The Buy Nothing Project

[Marianne]

https://buynothingproject.org/?fbclid=IwAR0XZw7e8yMB2Iuqr06p7vfZtHsa9FE9nDCpk7UDwSEqtKMhTSMt-TRFlnE

This could go right along with the Food is Free project. That's where you put out excess garden produce, fruit and eggs for anyone to take if they need it.

I do realize that most of us will can excess food, but there is a lot we can still share.

One year I had so many cucumbers I couldn't find people to take them. Yes, I made freezer cucumbers, etc. I even froze slices in bags to give to the chickens in the winter.

I had planted old seeds. Nothing happened. I planted a lot of new seeds. Then the old ones sprouted. Oh oh. And then the new ones. One day we picked over 70 cucumbers!

 

[Mini Horses]

Oh, my! 70 in one day?!?! That's more than zucchini, another overproducer.


But, I like the "buynothing" link. Sounds nice and fun.

 

[flowerbug]

we planted 15 cucumber plants last year. i'm pretty sure we harvested over 1200lbs of cucumbers (most of the time when we picked we'd have 3-4 full 5 gallon pails) nobody wanted any more by the end of summer. i'm hoping we don't plant as many this year. it is a lot of work and a lot of space. we love dill pickles so we did can plenty of those, but once we had enough of those put up then we were giving away cucumbers as fast as we could grow them.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

That's the way of it. I'm a seed hoarder. So... I plant the old seed, then, for insurance, I plant some new seed. I had a bag of packets headed to the garden. laid it down somewhere, and couldn't find it. So... today, I bought some new cucumber seeds. Sure do miss that bag that had my Suyo seeds in it!!!

 

[Marianne]

That's the way of it. I'm a seed hoarder. So... I plant the old seed, then, for insurance, I plant some new seed. I had a bag of packets headed to the garden. laid it down somewhere, and couldn't find it. So... today, I bought some new cucumber seeds. Sure do miss that bag that had my Suyo seeds in it!!!

Oh no!
I have a friend who is the best seed hoarder I know. The crazy thing is that this year, her old seeds germinated better than the new ones she bought. Might have been from the different variety of tomato, I don't know. She never puts seed in the freezer, just in a dry place.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

he never puts seed in the freezer, just in a dry place.

Good to know.

 

[NH Homesteader]

I can't grow cucumbers to save my life. Feel free to send some my way 🤣

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I don't have much luck with 'em either - or lima beans... I just don't get it... Maybe I can turn that around this year.

 

[wyoDreamer]

When I grow too many cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, etc. I just toss it in the chicken pen. Feathered pigs is what they are. I like the idea of taking an excess and getting something else in return. Plus, it reduces the feed bill. Turn them into eggs!

 

[flowerbug]

we don't usually have any trouble growing pickles reliably here, we used to grow the large Burpee kind but decided we don't really like them so we just grow a smaller pickling cucumber that is very productive. the problem is that they do take up a fair amount of space as they sprawl. i'm hoping this year we don't plant so many. my brother is our largest pickle eater so this coming year we may downsize enough if he decides he doesn't want pickles any more. already we've stopped doing a lot of Bread and Butter pickles because he can't have those any longer so we've only put up a dozen pints of those for our own cooking (Mom uses them as part of her sweet and sour meatball recipe).

these grow for us through the entire summer no matter how hot or dry it gets as long as we keep them watered. the bugs don't seem to bother them much either. i love seeing all the native bees and the bigger bumblebees working on the flowers. i may continue growing some just for that reason alone, but we do like to eat some fresh cucumbers and make some salads with them.

4-5 5 gallon buckets every 5-7 days though is way more than i want to scrub or put up. we gave so many away last year nobody wanted them by the end of the summer. i was ready to pull the plants out by the end of July. i could have had a whole nother pea crop or bean crop in that space!