Reuse and Recycle

 From autumn through to spring, we get a lot of pruning and trimmings from general maintenance of our allotment and garden plots. I have already covered in an earlier article what I use woody trimmings and prunings for, but this still leaves long grasses, reeds and pampas-style grasses which need cutting back each season. I have a wildlife pond which I am very proud of, which gives me endless joy and an army of frogs who devour my snail population. Around this, I have reeds and pampas grass which I raise to the ground in January. Instead of throwing all on the compost heap, I retain a bucketful of the longest and leave it in a corner to dry for later use. March-April is always a time when once early planting of seeds is done there are times in between weeding that I catch up on some minor maintenance.

A few years ago around this period, I found 2 hanging baskets whose weavings had perished. I sat on my bench with prunings by my side and in under an hour had re-wove both which are still going strong today.

Last week I found another sad case which upon moving collapsed utterly! This was a very poor candidate for repair as one of the spokes of the frame had rusted and broken off. But undeterred I carried on and with a bit of patience restored even this sad case for another few years. 

Now please don't misunderstand, I don't really need the baskets but find it difficult to throw away something I know I can repair. Especially in the current financial climate, I think we could all be a little less wasteful and reuse and recycle more often. Plus it's free, passes the time and is quite satisfying.