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Abandoned storage units yield unusual finds

14 years ago

Interesting article I read today, thought I would share with you .

Here is a link that might be useful: Abandoned storage units

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Comments (26)

LuAnn_in_PA
14 years ago
There are TV shows about that.
petaloid
14 years ago
Thanks, Sunshine. Makes you wonder about the folks who leave these things behind, doesn't it?

I'm not a gambler -- my luck I'd get a unit full of old dixie cups and newspapers.
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Slimy_0kra, you have another unusual vegetable on the way. Two unusual veggies volunteer in my garden every year; Martynia and Litchi tomato. Both are rather anti-social plants (Martynia for its smell, Litchi tomato for its thorns) but I always let a few grow if they come up in an out-of-the-way location... and that is all that is necessary for me to keep a supply of fresh seed. I love unusual greens. Swiss chard is my main green for freezing, but my #2 green is kang kong (a.k.a. water spinach), which is a morning glory relative grown for its edible leaves & shoots. The first planting is from seed, but after the first harvest, I root & plant the stems. After two such plantings, the final harvest of the summer is large - that one gets frozen for the winter. This is a great hot-weather substitute for spinach; as long as it is kept watered, it thrives on hot weather. If you are unable to find water spinach, sweet potato leaves are similar... not surprising, since they are both in the morning glory family. Not all varieties are good for leaves, though; the best ones for that purpose can be found in Asian markets, where you might also find water spinach. Both can be easily rooted from stem cuttings. Egyptian spinach (a.k.a. Saluyot, Molokhia, Jew's Mallow) is another reliable hot-weather green. The leaves are mint-like in appearance, and very mild in flavor. When cooked, the leaves are mucilaginous much like okra, so they are good for thickening soups. They also go great with fish. All of the greens above have something in common - the more you cut them, the stronger they get. Moringa is a fast-growing tropical tree grown for its edible leaves. They are very high in protein, and also have anti-biotic properties. This is probably not a good crop for those with limited space, since the yield is fairly low... but DW makes a soup from the leaves which is to die for, so I grow some every year. Many years ago, I grew some in pots to over-winter; but it was a pain to move those large pots in & out, so now I just grow a lot of plants in the garden, grown as annuals. They will reach 4-5 feet in height by the end of the summer, and yield 3-4 pickings. This year, I will be trying Caihua, a tropical climbing gourd that is edible immature. I have also grown Achocha (which is closely related) and found it to be rather tasteless, so I am hoping Caihua will be an improvement. Bitter melon is a vegetable I grow every year; while we eat a little, we give most of it away to some Filipino friends. It serves other important purposes in the garden: as a wind break (the vines densely cover the trellis); to both attract & isolate pollinators (it blooms continuously all summer); and for the scent of the blossoms, which is very fragrant. Some years I grow Mexican Sour Gherkin and West Indian Gherkin, but not this year. Anyone who has visited the Bean Forum knows I am a bean fanatic, so if a bean relative can be grown to seed in my climate, I will grow it. I am particularly fond of yardlong beans, and grow several varieties each year. Someone on another forum sent me a hyacinth bean which, if accounts are true, could be highly unusual. Most hyacinth beans are climbers, and because they only flower in short days (in or near September) they will not produce seed in Northern latitudes. This one, though, is supposed to be a bush variety which will bear seed in Wisconsin... so I am really looking forward to this trial. This year I will also be growing a yellow mung bean from the Philippines, and a large-seeded reddish-brown garbanzo. And "Madras", an edible-podded radish. Probably a few more oddities, but I've been growing some of them so long I no longer think of them as unusual. Here's a good group photo from one year: I started a similar "unusual vegetable" thread many years ago, but it seems to have fallen off the cliff. Edit: Found it, link below Here is a link that might be useful: Unusual vegetables This post was edited by zeedman on Sun, Mar 16, 14 at 23:56
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Hi Anthony, Like Mark, my prices are based on retail, not wholesale. You are essentially a contract grower of specialty produce. If chefs want specific varieties, they must pay a premium, and truly high-end restaurants (that's my market, as well) will just pass on the cost to the guests - don't short yourself. I have worked in high-end restaurants for over 25 years, and been a supplier to them for as long. If your quality is good, don't be afraid to charge what it's worth - it is a lot of labor and a lot doesn't get sold to the best restaurants, because they only want the best, and that is expensive to create. Chefs want clean, unblemished, uniformly sized produce, because it is cheaper for them to process into an elegant presentation. Generally they prefer smaller rather than larger sizes - haricot verts instead of large green beans, slender short carrots instead of large ones - because it means less prep time in the kitchen so less labor cost. 