Kitchen Garden Forum

I am trying to clear space in the garage so that I can fit in another freezer for produce.
OK, it's good news that there is enough produce to need extra storage but it is bad news that I have accumulated so much stuff that I need to clear out.
I think that gardeners are hoarders par excellence, every little thing might be useful in the future, everything can be recycled. We hate throwing stuff away because it all has a future (if only we could think what it is).

It's tough for me, I inherited a hoarding gene from both parents. My mother was a keen gardener and the sheds were full of stuff which might get used again, some time.

Jam jars, brown paper bags and string were my Mam's 'stock in trade'. Mine is offcuts of stainless steel and nylon! (no, not nylons). Cheers, Tony.

Stephen

Simple rule I got from my wife (she's not a hoarder; I am):

If you haven't seen/touched/thought about it for two years, chuck it!

Believe me, it works!

My eighty year old sister, another gardener, is about to move from the house she moved into in 1958 and isn't she having fun!
We are thinking of opening a Jam Jar Museum - do you think it will be commercial?

[quote="alan refail"]Stephen

"If you haven't seen/touched/thought about it for two years, chuck it!"

I think we should have this printed out on a poster and hung up in our garage. Ours is absolutely full of stuff which my OH says "will come in useful one day", and believe me, he's not even the gardener !! But I know the very week after we have tossed something out, we will find a use for it. One of the problems, I think, is that the traditional old style hardware shop of our childhood where you could buy all kinds of things in small quantities is very difficult to find these days so all kinds of stuff is hoarded in the event that if you need it in the future, you probably won't easily be able to track it down and replace it.

Now let me think, who was it that got stuck in a skip!.....

I like to keep the odd item in stock, i must admit.

Moving here was our third move in 4 years, so thought I had got rid of much of the hoarded stuff.
Problem was, the previous owner here kindly left me three sheds, all of which contained lots of stuff that could come in handy one day. So it all started over again.
I also now have two sheds on the allotments, which are both groaning at the seams, and only yesterday, I acquired another three 5ft long scaffold poles which might come in handy

PJ indeed.

Alan, I know the two year rule (It doesn't apply to my accounts) but there are an awful lot of bits which suddenly do become useful!

Primrose: At work I have said, frequently, "If you can't find/get to it, you shouldn't be keeping it" but I fail to clear the decks at home in the same way.

As for the jam jar museum Alan - I have heard of odder things! In fact jars are some of the things I will probably get rid of (not all of them just some - got to put the preserves in something).

This time, I think the old B+W portable TV has to go and the polystyrene from old computers (the cardboard will compost nicely).

I've been gradually clearing loft/garage/cupboards etc. for the last 9 months and you can bet your life as soon as you have thrown it, you will want it.

Beryl.

In the high tech world of aircraft engineering, you will always find a 'gash box' around containing those bits that 'might come in useful'. Then you get the big annual inspection and it gets chucked somewhere. Servicing always takes longer afterwards. Untill you gather together another gash box. Cheers, Tony.

Ha ha,
I've got one of those in my kitchen. Nothing gets thrown out of that.

Beryl.

My jam jar stash came in very handy today, shelves groaning with jars of jam, runner bean chutney, beetroot chutney and kilner jars of ratatuille, chilli and tomato sauce. Tomorrow red cabbage pickle.

I used to be the antithesis of a hoarder however the gardening and sewing now mean that anything i see be it wood, material, old curtains the works suddenly takes on a whole new look.

Why is it that in the past i would never have looked twice at old curtains offered my the Mother-in-Law but now think "ooh that would make a lovely tote bag and the off cuts would be useful for cushion covers"!!

So you are the secret dressmaker to the Princess Royal.

I'm not at liberty to say