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I have a very unique idea for you. If you have one of those huge old satellite dishes in your yard, or know someone who does, that is just sitting there rusting and gathering pine needles, I have a way to reuse it. The best thing is you can almost always get these for free! Most people are more than willing to give these for free to anyone willing to haul them off.
For the garden, you can cut off the stand and mount it upside down on four poles and make a gazebo out of it. If you plant ivy or another type of crawling plant, it looks so beautiful. No one will guess what it was originally. For those of you into paintball. A friend of mine who is REALLY into it, said these make great paintball bunkers. You can flip these over a stack of wood, or drape an old parachute or whatever you use to make a blind. I was told it was great because of the mesh. She has a friend who made a whole field of these. If any of you out there has anymore ideas, PLEASE share them in the comment section. I would love to hear of some other interesting ideas for reusing these things. |
Posted in garden and yard tips
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Ohhhh, I have a great tip for you today that I just learned about a few days ago myself. I was up at Lowes getting some paving sand for laying some slate slabs for a fire pit. I had to employ the help of an employee because the bags are too heavy for me. He was helping me figure out how many bags I needed. Now a 5 lb bag was a little over $4. He asked if I would like a recovery bag for a discount. I asked him what that was. When a bag of soil, mulch, sand, whatever breaks, the store will scoop up as much as it can and put into a clear bag and throw back on the pile. Generally, they will scoop up anywhere from ¾ of the bag to almost the full amount. Now he gave me both bags for….drum roll….$1 a piece!!!! So I got almost 2 full bags, $8.45 worth, for only $2!!!! A great deal! Instead of spending the $12 I expected to spend, I spent only $6. So next time you are at home improvement stores or even Wal-mart, look or ask for recovery bags! It can save you a ton of money, plus the store still makes some money instead of just throwing it away! |
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Ok, we all know that many times ordering from the plant catalogs can be cheaper. But there are times when you do not want to have to wait or worry about the mail. I have a way to help you get plants cheaper from the stores. Now if you are timid and not willing to bargain, you are in trouble. First, my example; My buddy Crys and I were at Lowes’ Home Improvement Store a few weeks ago. We came across some strawberry plants that were $2.50 each. Now these had obviously been there for some time. They were completely dead….or so we thought. Lifting the dead leaves we found each had at least one green leaf. I went to the cashiers and ask them to get the manager. When she came up, I showed her the plants, told her I was willing to take a chance and to make me a deal. Then I SHUT UP ! I was willing to pay 75 cents for each plant. The manager paused and offered all plants for 50 cents each! I took them home, planted them and they are now bigger than both of my hands together and producing berries. Another time I was up at the store when they were getting rid of the perennials. (annuals do NOT come back each year, perennials come back every year) They were putting plants that looked dead on a rack for a quarter each!! Now I may not enjoy them this year but next spring they will come up! As a matter of fact, several of them have come back to life again after planting as we speak! Some tips: Shop after holidays. You can get great deals on potted flowers after Mother’s Day. Try to buy several plants. You are more likely to get a deal on 10 plants rather than one but chances are you will be able to get all ten cheaper than the one at normal price. Smile Be nice, but firm Keep your mouth shut. Make an offer and then say nothing. As my husband always says, he who speaks first, loses. |
Posted in garden and yard tips
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Ok, I have a really great tip for those of you who, like me, forgo the gloves because they get in the way of gardening. Some of you may say I am vain for caring so much about my nails. But you see for over 25 years I bit my nails. (you can read how I stopped a year ago here) And to be honest, my husband always wanted to see my nails pretty and likes it now when my nails are painted nicely. He even fussed at me not too long ago because I didn’t get a bottle of nail polish I liked.
When you are digging in the dirt, it is of course hard to get that dirt out later on. Two things. First, invest in a nail brush. They are only a $1 (you can even get them at the auto parts store). Second, dig your finger nails in a bar of soap before going outside. Wipe off your finger tips if you are concerned about getting the soap on the plants. When you come in and wash your hands, there will be some dirt underneath your nails but not much. It will make clean up so much quicker and easier. |
Posted in garden and yard tips
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Oh, how I love coupons. I got some really good ones for my local Lowe’s the other day. They call them Project Starters. Spend $50 and get $25 off. This was very helpful as I was gathering my gardening supplies. I have heard many people tell me they had no idea that these stores give out coupons. Well, it is easy to get them.
Most home improvement stores have a small magazine they put out each month or every other month. They are full of some great ideas; decorating, repair, and organizational. The stores of course publish these with the anticipation that people will buy the supplies necessary to complete the project from the store. It works! But many times, in the case of Lowe’s about twice a year, they will put gift cards in these magazines. Either ask at your local store or go to their website and get on the mailing list. Some stores have magazines, while others have newsletters. Regardless, sign up! Even without the coupons these free magazines have some great do-it-yourself ideas. |
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How many of us have those old, green turtle (now they also come in a red crab) sandboxes? Almost every hand in America went up. If you are like my family, the kids have gotten too big for the sandbox and it is in too bad a shape to sell. I hated to throw it away but I really had no use to it. My Grandmother came up with this idea. We turned it into a flower box! Drill holes in the bottom for drainage and fill with dirt. Plant flowers or vegetables. We use the top for experiments. It really is beautiful. I would put up a pic but my digital camera is not working right. |
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I have a really great website for you. For the US you can go to either http://www.pickyourown.org/statelist.htm#statelist and scroll down to your state, or for US and Canada (as well as a few other countries like Japan) you can go tohttp://www.pickyourown.org/index.htm#states and scroll down. This site also has some really nice canning, freezing, picking & recipe tips. Plus, if you have a family farm there is a place for you to add your farm!!!! (Oh, how I wish I had one) They also have corn mazes, Christmas tree and pumpkin farms listed. A quick word of warning. Some of these farms are not open every day due to weather damaging the crops. You have to call the night before or that day to find out if they are open. This is great for those who just do not have the room for a garden or just do not have the time. We hit the strawberry one near us with another family yesterday. We have been busy canning (and eating) them. The berry batch I put in this year will of course not produce berries for at least two years so this was really a great blessing for us. Plus, this makes a great field trip! |
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I have heard this from many veterans of canning and have seen the tell tale signs of this in the store. Stores are running out of gardening supplies pretty fast this season. Because of the economy, a lot of people are planting gardens. Well, when that produce comes in, people who normally do not garden will not be prepared with what to do with all of it. Canning supplies may be not impossible to get, but they may start becoming hard to find. I know in my area, the Wal-mart canning shelf is usually barely a fourth of a shelf with only two pressure canners on stock. Now, they have well in excess of an isle with jars stacked all the way from the floor to half way up. The pressure cookers (the shelves have room for a dozen now) are selling out as fast as they can get them stocked as are the canning supplies: tools, books, additives, etc.
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Posted in garden and yard tips
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Ok, I have an interesting tip for you. We receive a gardening magazine from our local Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse; all of these stores send these out. They are full of ideas to help you buy more of their stuff. When I mentioned it to my |