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I deliver on Thursdays and Mondays only, because they are too busy on weekends and Monday they have time to spend talking about the week ahead. I expect payment within ten days, or impose a service charge. Most pay on delivery. For your first year, one restaurant may be all you should commit to, and market the surplus to the others as you have it. Tell the other restaurants that this is your first year doing this type of marketing, and you don't want to sacrifice quality, but you will keep them apprised of any surplus specialty items and they will have first pick. Chefs are very pressed for time and don't like any BS, so be upfront and direct - they'll appreciate it. It is more important to meet the expectations of volume and quality in the beginning, and create a reputation that will allow you to maintain a premium price for your produce. If it's really good, the chefs will be calling you. The only discount should be for produce that doesn't meet your highest standards, and if you can find a non-restaurant market for that, such as caterers or gourmet grocers, it will serve your reputation... chefs talk to each other all the time. I grow in Maine, and most of my markets are local, but I have sold my produce in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, D.C., and Palm Beach, and they pay air-freight shipping rates. Ask the chef you are working with how many people he serves per week (in the trade we call them "covers", i.e.; "we did 158 covers last night," which means they served 158 entrees, not people. Remember that, in most fine dining, dinner is a salad or appetizer, the main meal, dessert, and beverages. You should try to have something from your farm on every plate, even if it is garnishing material like Blue Basil flowers. Even in urban markets, restaurants are seasonal - there are way more rich people in New York in the winter than in the summer (a lot come to Maine), and your area will have seasonal variation too. The chef should be able to guide you towards when demand will slow. Remember too that you have a good market around the winter holidays, so it pays to have something to offer between Thanksgiving and New Years, and Valentines Day can be a nice winter income pop if you plan right. These days, "high-end" in the restaurant industry assumes that each guest will pay $80 or more for dinner, and often way more... some of my clients charge over $200, not including drinks, per person. The very highest-end restaurants routinely get $400 per person, and I have served tables that spent over $10,000 per person - it is a very different world for the 1% crowd. High-end restaurants have a lot of overhead, but they aren't hurting like the mid-range restaurants are. 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I have a small microwave stand in my grandson's closet. Shoes sit on top' toy bins sit in the space meant for the microwave, other "stuff" that is important to him inside the doors. Because he is still small, his clothes can hang on hangars on the rod and not interfere with the stuff on the stand. Close the closet doors and everything is neatly hidden. We also use a microwave stand for my DH's bedside table. He has sleep apena so he needs lots of space for his CPAP and supplies as well as lamp, bookks etc. His has a rack on the side, probably meant for hanging dish towels or such, but he uses it store the hose from the CPAP after he has rinsed it out each day. Works great, and he can close the doors at the bottom to hide his considerable mediacal realted clutter. When DGS was very small he put a kitchen-style childproof latch on.
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Comments (13)
Take a round trash/storage container to use as a side table. Store "stuff" inside, top with a plywood circle (you can often find them pre-cut at lumber yards and home centers), cover with a round tablecloth. You can also get round plexiglass or glass circles to go over the cloth to keep the cloth clean. Great for bedside tables. Walls that flank a window (especially those short walls that go from the corner to the window) - that's a good place to put shallow 3- or 4-inch shelves. Build a ladder-like shelf unit that fits into the space and secure with L-brackets. If you're into food storage (some of us keep a years worth of food on hand), this is an excellent place to put canned goods, grains/seeds/beans vacuum-sealed in quart canning jars, and other small pantry foods. Just cover the shelves with floor-to-ceiling drapes to match the window treatment. If your sofa is backed by a wall, behind and under the sofa is excellent storage area. Off-season clothes and bedding in the reusable vacuum-packed plastic bags works very well behind and under a couch. Pull-out drawers or plastic storage bins under beds. If you raise your bed, you'll have even more storage area. Any space you can put a window seat can be both storage and additional seating. Shelves can be placed just below the ceiling in nearly any room to hold collections, books, china/serving pieces, etc. Platforms can run the perimeter of the garage, about 2-foot deep - about 3-foot from the ceiling. There are brackets designed for this available from home centers. Just lay plywood on the brackets. Deep enough to be useful, especially if you store things in plastic tubs with lids, but not so deep the items get lost in the back. -Grainlady
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marie_ndcal
14 years ago
Sounds like some of the farm auctions we have attended. Lots of interesting stuff and old. We have lots of furniture in the house, real good wood etc. Also went to a lumber yard auctions while we were building. Got so much--guess we could build 2 other houses. Good stuff too.
If I was younger and in larger cities, I would like to do this. Son would sell at flea markets and did pretty good.
sue_va
14 years ago
Back in the day I was an auction fanatic. Almost every Wednesday and Saturday I would be at an auction. I learned a lot and got many good buys. Some of the furniture, and collectibles in my house and my grand's came from auctions. I bought and resold a lot of things. When the Storage Unit sales started, I didn't do those.

