Thanks to all for your input! I've decided to stick with the Ocean pray bottles, as they are the best design (rectangular, no handle, shallow grooves). The plastic of the V-8 bottle was so thick, I couldn't hack through it with a saw--and some of the bottles with "built in" handles didn't offer much sowing space at all. So, containers are loaded with MG potting mix...seeds are all inventoried and ready to roll...tomorrow is forecast to be in the high 60's...I am one happy (and enthusiastic!) camper :-) My milk jugs are sprouting, and plenty of bulbs are popping through the dirt all around the yard *smile* Spring is almost here, woooohooo! Susan in Kansas

Ahem... OJ, my friend, your hypocrisy is showing! ;) As I understand it, you're a "bottle babe" too, right? But you're a closet bottle babe. You drink bottled water as I recall. In fact you drink nothing but if memory serves correctly. And you're a water bottler too so all these companies and people you go at about bottling water is done by that guy in the mirror? Or have things changed? :D I make no apology that I drink spring water. Can you carry 20-30 cups of tap water in your vehicle so you have it with you and available when needed and wanted? I think not. The cost? 7¢ to 9¢ a bottle is what I pay. Certainly not going to break me. And I'm not driving back and forth every day or two to get this water, burning gas, oil, tires and wear on the vehicle. :D (OK, end of the jabs!). Now to the "clubs". :D I know it's become fashionable to vilify water. Complain about "all those bottles in the landfills!!!!" LOL People who do this, I have to wonder what's in your water? Interesting how pop, tea, juice, milk and other containers can go in the same landfills and no problem with that right? How about all those foam coffee cups and plastic dome lids on the coffee cups that people insist on buying at Starbucks, Tim Horton's, Caribou and the like? Where's the screaming about that? Dead silence. Perhaps that foam and plastic doesn't use petroleum products? Or maybe they're 100% recycled? Or is there another reason? What about the pod coffee drinkers? Nobody's bothered by that plastic going into the landfills. Those little plastic cups going into the garbage don't seem to offend people? Why? OH, it's not water! I forgot that water is the target. I also have to ask, where's the same (manufactured) outrage over all the diapers that go into those landfills some are so concerned about? When's the last time anyone has recycled a diaper? 'Splain that one to me Lucy! Shall we talk about all the other stuff that goes in those beloved landfills? (Today they're "landfills". I remember when they were called "dumps"!) Light bulbs, batteries, packaging, greeting cards, expired gift cards, rotisserie chicken containers, fem hygiene products, toilet paper and paper towel rolls and wrappers, and so on and so on and so on. I realize that water has become a fashionable villain these days. Must be people having stock in Coke, Pepsi, Huggies and Starbucks. I used to have great water here. I don't anymore. And I am not going to have a cow over spending a few dollars a month to buy spring water, have it handy and not buy soft drinks, coffee and the like while out and about. So go ahead and yell and scream about people like me who drink water rather than sugar-laden or aspartame-filled drinks. I recycle my bottles. Coffee drinkers don't recycle many of their cups, lids, stir sticks, creamer/sugar containers, lids, etc, I'm sure. Every time there's a national disaster what's the first thing they ask for? Coffee pods? Diapers? Soft drinks? Nope. WATER! Perhaps we should never again send water to these people. Or the places with contaminated wells. They shouldn't drink bottled water. If tap water isn't good enough for you then you should go without? Hey, now THERE'S a possibility. I'm going to go have a bottle of water right now. Might have a bottle of juice to go with it. At least juice doesn't seem to be a villain like poor innocent water is! Proud to be a water drinker. Just noticed how old this thread is, but it was a good response that didn't deserve to be deleted. And after thinking about it, compared to many of the "current topics" being posted, it's more interesting, more thought provoking and far better than many of those topics. Moving on! :)

