Report From An Opinionated Gardener – March 22
The theme for today seems to be things found. Or maybe rubbish, repurposed. Gardeners tend to be good at turning trash into treasure. We pick up odd metal items and use them as garden ornaments, fashion plant tags out of old venetian blinds and plant succulents in old boots.
In the preparation of a talk I’ll give in Rhode Island in April I was going through photos and came across shots of a Martha’s Vineyard vegetable bed. This round garden was constructed out of pieces found at the local dump. From the fencing to the sprinkler/sculpture, all the materials were recycled.
Later today I enjoyed another look at repurposed refuse when I got a box from Gene and Rex at Beach Glass Bingo. These jewelers take the glass and pottery that washes up on beaches around the world and make it into jewelry. I’m reminded of many pleasant hours of beach combing, picking up glass and shards. “Poor man’s archeology,” my friend Steve called it.
There is something so satisfying about finding an object that has been cast off and seeing that it still has potential. Why are gardens and gardeners so conducive to displaying and using such hand-me-downs?
I’m not sure, but encourage everyone to keep it up.

Isn't this saved-from-the-trash garden charming?

I sent Rex and Gene this photo of the table I made from the pottery shards I picked up on a Massachusetts beach. I've got to get that cloning thing going because I need a few more of myself so that I have time to do more of these craft projects, not to mention walk the beaches and junk yards to find more such treasures.