I watch and/or DVR most of the auction shows, also Pawn Stars and Cajun Pawn. Some of them now though are obviously in part scripted.

Sue
lydia1959
14 years ago
Interesting article! I do watch "Storage Wars" ... fun show. Personally I'm not enough of a gambler to bid on a storage unit.. plus I wouldn't want to have to get rid of all that stuff.

I feel sorry for the people who have personal mementos and family items in these lockers and end up losing it all cause they can't make their payments.
LuAnn_in_PA
14 years ago
"I feel sorry for the people who have personal mementos and family items in these lockers and end up losing it all cause they can't make their payments."

Really?
Since they don't bother to remove any of it when they can, I just always figured that they really didn't care/didn't want anything in there....
arkansas girl
14 years ago
I personally know someone that left an entire house full of all of his EVERYTHING! From personal records/mementos to clothing to jewelry and furniture. Every single thing that he owned, he just got in his truck and drove away with only the clothes on his back. He had fallen into the bottom of a bottle. Then drank until he almost died and ended up in the hospital, now clean for a couple years and is very upset that everything he owned, including irreplaceable family mementos/jewelry/photos/videos are go forever! I guess sometimes people just go off the deep end and don't think. I imagine sometimes these storage units are owned by people that die and no one really even knows they exist if it wasn't told to someone they left behind. I'd think it could be pretty sad going through that stuff and also exciting when you find a valuable! I know that at least in the case of my friend, their stuff they left was worth 10's of thousands of $$$!!!!!
patti43
14 years ago
I read that article in the paper this morning too, Sunshines. I'm not crazy about the name change of the St. Pete Times, are you?
lazypup
14 years ago
When I was in Florida I had some things in a storage for over a year and I got to know the owner of the storage facility very well.

One day I went to pay my monthly bill and I got to talking to the owner and he says, "Look at this mess I have going on right now" as he handed me some papers to read.

It seems that a man told him that he was going to work overseas and had rented a large storage room and paid the fee in advance for one year. About two months befofe that contract expired they received a Certified Check and a written request to renew the contract for another year. When the contract expired at the end of the second year they sent a billing invoice to the last known address, but got no reponse. He said he could have taken possession at the end of 30days but he thought this guy was such a good customer that he would cut the guy some slack, and he sent a second bill and waited another month, with no reply, so he sent a third notice informing them if they didn't pay this time the locker would be opend and the contents disposed of, but still no response.

When he finally opened the locker he found that the had removed the lightbulb from the overhead light fixture and put a plug adapter in the socket, then they set a full size chest type deep freezer in the middle of the room and plugged it in. When they opened the freezer they found the guys wife.
User
14 years ago
One of the students that I taught in technical school would bid on units like that and give me all the bibles to give a teacher who worked with me and her church and she would distribute them along with tons food every Saturday to the sections of town that needed help. I sometimes went with her to help out. It was wonderful and a true blessing. You would not believe the bibles that that lady gave my friend that were left in those storage units.
User
14 years ago
Lazypup, wow. I didn't see that coming. My heavens, I bet the fella hadn't seen anything like that before.

Then what happened?
bigack
14 years ago
Yes, then what happened? We gotta know!!!!
lazypup
14 years ago
First the Sheriff's dept investigated, but they couldn't figure it out.

