Here at Cosmic Dream Farm, nearly everything is recycled and reused. We haven't had trash pick-up services for over a decade. We don't generate trash. It can be done! Here are some things we do at the farm to put old stuff to good use. One of the most important recycled products we use are milk and juice jugs. They have to be replaced after a two, maybe three years because they get brittle and crack, but there are plenty of recycling centers that take them after their useful days are over.
First we start with a jug. Cut the bottom out with a sharp knife. (Take the cut-out pieces to the recycling bin.) Here in the second photo are cucumber transplants in the greenhouse covered with jugs. The jugs protect the plants from wilting in the heat until they get established, and also help ward off slugs.
When you plant outside, you need to anchor the jugs down or they will blow away. I use electric fence poles that I get at Tractor Supply here in Northeast Ohio.
There are probably other places to buy them, but I don't know where. At Tractor Supply, you have to go in back, through the double doors to find them.
They are cheap and last forever, and have many other uses which I will tell you about later. You stick the pole in the ground, triangle-side down, then put the jug over the pole
and plant. This also works to keep groundhogs and deer off your baby plants while they get established, and protect them from the sun, wind, and
evaporation. Important note: This is not a reliable means to protect against frost damage, and absolutely will not protect against a freeze.
Here are some pumpkin plants out in a field mulched with fresh grass clippings.
And here is part of a field of pumpkins, all protected with jugs and poles:
So what do you do with all those jugs when the season is over? I have found ingenious ways of using that wasted space between the growing area and ceiling of the greenhouse. One way is to hang stuff from the crossbeams. It keeps it all nice and tidy.
Or, if you acquire a whole bunch during the winter, you can just throw them on the ground in the greenhouse and wait until spring to clean them up. . .
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