Freebies

It's free, as long as you don't consider the time required as an expense. This year I have found several different places for free stuff, locally.

There is a website craigslist.org that is a bulletin board for all sorts of things for sale, employment etc. This website has numerous localized versions, and of course there is one for my area (south jersey). The website also has a link to a "Free" list. In this list people post things that they want to get rid of for free. The list varies greatly and of course some things I would consider trash. But as the saying goes, one man's trash is another man's treasure. Some of the treasure that I have found has been bricks and cinder blocks and concrete landscape edging. I use the cinder blocks to build my compost bins. I use the bricks to expand my patio and the edging for new perennial gardens.

Another source for free stuff are groups on yahoo, and these groups are local too. Freesources, Freecycle, SharingisGiving and freeshare are the root names of several local groups I belong to and keep watch for items I am looking for. I got more concrete garden edging from a group member.

I am also beginning to establish contacts in my local gardening world in several local gardening yahoo groups. I have been trying to exchange my abundance of perennials with others in exchange for perennials I don't have. It hasn't happened yet but I feel it will happen some time.

Another thing I get for free is horse manure. I found an add in the local weekly paper about 15 years ago and have been going every year since. They have a pile from which anyone is invited to load. I sometimes knock at the door and make sure its still the same people. So far it has.