When it comes to bartering, I agree that you should double-check with a tax accountant, but if gardening is not your profession, and you aren't "making" more than $600 per year (the current cutoff for requiring 1099's, which is a report of income from one source) in like-valued bartered goods, then you shouldn't have any problems. If you don't call it "bartering," you will definitely have a better go of it; you simply have "extra" beans that you don't want, and are thinking that someone might want some of them. Freecycle is a great way to clear out stuff that you don't want, and then occasionally post for the items that you do want. You may or may not get what you want, but for those items that you do get, it's one less thing that you will need to actually pay for. BTW, welcome to the 'States! I hope you will enjoy your gardening experience while you're here--having hit on the Garden Web forums, you will have much advice for growing your plants, be they beans, tomatoes, or hollyhocks! Do pay attention to your growing zone and climate, and see if you can locate some locals to help advise you on techniques that work well. Love your frugal tip, but egg cartons just don't work for me where I live--humidity is regularly less than 20%, and my little seeds will be dried out by the end of the day. Great minds think alike, but unfortunately, it just doesn't work for me in my area--I bet it will for others, though! My favorite frugal tip? INFORMATION!! There's so much of it out there, and much of it is free. I just checked out a book on lasagna gardening yesterday from my local library, and let's not forget the years and years of gardening experience to be found on the internet, especially in forums such as on Garden Web! If a penny saved is a penny earned, and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, then a garden properly planned and planted is one not lost to needless ignorance. Good luck with your beans--I wish I was where I could snag some of your extras! Here is a link that might be useful: Find other gardeners near you

I love the name of this post because it is so true. My favorite "fail" happened early on in my hypertufa career. It was back when I made my mix too wet and was too impatient to wait before unmolding. The end result was a pot that was broke in half with a 2 inch rim. In disgust I threw it into the garden and called it a "Toad Abode". After a bit I relized it was something more. By adding two painted "balls" and a painted "patty" I ended up with a Ground Hog. It is the most commented upon "fail" in my garden -

Thanks. I'm going to try that. I still can't a good picture of The Prince or some of my red roses.

Wow! Isn't Craigs List the best! That looks like an awesome find. I just had a HUGE score over the last few days - I got 9 rose bushes for free and 8 various orchids (I have the list of names if you are interested) for $25. You can definitely negotiate the price - I think you should go fo it! Alexa