The recycle game

[Gypsy]

I had an idea that I thought might be fun to try here and at the same time showcase some of the board members homestead origianlity. To play you would suggest an unique use for the item(s) posted by the previous poster and then provide a item/material that you have had lying around your place waiting for you to think up a project idea for.

For example:

Poster 1: I have a/some X lying around and don't know what to do with it.

Poster 2: I used some X to build/make/feed ... a ____, but, I have some Y lying around and don't know what to do with it.

Poster 3: I use some Y to build/make/feed ... a ____, but I have some Z lying around and don't know what to do with it.

anyway I thought it might be fun and also spur up some fall/winter projects for some of us.

Anyone want to try?

I'll start:

I have about 500 various sized pumkins on pallets in one of my back fields far too many pies for my wife to bake or the chickens to eat and I don't know what to do with them . . .

[ecbreed]

I would donate them to the local food pantry if they will take them. I have far to many rocks around. Any Ideas?

[HappyFarmer]

I would sell them as pet rocks (just kidding!).

I would use them as a walkway for the goats to keep their feet trimmed and keep them up off the wet ground. I have way too may 55 gallon plastic barrels lying around and don't know what to do with them.

[Aohtee]

If the barrels are food grade, sell them to prepers for supply storage. If they have lids and are not food grade, sell them for regular storage. If you live in an area where snow and ice occur, turn them into sand barrels and sell. Here in upstate New York, plastic barrels are goinf for $5 to $15 dollars a piece.

I have several poly tarps that are becoming brittle. The grommets no long hold and I can't use tie downs on them when I cover things. Any other use for this material?

[farmergirl]

You could use the aging poly tarps to suppress weeds in an area you wish to use for a garden in the spring. I have several rolls of thick smooth wire, like barbed wire but without any barbs. Any use for the wire other than fencing?

[stanb999]

Originally Posted by farmergirl

You could use the aging poly tarps to suppress weeds in an area you wish to use for a garden in the spring. I have several rolls of thick smooth wire, like barbed wire but without any barbs. Any use for the wire other than fencing?

You can use it for clotheslines.

I have a bunch of feathers left over from butchering.

[bloogrssgrl]

Pillows! Or, if they are sort of fancy, maybe you can find someone who could use them for making hats, costumes, jewelry, etc.

What to do with a 9,000 gal. stainless steel tank? (Actually, we have a use in mind but I needed something to keep the game going.)

[Sonshine]

Originally Posted by Aohtee

If the barrels are food grade, sell them to prepers for supply storage. If they have lids and are not food grade, sell them for regular storage. If you live in an area where snow and ice occur, turn them into sand barrels and sell. Here in upstate New York, plastic barrels are goinf for $5 to $15 dollars a piece.

I have several poly tarps that are becoming brittle. The grommets no long hold and I can't use tie downs on them when I cover things. Any other use for this material?

We use old tarps to put under our woodpile to prevent termites.

[jd4020]

You could try to sell some of the pumpkins at a Farmers market. (an aside--) you may want to can up as much as you can as an article I read today-here in our area of central Illinois, the bees that pollinate pumpkin patches are dying off. The punkin patches depend on the bees for pollination and punkins may be scarcer and more costly next year.
Our farm has so many rocks, we use them for lining the flower beds and to fill in wash out areas of our little stream. If they are the really big ones, people want them to landscape with and you may be able to sell some of them.
My hubby made a bicycle cart for me out of a plastic barrel. He cut it in half, mounted it onto a homemade axle and welded a tongue so it could attach to my bicycle, under the seat. Our son knew how to ride his bike, but was too little to keep up with the rest of us, so we put a low, sand lawn chair in the barrel and he could sit quite nicely on our weekly trips into town to the library and grocery store. Looked quite jaunty with the tall golf flag attached at the back. We've also used the barrels as a dog house. Place it between two concrete blocks out of the wind and put a little straw or pine bedding in it. The cats seem to like it as well on occasion.
The wire, if you are handy could be made into different shaped garden supports or trellis' for taller flowers, I love getting ideas from the garden catologs.
You could fashion the tank into a pool, hot tub or holding tank for rain water. We have a used milk holding tank and are trying to decide which would be the best use for it. I'm often tempted to just fill it with water and jump into it on those summer days when it hits 90. It has a drain, so I could also use the water on the garden so none would be wasted.
Oh, thank you for the used tarp idea. We made some new raised garden beds & I'll be putting down the old tarps between them for weed control. We have also, in the past, folded over the edges and put new grommets for continued useage.

Other than haul them for scrap metal what could one do to recycle old farm gates? Origianlly 8 to 10 feet long, but now bent or rusted through in places.