In the garden, reusing the old helps grow the new!

It's June, time for gardening and time for cleaning. Many of us are doing both-ridding our homes of aged clutter, and growing flowers, herbs and vegetables.

As we prepare our homes for summer living, some have discovered that our everyday garbage and old junk can be helpful tools in the garden. Recognizing reuse opportunities can both reduce the amount of rubbish you throw in the landfill and the number of new gardening items you need to buy.

This month, try some of these reuse-in-the-garden strategies:

• Save envelopes for storing seeds. Don't forget to share extra seeds with friends!
• Use egg, milk, and pint-size ice cream cartons as seed starters.
• Put toilet paper rolls over seedlings to protect them from cutworms.
• Cut the tops off milk jugs and place them over seedlings (top-down) to create mini greenhouses.
• Use newspaper and old cardboard as mulch between garden rows and around plants. Watering your newspaper mulch will help it decompose, and will also keep it from blowing around in the wind. Cover it with a layer of wood or hay mulch. Stick to black-and-white newsprint, though; the glossy, colorful inserts may contain heavy metals.
• Use pieces from broken clay pots as plant markers.
• Use old nylon stockings as plant ties.
• Make a small hole in the bottom of a plastic soda bottle, fill it with water, and use it as drip irrigation for a plant.
• Use clear plastic wrapping (such as grocery store produce bags) to put over plants for frost protection.
• Compost your kitchen waste to produce nutritious soil for your garden. For more information about composting or to purchase a home composting kit, contact the District at 802-229-9383.

Art, too!

Reuse in the garden is not just of practical value; many "junk" items can contribute to the artistic design, too. Depending on your tastes, you may want to:

• Make walls, walkways or benches out of pieces of old concrete.
• Use tumbled (smooth and rounded) pieces of colored glass to outline pathways.
• Use old leather boots as planters. Unlace the boot, and cut it down the center to the toe. Put soil and seedlings in the boot. The plants feed off the decaying leather. Only use old boots-bring newer, wearable boots to your local resale shop. Old tea kettles make great planters, too.
• Make attractive plant stands from old chairs by placing planters on the seats.
• Adopt a "retired" fruit tree from an orchard. Most trees are only useful to commercial orchards for 10 years-then they are discarded. Salvaging a tree and transplanting it in your garden can give you years of fruit-eating and tree-climbing pleasure.

When it comes to reuse-in the garden or elsewhere-be creative. Before you throw something in the garbage or recycle bin, think about what else you could use it for. Here are a few examples.

1. The spring after a snow plow knocked down my family's mailbox, my mother stuck it at the edge of the garden and used it to keep her small garden tools in.
2. Is your garden hose leaking? Transform it into squishy bucket handles or ice skate blade guards. The old hose might also be useful for wreath making (the long tube is easy to bend into a circle).

Whatever your "junk" item is, be thrifty and creative. If you can't use it, do you know someone who can?

Sources for these and more ideas:

• Things you can do with old garden hoses
• Home & Garden Television