of pot holes.
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Chicken bones. Dried after I finish baking something as the oven cools down then pushed deep in the soil around roses or anywhere bone meal is needed. I'm just trying this and am hoping no foxes become too interested. ::)
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For some reason I like walking under vines so have scrounged for arbor-building materials and now have a rustic twig arbor, a very wild looking branch arbor, a rusted volleyball fencing arbor and a cross-country skis arbor.
Left over pipe gets used to secure the branches sunk in the ground and also for birdhouse poles.
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Bird houses from off cuts of timber sounds a great idea.
The idea about dried chicken bones is the most interesting one yet. I would have thought you would need to pummel them to dust for them to be effective and fear rats around here rather than foxes. Will be keen to know if it works for you though.
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I've been wondering how to grow to eat a scaffolding board ::), but now I've also got to ponder on the best way of growing to eat a bird house?...still, spect Bill Oddy may have some ideas....actually, how about growing the nests those foreign chappies use for birds nest soup?
But there's still the question of growing-to-eat scaffolding boards....
;)
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I've been wondering how to grow to eat a scaffolding board ::), but now I've also got to ponder on the best way of growing to eat a bird house?...still, spect Bill Oddy may have some ideas....actually, how about growing the nests those foreign chappies use for birds nest soup?
But there's still the question of growing-to-eat scaffolding boards....
;)
maybe that was pushing the limits to some ;) but the birds eat the predator insects that eat our edibles so that seems fair game.
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......and woodworm eat the scaffolding boards....
;) ;D
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Am I the only one that buys joints of meat in supermarkets? I hated the huge plastic container it comes in but then found it made a idea propagator lid! just the right size for a ½ tray.
I can,t use the old tights suggestion as I don,t wear any!
marg
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Neither do I Marg, I did in my yoof though and found a pair of sexy black heavy denier stockings, which have been very useful for containing the soil for plants around my pond and you can mould them nicely to shape around logs or stones. :D
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got loads of free soil and wood chip delivered today, along with another load of stable sweepings for the manure bin.
It pays to be cheeky
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Did you ask for a free horse as well ::)
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I always use my water butt....saves lots if on meter... ;D
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I've been married before, does that mean that I am re-cycled? ;D ;D ;D
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4 pint milk cartons cut in half and holes put in bottom used for pots, or use them for cloches.
Old venetian blinds cut up and used for plant pot labels.
Compost old cotton clothes.
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4 pint milk cartons cut in half and holes put in bottom used for pots, or use them for cloches.
Old venetian blinds cut up and used for plant pot labels.
Compost old cotton clothes.
Like the cut up venetian blinds. Those plastic labels get to be expensive when you have a load to write out. Used to slice up fairy liquid bottles when they were white then they changed to clear ones. (no consideration)
Cotton clothes, linen too? Both were originally vegetable so that makes sense. How about wool or is than out as animal?
Notice a lot of people are hanging out old/freebee Cd's on string as bird scarers over their brassicas