THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX

I had to pay a visit to my daughter today to deliver some play sand that she needed and to bring back two five gallon containers of heating oil. They converted to gas towards the end of last winter when their oil burner konked out. So of course I had to go to the Christmas Tree Shop.

I purchased 2 very large and sturdy planters that are extremely ugly ... I have been doing a lot of thinking outside the box. I am thinking of using them to create a water garden ... 1st thought was to spray paint them a better color ... now I am thinking of 1st coating them with quickrete.

When I went into the kitcken I looked at a carboard box from the grocery store that I was planning to use to hold some of my winter sowing jugs and thought ... hmmmm ... line inside with crumple newspaper (insulation) then plastic ... then apply a heavy coat of quickrete (making sure to have drainage holes that can be easily plugged if need be) ... Walla ... containers that I can use for water garden or just planters. WHAT DO YOU THINK??


MARY

Merry--

There is NOTHING wrong with thinking "outside the box"! It is what we tell our children--
"Don't worry if you color outside the lines! It is still beautiful! You did GREAT!!!!

I believe that my mind always thinks "outside the conventional "box".
I refuse to have a "Herd mentality"--which means following the "herd" in what should be done.
Even at my advanced age--I am a rebel. I like to do my own thing----and if not acceptable to do so--
I will just sit quietly and listen to others....

I DO NOT like "line dancing"--for that very reason--to me it looks silly. A bunch of women, getting out on the
dance floor, trying to do all the same moves--with a detached, blank expression on their faces....
pretending to have fun. Men seldom do this--unless it is a couples line dance--like El Paso.

OK! Off the topic!

Thinking outside the box has many implications....It can be threatening to others, or it can be something
people admire in you. I cannot help it. I seem to live "outside the box".
In my old age--I have refused to be conventional. So--I have given up a lot of activities in Groups
I used to belong to--and be active in--because I tired of the mundane...

On a more real example of thinking "out of the box" is that my mind is endlessly resourceful.
I see everything as having 2-3 lives....DO NOT throw it out! You can use it in this way--or that way.
DO NOT laugh at my silly ideas! You, probably have never lived without--as i have.

I hate waste! When so many lives and organizations could benefit from what is being discarded.
BUT! in BIG RETAIL--thousands of $$$$ every week go down the chute. WHY???? OH--WHY
does it have to be that way????????

Because--everyone is restricted to live "Inside the Box" by corporate rules and laws....
Inside the box can become overly constraining and boring and stressful--and stifling.

Gardening allows me to live "outside the box"--to do my own thing. My way--or no way!
If I fail--No biggie! if I succeed--Whoopie! Plants are replaceable. People are not.

As this Post progresses--I will be happy to give you more actual examples of HOW I choose
to live "outside the box".....

Merry! Brace yourself! I hope many "free souls" will find this Thread and post here to
cleanse their minds.....

Be FREE! Boxes are for the Post Office! All taped shut and sealed....and mailed--to where????

LIVE! LOVE! BREATHE!!!!

Gita

Merrymath, Are you covering the outside of the box with quick crete? Using the crumple newspaper (insulation) on the inside to support the weight? I did something like that using a beer box (a bottle case) they are pretty heavily constructed. I filled it up and then covered the whole box with a plastic bag and then a loose chicken wire frame. Final step was a hypertufa shell on the outside pushing it though the chicken wire frame to make it stronger. It's a nice planter that I have used for years.

Holly, I think any regular cardboard box would work. I like the idea of using chicken wire (wonder id chicken netting would work) for adhering the quickrete.

Gita, you are a great customer draw factor for your local HD. Unfortunately, the local HDs (we have at least 5 in a 10 mile radius) does not have anyone like you to draw me to their plant offerings. Most knowledgeable gardeners in my area use a garden center that is not open year round (closed after Christmas to at least mid-Feb) for purchasing plants. They have better plants ... larger ... and priced less than the big box stores. But there are times I do need to go to either HD or Lowes ... HD is usually my 1st stop (it's closer than Lowes)

Now would be a great time for Gita to approach her management with some OUTSIDE the BOX ideas.
Many gardners are now looking forward to spring ... local stores (DOLLAR TREE, BIG LOTS, etc) are starting to display gardening items). What a draw it would be for Gita's HD if she could demo some OUTSIDE the BOX ideas such as making inexpensive planters ... and we all know that once they have us there we are most likely to browse and make purchases we did not have on our need to buy list.

MARY

I* Trully want to learn how do make these :) will be back when i can sit & read but right now I Have to go put away grocieries .

susie

Way to go Mary. I am anxious to see what you actually end up doing. I am sure it will be well thought through and well done. Good Luck. JB Snow coming tomorrow again.