They took fingerprints from the ladies body, but they were not on file anywhere, but then one is not fingerprinted unless they have either committed a crime, served in the military or worked someplace that requires bonding so it is not uncommon for people to not be in the fingerprint files

When the guy rented the space he told them that he was going to be working for the Navy on an overseas contract so the Sheriff's dept contacted the Navy Base and asked their investigative unit to help. The navy also investigated but they said they had no one by that name under contract.

The Navy then notified the FBI that they suspected someone was impersating Navy personel and the FBI investigated. All the while that storage locker remained sealed by law enforcement as a crime scene for nearly a year.

Finally the FBI took the serial number off the freezer and checked with the manufacturer and they got a name from the original warranty contract. Once they had a name they tried to find that person but he was not to be found. They did find a record of a marriage and it had the wifes maiden name.

They had good photos of the lady because she was well preserved in the freezer, so they took a photo to the family of the lady on the marriage certificate to see if they could identify her, and sure enough, it was her, but she had been reported missing about 3 or 4 years before they found the freezer.

By the time they found the freezer there was no further records anywhere of the husband, no employment records, no banks, no tax records, no DMV or medical records to be found and the name that he used to rent the storage was for a man who had died almost 5 yrs before he rented the locker...

To the best of my knowledge the husband is still in the wind.
nicole__
14 years ago
I drive past storage units on my way home every day. On weekends they have BIG sales on ALL the left items.
beausrose
14 years ago
Another unusual find in the storage unit. Once again in FL.

Here is a link that might be useful: Grandma found in storage unit
glenda_al
14 years ago
My father was a realtor and bought homes, renovated them and sold them. He came home once, I remember with a Grover Cleveland White House Cookbook. Most interesting!
User
14 years ago
beaurose, that was an interesting story too.
minnie_tx
14 years ago
"Storage Wars" is one of my favorite shows. I like the main guys and gals
kathy_
14 years ago
I used to clerk Saturdays at a storage unit facility. At one time, they just hauled the stuff to auction if it was any good and they filled up dumpsters on a regular basis with junk. Most of it was junk.
Now they make more money letting people buy the stuff "blind" I went past one time and the place was packed and at first I couldn't figure out what was going on - then I knew...
The people on Storage Wars aren't making a nice living on units, they are paid to do a tv show. I love how they appraise their own items and say they made this much or that much. You make nothing until the stuff is sold for what you think it is worth.
The ones really making the money are the auctioneer and the owner of the facility.
dedtired
14 years ago
Yuuuuup!
linda_in_iowa
14 years ago
Speaking of leaving everything behind, I have a cousin whose DH went to work one day and never came home. They had been married 25 plus years and didn't get along.This was in 1998 or 99 and she never heard from him again. She contacted his family and returned photos and other sentimental items. She then had a big garage sale. They were very active in Elks and she heard that some men heard from him occasionally but would not reveal his whereabouts.
patti43
14 years ago
LOL at dedtired!
wantoretire_did
14 years ago
linda in iowa - There's a good movie about just that subject, called "The Upside of Anger".
minnie_tx
12 years ago
Reminds me, I enjoy watching reruns of Storage Wars
lindyluwho
12 years ago
DH used to buy storage units just for something to do. He would sell the stuff at the flea market on the weekends. I went to some of the auctions with him. I was lots of fun. The prices were nowhere near what you see on tv at that time. We didn't make a lot of money but plenty to keep buying more units and have some "play" money. I wouldn't want to have to do it for a living but it was fun as a hobby.

DH would call me at work and tell me how many units he had bought and I would always tell him not to touch them until I got home. It was like opening Christmas presents. We got some trash and some really good stuff.
jannie
12 years ago
About 20 years ago, I rented a storage unit to store my artificial Christmas Tree and decorations. Kept it too long, the price of rent kept going up. When it got to $101 a month I decided to empty it. Brought everything home and was able to toss or properly store everything in my attic. How I hated driving to that place every month and paying eighty or ninety bucks to keep my husband from seeing all the stuff we owned. The owners of the place occasionally put items from abandoned units on sale in the office. I once bought my hubby a nice warm like-new satin Yankees jacket.

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