Monday, June 15, 2009

Thriftiness

Well, I didn't get very far in my thrift reports, did I? Not that I quit being thrifty, but I didn't have as many new ideas as I'd hoped. I did start subscribing to tipnut.com and have found a lot of great tips there, but they weren't original, and I wouldn't want to take credit for them.

So once in a while, I'll just post sites, tips, links and any ideas I may have. Feel free to send links or suggestions in your comments, also.

Here are a couple of things I've done with those jugs from the distilled water I need for my C-PAP.
Cutting the bottom on a slant makes a handy scoop:

It won't handle anything real heavy without distorting, but peat moss and mulch are light enough to scoop out of the wheelbarrow with no problem.


Cut differently, the bottom becomes a saucer for my herbs:

You can't see the deck hangers in this picture, but turned diagonally, the base of the jug fits great inside them, and larger pots fit even better than the small one you see here.

And this weekend, I bought a lightly used composter from a gal on craigslist.


I might have gotten a better price or a larger composter if I'd waited, but I've been unsuccessfully searching for one at yard sales and on craigslist and freecycle for a couple of months, and I still paid way less than it would cost me brand new. No more feeling guilty about tossing celery tops, onion peels, eggshells, coffee grounds, etc. into the garbage. And it's low-profile, too, which ought to keep the Homeowner's Assoc. happy, since it's currently positioned at the edge of the gravel drive for maximum sunlight and reflection off the white rocks.

Now I'm off to fight the slug war again. The stakes are higher now--some of them have ignored the beer and managed to destroy the lone tiny squash that was growing. I'm taking Julie's advice and hunting up some of the diatomaceous earth to put around my plants. Only, Julie, what I'm reading says the pool kind is processed differently and shouldn't be used for pest control.


At any rate, my favorite local gardening shop should be able to dig something out of their nooks and crannies for me.

Die, slugs. Die.

6 comments:

*karendianne. said...

Dig the composting idea and you got me giggling with "die, slugs, die."

MightyMom said...

ick hate slugs!

I take particular pleasure in throwng them into the sun to cook to death whenever I dig them up.

Julie in the Barn said...

I can't imagine how they are processing DE that would make it unsafe for gardens! DE is the skeletons of microscopic sea creatures! How on earth can that be unsafe to gardens? It is used to filter swimming pool water. If it is unsafe for gardens, what the heck does it do to pool water & to people who swim in pools? Our skin absorbs toxins directly and rapidly. Maybe this is just propaganda put out by Ortho so people will buy their poison (made from petroleum and very expensive) to kill slugs (and good creatures as well!) Can you tell I'm anti big chemical companies?LOL

Libby said...

They mine diatomaceous earth in the little town where I grew up. It always felt like such a treasure to go out into the hills and find a nice big piece of 'chalk rock' Hours of fun drawing on the driveway *s*

Lori in South Dakota said...

I don't think we have slugs here (or not many. But I do have "squash bugs" that want to pester all my viney plants--even morning glories and clematis, I have to spray for them. I too love the "die slugs die"~!!

audreypawdrey said...

That composter is awesome! I just started a lasagna garden like yours, and i don't know what i am going to do to create more compost.