Thrifty ideas

Cardboard loo roll plant pots work for me. Would wartime zoo keeper gardeners approve?

worldwarzoogardener1939 — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:53:45 GMT

Planting out seedlings in our recreated wartime zoo keeper's Dig For Victory garden, I've found cardboard loo or kitchen roll plant pots have worked well, degrade well into the soil as does the kitchen roll or toilet paper plug at the base (To stop soil falling out), Would wartime zoo keeper gardeners approve?

It saves us from using peat pots.

‘‘Our Wartime Garden project reflects the Dig for Victory gardens that sprang up in unlikely places all over the country, including zoos. It will also act as a living memorial to the bravery of many ordinary men, women and children. Newquay Zoo already recycles, composts and think about food miles when sourcing food for the café, and now the Victory Garden will demonstrate how keepers would grow food for the animals. Staff at the zoo are hoping for a good crop of vegetables before the weather turns! You can keep up to date with developments on blog at http://worldwarzoogardener1939.wordpress.com/ To bring the period alive for families and schools visiting the zoo, staff members have been collecting wartime memorabilia and evocative items from everyday life of keepers, families, evacuated children and zoo visitors. It is hoped that visitors will contribute their stories and experiences for the archive as they visit the zoo. Our launch weekend for this garden project is this weekend 30th and 31st August 2009 www.newquayzoo.org.uk World War Zoo

World War Zoo is about looking back and looking forward, learning from the past to prepare for our future. The project developed from a chance discovery that zoos were closed in the early weeks of World War Two, and even though they were re-opened and supported as a way to boost moral, they struggled throughout. This was a time when food was short, and animals didn’t get ration books. Staffing was low with keepers being called up to fight, and repairs were difficult. www.newquayzoo.org.uk

canny tips to save ££££'s

Digger — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:41:22 GMT

I've racked my brain for a while so here goes, don't buy any newspapers they are expensive and usually quite dull, if you need to read a newspaper go to the local library and you can read one for nowt. Next don't put the central heating on at all just wear an extra jumper,this will save lots of money gas is expensive, next if you boil the kettle for a cup of coffee make your brew and pour the rest of the boiling water into a thermos flask,this will save you having to boil the water in the kettle again, next one is don't switch the lights on in the house ,use candles instead, but the cheapest ones you can find and store them in the freezer,just take one out each time you need to see in the dark,because they are frozen they will last three times longer than usual. The last one for now is don't give any money away at all no matter what it's for, charity begins at home and a lot of charities in the UK are awash with financial resources but still go out begging for our hard earned dosh. Oh and one more drive the car very carefully never race off at the traffic lights and if you are on the motorway run the car at 54.9mph or thereabouts and keep the car windows closed, don't put the heated rear window on that uses more energy. If you get invited to a party over the Christmas period, don't think that you have to take along an expensive bottle of wine or spirits, fill an old wine bottle with watered down vinegar and then when everyone is drunk let them have the vinegar and tell them it's homemade wine, they won't know the difference if they are drunk enough.

preserving peppers

Charlie Roberts — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 18:12:22 GMT

I have got an abundance of jalapeno and chilli peppers, whats the best way to preserve them for future use, can they be frozen or is there a better way to keep them Thanks Charlie x.

Tyre planters

miranda — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:34:28 GMT

Just come across this: http://www.wuvie.net/tireplanter.htm - making planters out of old tyres - not for the faint-hearted maybe, but it could be something to do with the kids one weekend.

There are links to some other projects at the end of the page and some of them are really creative.

Onion skins in stock

miranda — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:28:34 GMT

Been meaning to mention this for a while now. When I'm making stock or gravy, rather than use browning or that powder stuff, I simmer onion peelings, strain and add it to the mix. The peelings turn the gravy/stock a rich brown colour and give some flavour. Makes the gravy look like you've added Bisto

Leading women's magazine is looking for garden-sharers...

Nicola — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:58:26 GMT

Hi all - are you sharing a garden with someone else? A leading ladies magazine is looking to write an article about this subject soon and are looking for candidates to be profiled. Please read more & respond here:

http://www.shootgardening.co.uk/siteForum.php?mode=thread&forumid=&threadid=3011

Thanks! Nicola

p.s. please share it around with others too in case they know of anyone suitable. :-)

Charity or Society

Aging Misery — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:34:01 GMT

Less than two years ago the new Director General of the RHS, in open consultation, refused to consider the sale & lease back of its headquarters in Vincent Sq London for a potential sum in excess of £60million. Now the Society announces that it is to make up to 80 full time equivalents redundant in order to save 10% off its wage bill across 720 nationwide employees.

No doubt the 5 employees earning in excess of £100,000 (inc benefits) have nothing to fear but what of the gardeners at Wisley, Hyde Hall et al whom rarely earn much more than the minimum the Society deems they can live on.

The DG’s reason given for not selling off her crown - the central London HQ- ‘’We are a prestigious organisation and need a prestigious head office’’.

Perhaps it is time for the RHS to give up its kaleidoscopic corporate experiment into charitable horticulture, media and education perhaps returning to its niche as a learned Society – with some great gardens to boot!

