Recycling ideas

Be kind to your purse and the environment and grow seedlings in containers made from

household waste.

Time to do: all year round

With a little ingenuity and time you can re-use a number of things that would otherwise end up in the bin.

Washed-out margarine tubs, yogurt cartons and milk containers make marvellous pots for growing seedlings, if you punch a few drainage holes through the bottom.

Cardboard cartons and toilet-roll tubes are brilliant for growing deep-rooted beans or sweet peas (see p166). There’s no need to remove them when planting, either, as they’ll quickly rot away in the soil. Egg boxes can be used like small peat pots for growing lettuces and herbs, and will also rot in the ground. Re-use white plastic bottles or margarine tubs by cutting them into pieces to make labels, and save foil trays, free CDs and tin foil to make bird scarers by tying them together with string.

TIP Small yogurt-drink pots make excellent cane toppers to protect your eyes and stop protective netting becoming holed.