[compostqueen]

I always cadge cardboard to make paths and for weed supressing purposes.  My suit-wearing husband recently went skip diving on my behalf as he spied some pristine sheets of cardboard and just couldn't walk by      My hero

He did ask first 

[Growster...]

We 'rescued' about 360 square yards of debris netting a few months ago. It had just been chucked near a bin, and, after a double take from Mrs G and me, we did a quick 'u' turn, and it went into the boot of the car in a flish!

It's perfectly clean, almost new and with no holes, and also had a wire brush caught up in it, which is great for cleaning boots!

In my Uncle Jack's day, when he ran a building firm, the guys who had dumped this kit would have been given their cards on the spot!

As it is, we may just get some carrots without fly next year...

[AnneB]

Hi Growster. 

There are strict legal limits these days on how many times debris netting can be used before it has to be replaced.  So the dumpers of your netting were probably being a bit lazy and just not disposing of it properly.  But to your advantage, definitely!

Always worth asking scaffolding companies if they have any spare.  We got loads of the stuff free the last time we bought some secondhand scaffolding planks.

[clairebeau]

Hi Growster. 

There are strict legal limits these days on how many times debris netting can be used before it has to be replaced.  So the dumpers of your netting were probably being a bit lazy and just not disposing of it properly.  But to your advantage, definitely!

Always worth asking scaffolding companies if they have any spare.  We got loads of the stuff free the last time we bought some secondhand scaffolding planks.

I rang my lovely cousin today, who works for a scaffodling company!!  He has not only told me I can have as many as I need, but can have them for FREE!  Oh, and they'll deliver them to the plot too. RESULT!  I now love my cousin more than I did before, bless him.
All I need to do now is work out how to use them on the plot. 

Also, I went into Wickes earlier and asked if they'd like to give me a shed for free.  I smiled    and waited for an answer. He came back and told me they have a broken one which used to be on display and although they are offering it at half price I was advised to come back in a couple of weeks and see if they still have it...it'll be in the skip otherwise! It's a plastic/metal type one 6x4 and has a small section missing. I'm being greedy now and want it to be bigger and wooden I told him! ha ha.

[Wavertree Red]

We 'rescued' about 360 square yards of debris netting a few months ago. It had just been chucked near a bin, and, after a double take from Mrs G and me, we did a quick 'u' turn, and it went into the boot of the car in a flish!

It's perfectly clean, almost new and with no holes, and also had a wire brush caught up in it, which is great for cleaning boots!

In my Uncle Jack's day, when he ran a building firm, the guys who had dumped this kit would have been given their cards on the spot!

As it is, we may just get some carrots without fly next year...

Great find Growster. I used the same netting over the carrots this year but they still got munched by the fly. Enviromesh next year 

[Growster...]

Hi Growster. 

There are strict legal limits these days on how many times debris netting can be used before it has to be replaced.  So the dumpers of your netting were probably being a bit lazy and just not disposing of it properly.  But to your advantage, definitely!

Always worth asking scaffolding companies if they have any spare.  We got loads of the stuff free the last time we bought some secondhand scaffolding planks.

Good points Anne, I didn't know about the limits on re-using the stuff, elfunsafty laws an' that will always give us a chance to pick up a bargain...;0)

[Growster...]

Go for the 6 x 4 Claire! You can always get a conservatory for it, when Wickes do another sale...;0)

[Growster...]

I'd heard that sometimes it didn't work Wavers.

The chap next to us built a 3' high fence with plastic woven netting round a square patch about 10' x 12'.

He reckoned that he'd got about 90% fly-free crops!

Maybe use a double thickness?

