Economy tips please

[rdak]

Just wondered whether people would like to share their economy tips here- anything to do with plots,skips and blagging freebies!

my own:

* You don't have to spend £25 on a plastic compost bin- you can easily make you own out of wooden palletts

* If you're looking to cover your plot, free carpets are often available in the skips at the back of Carpet World and the like- always best to ask first though!

* Plastic pots are often available in the freeads- check out //www.adtrader.co.uk

* Large plastic water bottles can be used as cheap cloches

(..this is starting to feel like Viz's Top Tips!)

[rdak]

[Palefire]

Mushroom and fruit punnets from the green grocers make ideal free propagators.

Someone on the Beeb said they keep yoghurt pots and Pot Noodle Pots for growing herbs in or starting seeds off in.

Be a fantastic neighbour and offer to mow their lawn in return for the clippings.

Many equestrian centres will allow you to take as much muck as you want if you will shovel it into your own bags/trailer/wheelbarrow etc.

Go to the local garden centre on bin day - they chuck out all sorts that a lottie holder-cum-gardener would make great use of.

I'll let someone else have a go now..........

Love, Palefire

xxx

[mysticmog]

Anyone got any ideas where I might find pallets? :-/

[rdak]

got mine from the back of PC World- they have loads in Reading.

[mysticmog]

Hi Rdak, good idea, could try the nearby retail park, but did you do an SAS job in the middle of the night and steal them away, or did you ask nicely first?

[gavin]

Hi mysticmog - the off-licence just round the corner!  And I can get rid of glut crops!

All best - Gavin

Wot - you don't have an offie round the corner?  Or an Indian?  A pub?  Best sandwich shop in town?  Pizza?  A chippie?  We're well-served here!

[Hugh_Jones]

Having spent years of continually replanting my onion sets after the birds had pulled them out, I now plant them in Yoghurt pots in a cold frame.  As soon as they root and shoot they are planted out without any fear of being uprooted.  Yoghurt pots are also ideal for potting up any very small plants that are to be given away.

However, it is advisable to puncture the bottom of each pot with a heated screwdriver (or similar) to provide drainage.

[Colin_Bellamy-Wood]

Mysticmog, would recommend you ask first.   The MD of a local firm is a friend, and in the past he has said yes to that one, but no to that one as there is a £10 charge on it, and it must be returned to the supplier.  

Sometimes you might see a pallet abandonded - just grab it before anyone else does.

Avoid the BLUE GKN pallets if it is your intention to dismantle them - these are the worst and take up to four times longer than others.

[campanula]

Building sites - loads of stuff arrives on site on pallets and usually just sit around.We had lots of materials delivered on a big landscaping job (our first)- paviours, bricks, cement- we ended up with about 40. The building merchants (Ridgeons, East Anglia) had no interest in having them back so there must be gazillions knocking about where any sort of building is going on.