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Post by steev on Jul 21, 2016 13:25:50 GMT -5
If I'm on the gurney, drifting toward a white light, I'll bear that in mind; freebies are my "raison d'etre".
Wait, aren't you planning to move to Oregon? Is there a time-frame for getting those bricks?
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Post by shoshannah on Aug 10, 2016 23:27:09 GMT -5
My daughter in law hasn't decided where she wants to put the raspberry plants(freebies from her garden club) so I just put them in bigger pots(from Craig's list) this spring. Told her to try to get some tomato cages to hold them up. She found some on Craig's list for free. Scrounged some big pieces of cardboard from a department store and Craig's list. Old wine bottles for garden edging(Craig's list and from a catering business) Bamboo stalks for garden edging(Craig's List) Wood chips delivered and free Lot of good junk out there free for the hauling. Bluejays recycle the drunken slugs.  Susan |
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Post by steev on Aug 11, 2016 1:48:45 GMT -5
Glad you're not competing near me.
Freeconomics rules!
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Post by 12540dumont on Aug 14, 2016 14:41:23 GMT -5
Steev, the timeline is 2-3 years, so no worries on those bricks.
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Post by steev on Aug 16, 2016 3:46:34 GMT -5
I do love building materials that won't rot while I figure out what to do with them; we'll work it out: quince season is coming, so a load to San Martin and a load from; just gotta get there in daylight, so not after a full work-day. I'm so glad I'm self-employed, makes it easier to jigger things around.
For instance, a guy who worked for me ~7 years, until he needed a more "official" job, as a painter (because his wife gave them a son), will come back when painting dies in the Fall, until it revives; fine.
Only this year, he has a new daughter, so I'll work Tuesday-Friday with my other helper; Saturday with him (so he gets more income and I start catching up with the backlog), and I'll shift my farm-weekend to Sunday/Monday. It's good to be flexible; beats the hell out of having one employer; on the other hand, it's a bitch being self-employed, because the boss always knows when I'm duffing it.
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Post by shoshannah on Sept 8, 2016 20:04:05 GMT -5
I reuse some of my junk mail in the compost bin. Does that count?
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Post by prairiegarden on Sept 27, 2016 1:29:06 GMT -5
when I was experimenting with biochar a few years ago a bunch of junk mail got morphed into biochar. When biochar was all the latest "thing "a guy I think in Australia was biocharring all sorts of stuff including old tennis shoes. Hopefully he stripped any plastic off first...
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Post by steev on Sept 27, 2016 22:33:49 GMT -5
Craigslist sent me to a tile-store I'd been to before, but I was late; the samples had been high-graded by others; judging by the left-overs, I missed some great stuff; still good value, at the price (free), so I scored some good stuff.
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Post by prairiegarden on Oct 10, 2016 12:48:57 GMT -5
I have an ongoing problem with knees, so digging is a challenge, which makes root veggies and tender bulbs tubers etc a problem I found a bunch of laundry baskets and lined them with burlap, then planted dahlias in them. Success! Harvested them yesterday and they've produced an astonishing number of medium carrot sized tubers! It looks a bit funky, to be sure, but so easy to dump the basket, shake the soil off and bingo! The grow bags probably work as well but these were basically free...the burlap bags cost me .25 each, they are toast, totally gone at the bottom of the basket, so they clearly compost just fine. The laundry basket gives the sides some support and also has a tiny reservoir at the bottom so it doesn't drain and dry out quite as quickly as just the burlap, but the sides allow plenty of air and drainage. No slugs, either.
Next year going to do a whole load of stuff like that, SO easy just to dump out the container. Dahlias, glads, potatoes.... No worries about drainage but do have to keep an eye on moisture levels. Easy to plant, care for and harvest. My regard.for laundry baskets has morphed onto a whole other level previously undreamed of.
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Post by shoshannah on Oct 10, 2016 16:04:55 GMT -5
prairiegarden, I've been looking into the basket and burlap idea as well. Glad it has shown success. 25c per bag is very cheap for burlap bags I bought burlap on sale, free shipping. I can sew to any size I need. I like the idea of just turning out potatoes. My knees are good and I can still touch my toes but I can't work the hours digging, etc in the garden like I used too. Besides the fact that no matter how careful I am I manage to slice up so many potatoes.
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Post by steev on Nov 2, 2016 1:05:15 GMT -5
If your soil or mix is friable enough, you can winkle out your spuds by hand, no slicing. A garden fork inserted outside the expected tuber zone can be useful for lifting spuds planted in less friable soil.
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Post by steev on Nov 10, 2016 1:50:57 GMT -5
Ya know; I've not tried to touch my toes for years; great; still can, but now I grunt; didn't used to. It seems that involuntary noises become more common/noticeable as one ages, not to deal with GI issues.
prairiegarden: you might want to consider cement-block raised beds; blocks can be taken off to harvest tubers relatively easily; plywood buttressed with blocks is also potentially useful, as a way to build raised beds that are easily opened for harvest, although the plywood is not as permanent. Clearly you have to weigh the effort of moving different materials, depending on your capacity.
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Post by steev on Dec 6, 2016 23:41:25 GMT -5
Didn't go to the farm last weekend, having a Wisteria to prune for a client of some ~35 years (she's good for a $100 tip for Xmas, so worth the extra mile, even if it weren't what I'd do); expect there'll be a backlog at the bunny-beanery. When I get another helper, I've got a lot of cement blocks to load and carry off to the farm.
I've lots of various spuds to plant and mulch, which will draw down the stock of bags of bunny-beans. I may just start spreading them out in the horse-pasture; they'll convert them to my benefit, although not where I'd prefer, in the short-run; oh, well, the long game lasts until one leaves the field (or is added to it's assets, in which case, it doesn't end); world without end, Inshallah!
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Post by walt on Dec 7, 2016 16:13:19 GMT -5
I found out a few months ago that in Kansas, it is legal to be buried without a coffin in a pasture. I knew that used to be done, some of my ancestors were disposed of that way.
To make it legal, one must contact the county and let them know of your desire and intent. Then have your, whoever is to put you under, contact the county again letting them know it was done.
A man I had known for 30 years had this done, just a couple of years ago.
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Post by prairiegardens on Dec 7, 2016 16:56:34 GMT -5
A bit of a shock for someone a couple of decades on deciding to put a garden in there.
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