Jetsam and Flotsam

One man’s trash is another gardener’s treasure. Just take a look at Pinterest and you’ll find all sorts of repurposed materials used for different functions in gardens.

Egg cartons used as seed starting containers.

Used coffee grounds for fertilizer.

Crushed egg shells used to repel slugs or powdered to add calcium to the soil.

The list goes on.

Here are a few things we repurpose for our garden:

• Coffee grounds as a nitrogen soil amendment.
• Egg shells as a calcium soil amendment.
• Kitchen scraps go into the compost pile or to the chickens.
• Berry containers are great seed starters, especially herbs as they have drainage holes.
• Coffee canisters hold powdered egg shells and coffee grounds.
• Cardboard and newspaper to keep down weeds. We use only uncoated cardboard.
• Growing celery from kitchen scraps.
• Vinegar kills weeds.

Here are a few things we’d like to start repurposing:

• Toilet paper rolls for starting seeds. These cardboard tubes can be planted directly in the ground as the cardboard breaks down over time.
• Growing lettuce from kitchen scraps.
• Using cinnamon as a rooting hormone substitute.
• Growing beans in cotton balls.
• Milk jug turned watering can.

The boys would really enjoy the milk jug watering can. They love to explore, water and help in the garden.

I come across more things we’d like to try every week. My Pinterest board is full of techniques others have tried with success.

Now it’s my turn
I’ll try to be thrifty
Maybe they’ll work
That would be nifty