Assorted recycled flats. Many of these suggestions have been made by forum posters....all it takes is a little imagination and you can turn a cast-off recyclable into a mini-greenhouse. Thanks to all the posters who have contributed their ideas to this FAQ. I have used plastic milk jugs and 2 liter soda bottles too, just cut around the middle almost all the way through. Make the drainage slits. Fill with dirt, water, drain, sow, cover with more dirt. Tape the cut edges together and simply remove the cap for air transpiration. Cardboard orange juice or milk containers can be used with a baggie. Cut them in half, horizontally or vertically, make the drainage slits and sow your seeds by the same method above. Slip the flat into a baggie, tie it closed with a twist tie or a knot and use the knife to make a few slits for air transpiration, put a few slits in the bottom of the baggie for drainage. Coolwhip tubs: Make the drainage slits, sow your seeds as above. Take a scissors and cut out the center of the lid, leaving about an inch around the inside of the rim. Put a piece of saran wrap over the tub, put on the lid. This holds the saran wrap "window" snugly. Take the knife and make some slits in the saran wrap for air transpiration. One of the best sources for freebie flats is at the supermarket. They put all the bakery cakes and cookies in clear plastic containers with domed lids that snap in place. They use some of the same containers over in the produce section too. Perfect! I wanted to share a little tip that I thought of while I was doing this. In some of the flats I had more than one color of the same type of seeds, so as a way to mark them I used colored paper clips. I just twisted them and put them in the dirt next to the rows and I have a easy way to mark them! I just found a new mini greenhouse source for winter sowing outdoors....those black plastic containers with the clear domed lids that deli roasted chickens come in! A friend of mine buys many of these and has saved the containers and she gave them to me. I heated a knife in the gas flame on my stove and made slits in the clear cover and the black base. They snap together securely and I'm ready to plant! A treasure I found was a big box of freezer boxes with the lids. They had been packed away in a storage house and will never be used again for freezing vegetables. I poked holes in the top and the container, filled it about half full of soil and it makes a nice container for a few seeds. One of my favorites that I've used so far is the tins that my muffins come in. They are easy to handle and I can put a few different types of seeds in one flat without mixing them up. Costco (BJ's, Sam's Club, etc) sell two dozen mini-croissants in party trays with a clear plastic covering that is about 3 1/2 inches tall...it snaps together and holds 24 of the 2 1/2 inch jiffy pots perfectly!! I find that the added height works much better than those mini-greenhouses that hold 72 jiffy pellets. I went to the supermarket today to pick up a few things. The local Stop N Shop has a salad bar. I saw several sizes of foil tins with matching clear lids. I grabbed the largest one and put in some sliced zucchini, some cauliflower and broccoli pieces, some sliced red bell peppers, some mini carrots, and some chopped red onion....fabulous. I put the lid on and I heard in my head the "Hallelujah Chorus". I had just "scored" prepared fresh veggies for stir-fry AND a fabulous container too. When it's right you know it! Go to the fish dept. of your supermarket and ask for the styrofoam containers that fish are shipped in. Their inside measurements are about 10 x 14 inches, and some are larger. Ask that these be saved for you. Otherwise they are discarded. Yes, discarded, tossed into the compactor. Do your bit for the environment by bringing some to your garden club and introduce the idea. I have been saving the styrofoam cups and clear lids from Sonic whenever I go. They already have a strawhole in the lid for transpiration and all you have to do is poke a hole in the bottom and fill w/dirt. Plus, they are easy to write on and a good size if you are sowing seeds that need to grow on in a container for a while before transplanting. Then when I am finished w/them I can pitch them w/a clean conscience! I grow things in cardboard grocery boxes with hefty bags in them. My daughter brought home a quart of ice cream from Baskins Robbins. The container is white plastic with a white lid -- think it will be great for sowing -- I already have designs on it for sowing seeds. The large trays that are used for deli sandwiches or a platter of meats and cheeses for making sandwiches make a nifty mini greenhouse. I punch holes in the clear plastic lid by inserting a scissor blade and turning it in a circle (you end up with holes, not just slits), put my styrofoam meat trays filled with my WS seeds on the tray and put the lid on securely. If we have a heavy rain, I check the tray for standing