The Cottage Smallholder February gardening competition
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Gardening | 24 comments
Photo: Snow in the garden
It’s competition time again at Cottage Smallholder. I really enjoy running these competitions as I’m picking up so many tips from around the world. I’ve been looking for sponsors and have two lined up already – this is great as they will help with the judging and of course the prizes are much more deluxe than the rather humble prizes that we’ve offered before.
As I mentioned yesterday, Erika from Lunar Organics is sponsoring this competition. The prize is a beautiful moon gardening calendar and explanatory booklet plus three packets of biodynamic seeds that the winner can choose from the Lunar Organics online catalogue.
And what to you have to do to win this prize? Erika came up with these suggestions. The first is how to re-use /recycle things to get ready for the new growing season. For example Erika makes labels using old pieces of wood for big labels or cuts up white plastic containers for seedlings, instead of buying new. The second theme is how to protect plants from birds, rabbits, mice, squirrels, rats or any pest in your neck of the woods. Erika mentioned that rags soaked in vinegar would deter rabbits as they hate the smell of it.
Anyone can enter as many times as they like. You can post entries for just one theme or both. The competition will close on Sunday 7th February at midnight. If you have won a Cottage Smallholder competition in the past six months you can enter but you won’t be eligible to win – this gives everyone a fairer chance.
Best of luck everyone. I’m really looking forward to reading the entries!
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The Benecol type containers are useful for putting on the ends of canes so you don’t poke yourself in the eye!
Coupled with netting, means you can fix up a “temporary” cage quickly and easily. With elastic bands (that the postmen drop everywhere) the netting can be fixed securely to the ridge at the bottom of the pots. Good for gooseberry bushes.
Some old chimmney pots are quite wide and can be used as rhubarb forcers (or seakale growers?). A lid can be made from hardboard.
Origami pots from old newspapers.
Corrugated cardboard, shredded, and added to your wormery. Keeps it dry, and they love it. Also good for aerating and drying ordinary compost bins, can also use shredded newspaper, paper and cardboard for the same thing.
I have just read today about putting a teabag in the end of a loo roll used for seeds as a plug! Sounds reasonable!!
What a lot of replies! The only original thought I can add is for those sweet pea sowing solutions – if you forgot to save the loo roll innards (i.e. threw them straight in the recycling), you can roll newspaper into the same sort of size, infact I make them longer, fold the top & bottom edge inside to keep it together, and stack them in deep plant pots. I then fill the whole thing, gaps & all, with the compost, which helps with the watering, then the spare compost ends up in the ground when you plant out!
Also, I tend to leave some of the spent compost in the bottom of my big planter pots, to save the cost of all that fresh compost! when my plot is bigger that 4x4m, I’ll make my own compost!
Pallets can be used to make compost bins. We also made our entire shed out of pallets.
Scrap wood can be made into raised beds.
We save toilet rolls to use as pots for seedlings as they can go straight in the ground.
Egg Boxes make good containers for chitting potatoes
I also use toilet roll tubes for plating beans, sweet peas etc and egg boxes to stand chitting potatoes in.
To fill the tubes without getting compost everywhere I use a plastic 1 pint milk carton with the end cut off as a scoop/funnel complete with handle.
Recycle plastic cups from work as seedling pots. If your work has polystyrene cups keep these for the first seeds planted of the year as they offer more insulation.
Use the see through plastic boxes you get mini flapjacks etc in upside down as a mini windowsill propogator, just remember that if it’s one with holes in like the grape ones to stand it on another reused packaging tray to catch any drips.
2 diff cane toppers – old corks – gouge out a hole just the diameter of your cane for a snug fit so no blowing off and paint/varnish for longevity. Empty snail/sea shells of an appropriate shape – either can be painted to withstand the elements / add a touch of fun.
If you have a surplus of paper coffee filters – the round ones – these can be used to line larger pots instead of heavy gravel / rocks. Although this isn’t strictly recycling my work gets coffee delivered with a massive stack of the filter papers each time which are far more than is needed so you end up with loads of them cluttering up the place until someone gets fed up and throws them out – which is where I step in. 🙂
I also do the polystyrene bits in the bottom of larger pots – lighter than stones in the bottom and cheaper than filling totally with compost. I break up the trays you get seedlings / 6 small pots in.
To deter pests – blackfly on broad beans (or on anything) – mix garlic granules with water and spray your plants. Granules can be found cheaply in places like Lidl etc. Reapply after rain.
Save the big tins chocolates come in at xmas for seed tins – dry and rodent proof.
My biggest personal one I guess is collecting used doors that have been dumped / are about to be to make my shed from. Pallets for the base, again they would be landfill otherwise.
The big wooden ‘reels’ that come with cable on – once empty smile sweetly at the builders and then reuse painted / varnished for low coffee type table / stools at the allotment etc.