[rowlandwells]

 since I've had the Lottie for many years now my philosophy is what you take out you must put back or speculate to accumulate as they say

i don't overspend but at the same time  i don't scrimp i regularly manure the ground as i have 2 plots  my seed bill is about  average then there's all the sundries that go with it i also have a tractor and implements but that's part of my hobby anyway so if i took into account my fuel tractor insurance maintenance it starts to add up

but its all part of my hobby so i enjoy what i do meaning  the Lottie of cause but we reap the benefits of enjoying good home grown food it does take many hours of toil i must admit but i do get some help from my wife  occasionally

little and often comes into the equation  and no ime not posh cheerful maybe most of the time  whats the point of being any other you ithere like gardening of you hate it if its a chore give it up and spend more time in your local  

[angelavdavis]

The price of used scaffolding planks must be higher in St. Leonard's than in Bradford - we have paid £2 each for a full length, with a huge quantity of used debris netting thrown in for nought.   So I suppose it depends what you have nearby, don't be put off trying to source used scaffolding, you might be able to get it cheaply too.

£2 is a bargain - £13 for a full length when I enquired last year!  That was from the local wood recycling project.  I also contacted scaffolding companies but it appears the wood recycling project has all the contracts!  

You can get very little cheaply down here - Freecycle seems to be rife with dealers!  I ended up waiting for the spring sale in Wickes and bought decking lengths for £1.60 each.  We used 4 per raised bed and pegs cut from pallets.  

[gavinjconway]

Posh can also be done cheaply... depends on how you put the products to use... 

My philosophy.... I love to acquire things for free but will always give some veg or bottles of jam or a case of beer etc. to the giver..

So getting the 16 fence panels from a building site for a case of beer and putting them into good use is cheap and makes the plot look a lot posher and more secure at the same time..


My greenhouse was free from a customer of mine and the shed was from another lottie owner for £60 (1 year old 7' x 5' plus base.. bargain!!) - so not all is free but not paying over the odds if I have to pay..

  

[Growster...]

The price of used scaffolding planks must be higher in St. Leonard's than in Bradford - we have paid £2 each for a full length, with a huge quantity of used debris netting thrown in for nought.   So I suppose it depends what you have nearby, don't be put off trying to source used scaffolding, you might be able to get it cheaply too.

£2 is a bargain - £13 for a full length when I enquired last year!  That was from the local wood recycling project.  I also contacted scaffolding companies but it appears the wood recycling project has all the contracts!  

You can get very little cheaply down here - Freecycle seems to be rife with dealers!  I ended up waiting for the spring sale in Wickes and bought decking lengths for £1.60 each.  We used 4 per raised bed and pegs cut from pallets.  

We missed the Focus (Sedlescombe Rd Nth) sell off Angela!

Miffed about that too, there must have been all sorts of stuff going begging...;0)

I'm surprised it's not being used as a Christmas tree sale park...

[angelavdavis]

We missed the Focus (Sedlescombe Rd Nth) sell off Angela!

Miffed about that too, there must have been all sorts of stuff going begging...;0)

I'm surprised it's not being used as a Christmas tree sale park...

A neighbour of ours made the trip up there and said that the plants had been let go and all the sheds (which we would have been interested in) had already gone!  I think you did well to save your petrol!

I am a fairly dab hand at creating things from pallets now - we have lovely picket fencing now created from some free pallets.  Very homestead!

Growster, is your plot in the site visible from the A21 in Hawkhurst?

[Growster...]

They're on the Hensill plots Angela, off Talbot Road.

There are a couple free there if you want them!

The A21 actually doesn't go through the village, do yoy mean Hurst Green?

Sorry Claire, slight highjack there, but to keep on your thread, our lot are definitely not posh, there's so much 'innovation' there, and I'm convinced my old Atco mower is still somewhere in the hedge, where it was left in 1989...

[Ian_A]

i find it a fairly cheap hobby. Have about 300 sq m now and now that I have the equipment (not expensive stuff either - tools that simply "do the job") all I pay out is for seeds each year and potatoes. And they are not expensive - especially since there are so many offers online to get free p&p or half price seeds.

I make loads of my own compost which does nicely and get free manure delivered to the allotments each month.

Have acquired loads of free debris netting which I use A LOT.

My raised beds, made from planks I have acquired around the place, look every bit as good as one of my neighbours who spent several hundreds getting his beds done- and now they are as warped, weathered etc as mine!

And the plot looks great - not anally uniform and linear and perfect (what's the point in that!) but tidy, ordered, logical and with its own rustic charm.

That said, if I needed to shell out to buy things then I would quite happily. But I'm not shelling out for the sake of it.