Another glorious day, in which I've cleared out the shed, rescued possibly the loveliest but thickest baby thrush in the world from our greenhouse & dealt with a litter tray that frankly needed sealing in concrete & burying at sea.
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| My backside has not made contact with this chair once today! |
While working on the shed, it occurred to me how much stuff we recycle & re-purpose to help with our food production. All veggie gardeners & allotmenteers I know do this, but it suits me just fine because I like to keep as much useful gear out of landfill as possible. When did we become such a thoughtless, wasteful society?
This is one of my favourite bits of re-purposing of all time:
As I stood one morning admiring our veggie plot, a small object whooshed past my ear & landed with a plunk in the shallot bed. I picked it up & discovered it to be.......Jim's head! (as in 'Rosie & Jim' from children's TV). I assumed it had been lobbed over by kids, but it was a school day. Perhaps someone further down the street was having some kind of 'episode', standing outside, repeating 'I hate my life' though clenched teeth, slowly dismembering Jim before launching each body part independently into neighbouring gardens? Anyway, we got the head, & as I was short of precisely one cane-topper, that's what it became!
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| Perfect! Other recycled/re-purposed items used in our veggie garden: Yoghurt pots - Large ones for flower pots, small ones used in trays as modules Loo roll tubes - For sowing runner beans,as can plant whole thing out Old net/muslin curtains from well-known Swedish emporium - Use as horticultural fleece (lasts longer too!) Tiny plastic bottles - Cane toppers Large plastic drinks bottles - Cut down to use as cloches or watering funnels Broken plastic laundry basket - Grew a courgette in it 4 years running till it crumbled Empty compost sacks - Line containers,, warm soil in Spring or use as rubbish sacks or to bag home made compost Clear plastic trays from buying strawberries, grapes, etc - Use to cloche seed trays Transparent plastic pots from olives, etc - Use as mini cloches for tender veg seedlings i.e peppers Strong plastic meat trays - Use as seed trays Empty spread tubs - Cut up rectangular ones for plant labels, use round ones as greenhouse plant saucers Old CDs - String up as bird scarers Cardboard - Cut into large circles to use as moisture mats in the worm composter Empty flour bags - Add to worm composter. They love 'em. Old ice lolly sticks, coffee stirrers, plastic 'disposable' cutlery - I've used all these as plant labels Newspapers - Can be made into small pots or larger tubes for sowing runner beans Bills/bank statements - Put through shredder & layered into compost bins or used as worm bedding Odd knitting needles - Great for staking up chilli plants
Empty jam jars - A bit of wire around the neck, a tea-light inside, hang from trees at dusk. Magic! Old metal fire guard - Dismantled it & use as frame for growing peas Broken crockery - Saved to use as drainage crocks in containers Plastic milk cartons - Cut off top third lengthways (the handle bit) & used as 'guttering' to sow peas Old plastic plumbing pipes - No idea where they came from but currently in use as my cucumber frame Lorry tyre - A piece of the eclectic assortment of crap inherited from previous owner, now used for growing squash Metal bread pan from defunct bread maker machine - Planted with a chilli plant Large plastic Sainsbury's delivery crate wombled from Waitrose car park - Mini raised bed for lettuces Rocket sticks - Love seeing how many rockets have landed in our garden after Bonfire Night...they are strong wooden sticks which make great stakes for chillies, peppers & aubergines! My next challenge is to make some kind of plant staging using a purple aerobic step (I'll sacrifice firm thighs if I never have to get on it again....) & a box of large ceramic 'slate' floor tiles. I should stress that I fall strictly into the 'recycler' category & am not going to turn up on one of those TV shows in which people are rescued from imminent burial under an avalanche of tat. Albert Whiskers has come to tell me it's time his chunks were making an appearance, & is threatening to superglue himself to my leg, rendering even crossing the kitchen impossible. More sunshine tomorrow. Enjoy! C x |
We had a random thrush the other day in the garden with a short tail. Couldn't fly too well but seemed to be thriving.
ReplyDeleteAlmost certainly a young one, too, as I think they get their full tail feathers a little later. Lovely birds & judging by all the empty snail shells, they're doing some serious pest control around our potato patch!
ReplyDeleteSome great ideas for recycling here, thank you! I especially like the idea of reducing bank statements to worm bedding. There's some kind of poetic justice in it.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think that every time I add a new handful. Bank statements? Food for worms, oh yes!!
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