Gardening Holiday

Casadotty — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:44:11 GMT

Is there a place where I could advertise for a couple of proficient amateur or student gardeners to come to Italy and help me out for a week? I would pay the flight and offer board and lodging. Getting the locals in to help is not really an option other than to help in the vegetable garden because they just don't get the concept of an English garden at all. The thought of providing somewhere for butterflies to play or for the frogs to swim is completely foreign to them. I thought there may be a web site or magazine where I could place a classified ad. What do you recommend?

Free organic fertiliser

Rflcopter — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 12:46:59 GMT

Hey I heard this on a show last year but I have never tried it out.

Get a bucket of water, and fill with nettle tops. Leave for a week and remove the nettles and you are left with a free organic fertiliser! Has anyone here tried this and does it really have much benefit to the plants?

Look here : http://www.nettles.org.uk/nettles/activities/nettlemanure.asp

Cheapest way to fill a garden?

Stargazer — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:12:49 GMT

Hello. I've just moved into a rented house that I'll be living in for two years. The garden is sparse to put it lightly. I want to put some plants in because I love gardening and because I want it to look nice. However, I'm quite new to gardening (only been doing it a few years) and don't really know the best way to fill it on a budget (I don't want to spend too much money on a garden I'm only going to be in for two years).

I have brought some plants with me from my old garden that I am going to split but I'm not sure how suitable they are going to be because although the rear garden is south facing it gets a lot of shade from very tall trees. The front garden is north facing so I was thinking about putting lots of juicy hostas in, does anyone know if you can get these in plugs or seeds?

Does anyone know of other ways to get cheap/free plants?

Vegetable Economics

Callum Saunders — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 13:44:46 GMT

Does growing your own really save as much money as the media suggest? Click here to read my article!

Compost activator

Digger — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:30:22 GMT

I'm still very tired after the weekend but here is my first money saving tip, instead of buying expensive products for "activating" your compost heap just take a whizz on the compost heap instead, this is an easy option and saves you the bother of having to walk all the way back to the house to use the bathroom when you are outside in the garden and need a whizz

Earn from your garden

gardengnome — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:35:42 GMT

Heard on the grapevine that you can win £100 of vouchers if your garden in chosen as the best one for that month on the Your Home website - take a look http://www.yhmag.co.uk/garden_club.php

Fertilisers

bogweevil — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 22:37:39 GMT

Many allotment societies let you join as trading member so you can use their shop, whether or not you have a plot, which is generally full of 'at cost' materials bought in bulk. Fertilizers and canes are usually especially good value. Boggy

Money-saving tips or life-saving tips?

Callum Saunders — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:53:51 GMT

Credit crunch aside, there's a very real possibility of global food shortages - how far can we go as gardeners to help this on a grassroots level? Read this interesting article by clicking here.

Credit Crunch Vegetable Growing on a London Balcony!!!

Callum Saunders — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:59:53 GMT

As part of my ambitious project to see how many vegetables I can grow on my London balcony, I've had a look at the social implications of the credit crunch on gardening and vegetable growing. Read my article here and remember to follow my blog, as I report my progress on this ambitious urban gardening project!

Free seeds from the BBC

realfood — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:46:52 GMT

The BBC have launched a new "how to grow vegetables" website today at
www.bbc.co.uk/digin
Apart from the free seeds, while they last, there are information sheets available.

Wartime Spirit and Credit Crunch Gardening...

Callum Saunders — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:07:51 GMT

http://londonvegetablegarden.blogspot.com/2009/04/wartime-spirit-social-implications-of.html

Free seeds to help bees.

Phot's-Moll — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:22:02 GMT

Free wildflower seeds are available to people who have children.

http://www.biggreenswitch.co.uk/forum/talkingpoints/Be-good-to-bees

To help save money

JudySmart — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:51:21 GMT

Hi all

I was looking for some new bedding plants for my garden,put this year is really hard on saving money,so I was trying to come up with a solution for saving money. My friend showed me a site where you can save on some stuff with voucher codes and I even found one for garden and saving 10% on bedding plants: http://www.discountbritain.net/company/140/Blooming-Direct

So take a look and I hope I can help anybody else.

Thanks

Judy

Book recommendation for homebrewed fungicides/insecticides/plant meds and more.

Elly-Agnes — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 13:20:47 GMT

In the US I came across a splendid book called 'Trowel and Error' by Sharon Lovejoy, a gardener and journalist, brimfilled with many and varied tried and tested potions, using household staples like aspirin, milk and such (some then validated by scientists). A fiver on Amazon at moment. We may have little call for raccoon repellent, but powdery mildew's powdery mildew, here or there. Lots of creative & practical tips for general gardening also, saving energy, time and resources. Great for saving the pennies.

Credit crunching

Michelle — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 20:54:15 GMT

Instead of buying copper slug rings I cut the tops off of old plastic pots and stick copper tape around the rim, then sink them into the gound an inch with the taped rim above ground, they are just as effective and saves pounds!

Bean Pots

Kevin04 — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 19:49:54 GMT

delete post moderator