water and tip it out if needed. Other than that, no other maintenance is necessary. Add another fast-food place! Went to Taco Bell and got one of those new "Border Bowls". You get a black plastic bowl with a clear plastic dome lid. The first thing I thought of was planting something in it! I love plastic bottles. I toss the cap on all of them for air transpiration. My fastest bottle that I can make so far is a gallon milk jug. I hold it by the handle and take four snips into the bottom with my scissors where it bends up to become the sides, one snip per side. Then I pinch a corner about three inches up from the bottom, give a snip, and then go around it with the scissors and leave about a couple of inches uncut so I can hinge the top backwards. Easy! At the Stop N Shop where I now work, they make fruit & vegetable trays up in great winter sowing containers - 4-6 plastic compartments with a lid. I took the bottom half of my 2 litre bottle, and folded the rim in just the tiniest bit....you have to really play with it, to make the fold small enough...kind of like the gather you might see at the waist of a skirt...if you can get it super tiny, like say an eighth of an inch or so, and staple the little fold in place with a couple of staples, then the upper rim will fit down over the lower half snuggly and you won't have to be messing with tape outside in the middle of winter. I've tried it several times, and it works pretty well once you get the hang of it.

Something else that falls into "recycling", sort of, is to learn to "use what you've got". I know people who take a tiller out to their garden every spring and till every single thing up. It doesn't matter if something came back up from the roots. It doesn't matter if the tiller shot a poor little toad out of the ground, now missing a leg. It doesn't matter if the tiller unearthed grubworms that scramble back into the soil and no one picks them up before they disappear. Stuff like that. I do a lot of walking around out in my garden. I look at things and see what came back up, I check the blackberry vines for signs of life, and the mulberry tree, and the thornless currant bushes. I actually rejoice in every little thing that's blooming, every little bud on an otherwise empty-looking stalk. Yeah, spring's the thing for me. I've been kind of concerned about whether I'm going to have any kale growing in the garden this year. Summer of 2015 and 16, I had Red Russian kale. It was awfully big and coarse, but I tore the leaves up in little pieces and ate quite a bit of it those two summers. In 2016 it went to seed, and kale babies popped up nearly everywhere in the garden. But most of them weren't in good places and I admit I kind of ignored them. I had gathered plenty of the seed and I knew I could plant more if I wanted to. But I didn't really want to because I found a type of kale I liked better. It was Blue Vates, a nice blue-green curly beauty that was very prolific in 2017. I picked a lot of it and put it straight into the freezer in ziplock bags. After they were frozen I smushed the bag with my hands and the leaves broke into little pieces, perfect for tossing into beans or soups, scrambled eggs (with onion), or into a milkshake that also included some frozen strawberries. Yep, I got my money-s worth on that purchase of seed from a little country store in Chouteau, OK. Actually there was several years' worth of seed in that bag. Now, those folks know how to fill a seed package. So today I went looking for little surprises in the garden. Woo-hoo! There was this kale plant, and one other, coming up from the root of an otherwise couple to totally dead-looking stalks. I set about clearing away the tangle of Henbit and Baby Blue Eyes, so I could see if there was more, and there was (so far) no more in that bed, but there was another in the bed just across the path. I have cast some seed out there, just in case. I actually will need more than just two plants, anyway. If you ignore the Henbit (which, by the way, Jacob, my chickens used to literally FIGHT over), you may be able to see the Cilantro near the upper left corner. I don't usually do much with my Cilantro except to give it to my neighbor who also takes my extra peppers. But this year, I think I will harvest some for myself. I would like to make some salsa if I end up with enough tomatoes and onions. Of course the Cilantro will be gone to seed and done by the time I harvest those. What's up with THAT, I wonder??? I have had really good luck freezing certain herbs that don't hold their color and flavor well when they are dried, such as basil. I'm thinking about actually doing my Parsley that way instead of drying it. And I think I'll do some Cilantro that way, also, just in case I get to make that salsa. I'm sure you noticed the onions. I thought they were Candy onions that were actually too small to bother with last fall. These aren't large like Candy, so maybe they're something else. They divided, so that there were two fat "green onion"-type onions. I brought them in, cleaned them up and ate one in a Romaine lettuce wrap with a piece of sharp cheddar cheese wrapped in some Black Forest Ham. It was yummy but the onion was ~~~HOT!