I never throw away, recycle or give away things without studying them long and hard to see if I can come up with another use for them. That's one reason my craft room closet and the back room are both filled with 'stuff' labeled..."I might think of something to do with this someday" And on those rare occasions when I have actually let things leave my possession it is quite common for that special idea to arrive in my brains 'in-box' within the next 48-72 hours. I realized this morning that other than my special decorating junque and seeds, I have four collections of things for next years garden, both decor and helpful. I read an article recently about starting seedlings in egg shells. Crack the egg on the small end and gently break off enough to get the egg out. Rinse the inside of the shell, use a pin or needle to poke a hole in the bottom of the shell and place in a spare egg carton to dry. When ready to start those seeds fill with soil (the article writer uses compost not starter mix) put one seed in each egg, cover with soil if required, water and place the egg carton in the proper location. When time to transplant into the garden, dig a hole and plant egg and all. The decomposing egg provides needed calcium for the seedling and there is no transplant shock that can kill seedlings. On a decorative side I have a collection of wine bottles in blues and greens to use to line paths through the garden next year. And I have started a collection of old boots and shoes that will be planted in and used to line a path. And my daughter has been transferring saved files from CD's to a portable drive we got her for Christmas to back up her computer. So I now have a stack of approximately 100 CD's she doesn't need and more to come. They also will be used to line a path. Partway stuck into the ground with the labeled side towards the plants. The bottles, footwear and CD's will be intermixed along the main path out front, not just a section of bottles, a section of footwear then a section of CD's. Do you have special collections going? I am open to other ideas of collections I should start, I think there is a 3 foot x 2 foot space empty and waiting out in the back room.
I love the wine bottle idea I tend to save cute little jars and bottles to use as vases or to store seeds. I also keep flat plates or plastic dishes to set under flower pots to catch the run off. Not very creative but that's all I got
mine has been spare car tires. I use them as plant pots for my pumpkin patch, they hold the moisture and heat well. drives the wife nutty when i spot them. although i now have 24 in the garden its time to stop for a while.
No one surpasses the Mistress of Junque. This is a very good posting, Toni. Actually, I have been out sniffing around 2° hand stored myself of late.
Toni, The last time my grandsons made "treasure" out of playdoh and wanted to let them dry to keep, I kept the plastic playdoh containers. I think they will look really cute with small plants inside.
Love your ideas Toni. Can't wait to see them all put together. And before I throw something away, I too, stop and think if I could use it somewhere again. I had couple of boxes of stuff I had been saving for "a garage sale one day". I talked myself out of it, and before I took it to donate, I went through it one more time. Well... the two boxes became one. I kept the old wooden bowls, etc and some glass stuff (in the hopes of making one of those glass totems some day). Now I wish I wouldn't have gotten rid of a couple of the baskets.... I needed one yesterday!
I am not a hoarder, I am not a hoarder! I keep things that I don't even recognize on the faint hope that 1) I'll find out what it is, and 2) I'll find a use for it. Most of the stuff ends up in the garden as row markers, watering stations for butterflies (old plates are great for that) or "objets decoratif" which means I like the way they look! Go for it Toni, and please post pictures!
Some restaurants have real nice 'people boxes' to take home your leftovers. The really good ones are sturdy and have hinged see thru lids. They make fantastic seed starting containers and it also helps if you like the restaurant. Collect 10 or 20, spring wouldn't be seed starting time without them. Jerry
I love seeing all the collections of garden curiosities. Each piece makes a garden unique and fun. I like working in people's gardens and seeing what they may have in their gardens. I have a collection of garden frogs and toads. Photo is a small sampling when my Grandson Noah was playing with them. I only like the more realistic ones (no frogs with clothing or doing people things) Ha I have them inside and out. Sooo many And then there is my obsession with rocks... they aren't really junk... I put em to good use... But I have a hard time resisting a stray rock... more frog friends ( photo / image / picture from Kay's Garden )
