Dumpster Diving

[Aidenbaby]

I saw a show about this guy that got bedding from people that had horses and he immediately put it into his garden. He had one of those food forest type gardens. I was so fascinated. I'm definitely going to google this Ruth Stout person you mentioned.

 

[big brown horse]

I use old horse hay, as the mulch and yard clippings too. If you keep it deep enough no seeds or weeds can survive. I let the horse poo age first though. I spread open the hay near the plants (I have potatoes, tomatoes, herbs, raddishes, snap peas, garlic, onions, lettuce, raspberries, blueberries, boysenberries, kiwi, gooseberries..) and I put the household scraps in and then cover the hay over them. I have no problems with crows this way. It looks better this way I feel, but you don't necessarly have to cover up the scraps. I just put in my old Mother's day flowers that my daughter picked for me too.

I think Ruth is gone from this world now, but she has a few good books out there.

 

[Beekissed]

I like the idea of the trench composting. This seems to be the least labor intensive composting I can think of.....just digging a trench in your garden and place compostables right in there and just cover it as you go along. The worms do all the work for you and in the spring everything is well composted.

 

[Mackay]

Except then you gotta dig it out of the trench...seems easier on your back to get it out of a bin than a trench.

 

[Aidenbaby]

If I remember right, with trench composting you just plant into it the next year. You are putting soil on top of the compost as you are digging the next section.

 

[freemotion]

Huh. With a dog and cats and chickens and goats.....we don't have any kitchen scraps! I want a worm bin, but would have nothing to feed them with!

 

[hennypenny9]

This isn't technically dumpster diving but... My parents are MAGICAL at finding stuff on the side of the road. Best example. They found. A Nintendo DS. My mom brought it up to my place because it wouldn't turn on. I said, hey, we can try to charge it with my charger. It works perfectly. AND it had a game in it that I was able to trade in for about $10. (we think a fed up parent, or mean sibling threw it out the window)

Oh, and I had saved and bought mine from a store.

Sometimes people ask me if they can have the cardboard bolts that the fabric comes on. Like I'm going to say no?? It gets recycled for goodness sake! One lady comes in every great while and takes a whole cart. She stores her fabric on them. Go figure.

 

[smithx9]

Several years ago, when my husbands job kept him traveling more often, he was driving in Atlanta, GA and saw this pink bag sticking up out of a dumpster. He drove round the block and went back to check it out. Apparently, someone had mail ordered a bag of Eukaneuba dog food and the Postman could not find the address, so he "DeadLettered" the bag of dog food. A 50 lb. bag of dog food!

At the time, we were expecting our 6th and 7th babies. $$ was tight! We had a German Shepherd puppy, too. That bag of dog food was a blessing from heaven! God mailed us a bag of dog food and put it where my husband would find it!

 

[unclejoe]

I did a job for a couple that were doing some major remodeling on their house. The contractor put a dumpster in the driveway for all the stuff he tore out. I climbed in and threw out all the salvageable wood I could find and with it, I threw this together. It's all from the dumpster except the tin roof which is "cover sheet's" from the barn roof material. I also built a small coop for our son's bantams, and there is still enough "waste" for another goat hut.

 

[freemotion]

Wow, that's great! Did you write "goats" so the goaties would know where to go in the rain???