~~~ Really cleaned out the ol' sinuses. So I guess that confirms those weren't some of the left-behind Candy onions. No, they're not the Egyptian Walking onions either. Those are in another bed and they look different by quite a bit. And hey, if you have Egyptian Walking onions, it's getting about time to pull some at the time when they are at their best. Some of the Brussels' Sprouts look like this. The stalk to these plants went hollow and dry and the tops of the stalks were brown. I didn't think there was any point in leaving those standing. So I cut them off at ground level with the loppers. Now, new plants are coming up from the root. Here's one that chose another path to follow. Still green on the top. I think the ones that are like this will make seed this year. I'm going to be happy about that, because this variety is Roodnerf, an heirloom variety that is open-pollinated. I'm hoping to never have to buy seed for Brussel's sprouts again. While I was in the garden I found several fat grubworms. I used to give them to my chickens and they would actually come out to the garden with me and stick their heads in the way while I was weeding. Sometimes one chicken would peck some of the others if they got too close, but they would all gather around, all beady-eyed like chickens do. I really loved my little chicken flock, but it was just too difficult to keep them in the winter, and if we had to be gone for a few days, we just didn't like having to ask a neighbor to put them up for the night and let them out in the morning. So now I put the grubworms in a small basin near the birdbath and the birds have caught on quickly. So at least the grubworms serve some worthwhile purpose to make up for all the damage they do. I found the first fist-full of asparagus in the asparagus bed. I like to combine them with chopped onions and make Impossible Vegetable Pie, using swiss cheese instead of cheddar. https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/impossibly-easy-vegetable-pie/569664c4-c405-4f0b-9fb6-720fd41bae39 The weeds I pulled while I was out there went into the stock tank with some water. I'm taking a stab at making "weed tea". I have read it is very rich in minerals and other good stuff because those weeds go quite deep into the soil. When the "tea" is finished brewing, I'll give everything that's growing now a little nip. And the solids will go into the compost bin. I don't worry about weed seeds being in the "tea" as it's just too late to worry about something like that, my garden having been neglected too much in previous years. I don't put my kitchen scraps in the compost bin. Just weeds and garden flotsam and jetsam. I dig a hole in the garden and drop the scraps in, then cover it. Only now and then do I ever have anything digging into it, and I've never seen what it is or how it gets inside the fence. That concrete block has either been free for the taking or priced low at garage sales or from ads in the newspaper. They are heavy and hard to work with but we use them in many ways. I'm down to one little Albion strawberry plant in the strawberry bed.I dunno. I'm about to throw in the towel on this one. I can get strawberries by the flat at Aldi's during the spring. Watch the ads, that should be happening very soon. Their price has been better than anywhere else here for the last several years. I just clean and cut them up, stir in about half a cup of sugar for a gallon of berries, let them sit in the refrigerator till the juices have covered the berries, then I put into whatever size container I want, and freeze. They are not rubbery when thawed, this way. Hubs' favorite use for strawberries is Fresh Strawberry Pie. Here's a recipe that's not too much astray from the one I use: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/12156/fresh-strawberry-pie-i/ I wouldn't think the Splenda added would even be necessary, though. Some things are just more expensive to grow than they are to buy after being grown by someone else. I think strawberries are that for me. One thing about being frugal is knowing "when to cut bait and go home".