Dumpster Diving For Your Garden

I try to continually increase the production of my garden space every year. I have a limited budget so I  try to find "freebies" all the time. I am also a natural scrounger. It takes time to develop a "scrounger" sense but it will become second nature. There is nothing more satisfying than salvaging something and saying, "That saved me $20 bucks".

I live in a college town so at the end of the year entire an unbelievable amount of perfectly good things are thrown out by the students before they return home. I also live in an area where people need to scrounge in the students trash to help make ends meet. I don't take anything that the truly needy can use.

Here is my list of things that I am on the constant lookout for:

• Stackable organizers (for small tools)
• Baling wire (to hold up plants)
• Plastic containers (mixing soils)
• Buckets (never have enough for many tasks)
• Sticks, canes, broom handles (for holding up plants)
• Clothes pins (holding down plastic)
• Garden pots (re-use instead of purchase)
• Old gardening tools that need just a little work
• Outdoor tables (previously used for beer pong for outdoor work0
• Rope, twine(for releases, plant training)
• Composters (sometimes people just give up on their garden)
• Wagons (can be refurbished)
• Watering cans ( can be staged around garden, different sizes for different tasks) )
• Bricks (hold down plastic covers)
• Old hoses (can be cut into custom lengths and refurbished)
• Tools
• Metal clothes hangers (holding up plants)
• Any good lumber (bed construction)
• Rain barrels
• Windows (cold frame tops)
• Tarp that are paint free (leaf collection)