Think that’s it for now. Some fab ideas on here! 🙂
Well both my suggestions have to do with eggs. Or rather egg shells. First the recycling part. While I have a box full of yogurt pots and toilet roll tubes waiting for some planting, I decided to start a dozen broccoli plants this week in rinsed out egg shells. http://driedfigsandwoodenspools.blogspot.com/2010/02/snow-and-seeds.html
Not sure how well it will work out but I figure if all else fails they are easily cracked open on the bottom and popped into other containers. But I’m hoping it will work well.
As for pests, I live in Virginia now but have lived most of my life in slug prone places (Oregon and Ireland) and have found that sprinkling a ring of crushed egg shells around plants helps keep the slugs at bay. The only downside is that you have to be careful not to disturb the line, but then again, more egg shells are always easily found at our house so it’s worked well for me many a summer.
Cant wait to read all the other ideas. I’m gearing up for my first big garden in a couple of years so the more tip the better!
re-use/recycle
I’m saving loo rolls to sow my sweetpeas in instead of buying long root trainer pots, and I’m also saving egg boxes to use for sowing seeds in as they provide individual cells and rot down once planted in the ground (I hope!)
Hi
I have just obtained 2 old chimney pots through my local freecycle group which for those who don’t know, is a nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills (www.freecycle.org).I will be recycling these and planting basil and parsley in them this year.
I also recycled an old carpet and used it to cover my compost heap through the winter and will be digging in the compost in the veg patch soon.
I shall now be looking for an old glass door on Freecycle as a result of the post from Tamar@starvingofftheland..thanks for the idea! In fact, thanks to everyone for all their brilliant ideas, I’m going to be really busy recycling!!
Polystyrene-
Use sheets to insulate the floor of the greenhouse in winter or to line walls of raised beds.Break up for drainage in pots,its lightness makes heavy large pots a little easier to move.
Compost Bags-
Re- use ( two layers) as potato sacks, roll tops to stop slugs/snails getting in.Flatten out and sue to line raised beds to keep moisture in.
Bubble wrap-
Use to line greenhouse-insulation in winter, shading in Summer. Line pots made of metal to keep plant roots cool in summer.Wrap outdoor pots in winter, clip on with bulldog clips.
Cut circle, wrap around a bit of polystyrene packing, put on top of cane and fix with Post Office red rubber band- cane topper for free.
Tins-
Make hole in bottom, hang from a hook onto netting/trellis, makes a hanging herb garden. Also useful as scoops.
Tin boxes,cannisters etc with lids-
Keep for mouseproof storage in shed/greenhouse,paint with left-over Hammerite/gloss/car paint to make them look v. posh indeed..
Large Jam Jar with lid-
Make hole in top, put string in jar, put on lid. Mouse-proof string dispenser.
Little bags of Silicone from shoe boxes etc-
Save and put inside your new tin mouseproof storage boxes to keep stuff dry.
Garden woody prunings_
Trim to use instead of canes for plant supports, use twiggy bits to keep birds and cats off newly planted beds ( holly especially good for this), cut up to make kindling for the stove in winter ( NOT Laurel though!).
Rotten squidgy fruit/windfalls-
Put in bucket of water, leave to ferment , will get your compost working beautifully.
Trays from Supermarket-
Use deep see-through ones that fruit comes in atop solid trays to make a free mini propagator for your windowsill.Also useful for standing loo rolls in when seeds planted in them.
Cardboard Box and Aluminium foil/radiator reflector-
Left over shiny bits can be used to line a box cut in half diagonally, stand your free window sill propagators in the boxes, the light and warmth reflected around them will ensure good germination and sturdy growth.
Big tough yoghurt pots make excellent compost scoops.
Terracotta pot and an old saucer-
To make a mini storage heater for your greenhouse, put a nightlight in the saucer, light it, put upturned terracotta pot on top, stand near tender plants. It will act like a storage heater.
Old Tights/stockings-
Strong but soft plant ties, bags to support melons,squashes etc.
What a wonderful prize! I would LOVE to win the lunar calender. I’ve been doing something to keep slugs off my seedlings; by making collars out of plastic bottles. Rather than explain it, I’ve put together a short You Tube vid which you can see on this page:
http://myzerowaste.com/2009/06/plastic-bottles-slug/
I guess my entry covers both reuse and pest deterrents!
Like Holly and Paula, we also use toilet roll inners as biodegradable pots; again I have a short You Tube vid on this page:
http://myzerowaste.com/2009/01/making-seedling-pots-from-toilet-roll-inners/
and I keep the annoying plastic ties from children’s toys to tie my tomato plants to their stakes 🙂
Great comp with some wonderful ideas; thanks for running it!
Make sure you keep your seed packets somewhere very dry at all times! If they get damp at any time then they will not germinate. Do not put them into drawers beneath the sink if there is the remotest chance of moisture. Or somewhere subject to extreme hot/cold. Keep them in an airtight container, preferably in the house, not in a shed. That way, they should last until the use-by date, meaning that one packet could supply several years of seed!
I have been very careful with my seeds for years now, and find that even sweet pea seeds last for years.