Merry--

Thanks for all your compliments. You are too kind! But--I appreciate it....

Come mid-April, I will, again, be doing my weekly Informational Clinics in Outside garden.
This will be year #4.
Not sure how long you have been following the MAF--but I do these totally on my own.
The last year--I changed where they schedule me--with Mrs.'s approval (Why not?) so
I was actually scheduled to work on Sundays. The first 2 years i would come in on my day off
(on the clock, of course) to hold these clinics from 9AM-11AM. Then go home.
Made a lot more sense to just be scheduled all day in Garden, have my table all set up, etc...
I just hang around, answer questions, help customers, drive sales--- and all that.

Even though I carefully select a topic for each week, which is posted on MY BIG, colorful, sign
by the front entrance, not too many people pay any attention to the topics. I try to set up my table with
the topic in mind--even hang signs from my table stating what the topic is--most people just pass by.

Once in a while--I "get" someone interested.....and then I have him or her captive audience.
Once you start talking to customers--they relax--as I am NOT there to (blatantly) push sales,
but I do if I can steer them, say, to the proper bagged soil for what they are doing--tools?

Yes! It will cost a bit more (of course)--but it is the best one to use. For example---
Many people mistake the el cheapo "Top Soil" for a rich, garden soil. If i see a customer going
towards the check out, with a bunch of pottted annuals or such, and about 4 bags of "Top Soil"--
I stop them and ask what they are planning to do with it? If they say it is for their lawn--I let them pass (....:o) )-
IF they say they are going to plant their flowers in it--I say "NO!"...Here's what you need for that--
and they go home with the "MG Garden Soil" or the "Organic Choice" soil instead.
Then--I migt suggest they need to mulch things--(kaching!) or get something like "Starter fertilizer" for their
new plants...and so it goes to sell "add ons"....Mission accomplished.

Where does the "Outside the Box" come in--you may ask????
It is in my diverse, accumulated knowledge about gardening--much of which is NOT written
in any books, that I pass on.. I also share my own experiences--which makes me VERY human in their eyes.
The most common reply I get is: "I DIDN'T KNOW THAT!!!"

I enjoy these Sundays--because if I can educate a non-gardener to start becoming one--
I am very happy--and my presence out there is justified.

I know our store will be loosing Donn (our SM) soon. They like to shift managers and Supervisors around.
Seems to be the stepping stones to higher positions. A Supervisor has to first be a Supervisor
of THREE different Departments before they can even be considered to become an Assistant Mgr.

WHEN we get another new manager for our store (who would be my 9th in the 13 yrs. I have been there
--you get used to it...), I will simply tell him that this is what I do on Sundays. That won't cause any issues--
as our Regional Manager already knows I do this and, wholeheartedly approves of it.
Donn being transferred will be hard. for me--as I have been growing and sharing plants and veggies
for him now for THREE years. We have a, sort of, bond.....I have never seen his garden--as there would
be an ethical issue if I went there. Besides--he lives an hour's drive away from here.

His mind is SO busy 24 hrs a day, that he seldom remembers what I tell him, what the name of anything is,
what's an annual, a perennial--or such. but he loves everything and keeps thanking me.
EVERYTHING I have given him has been accompanied with a color photo of that plant and my hand-written
directions how to grow it. He has been telling me for over a month that his brother will be making a CD
of his house--inside and out--and all the things in his garden--sio i can see what everything looks like.
I will soon be getting a copy of that CD to keep and to cherish.
It will be my memory of HIM--and to him--it will be a memory of ME.

I am also working on making him a small photo album where ALL the photos I have given to him
will be put in. Photo on one side of the page--direction on the other side.
Been trying, from memory, to type up the directions--but I have reached a dead end.
Been asking him to bring me in all the photos so i can finish this project.
He keeps forgetting! Even sent him an e-mail....still no pictures....I won't bug him any more..
He will have to remember on his own.....

He is such a doll!!!! When he leaves--we will all go into mourning--and many of us will cry.
Especially me!

Thank you for allowing me to share some of this stuff--"Outside the Box" of who I appear to be......

Most of us just love him to death! He has done wonders for our store. He is caring and approachable.
He is 43--younger than my kids.....and, forever single! Seems only one of his 5 siblings is married.
They must all be married to their careers----Type "A"'s and overly committed to have any other life.

Here he is! This was taken at our Christmas Party in December just now.

Gita

edited to add some info.


This message was edited Jan 10, 2011 3:21 PM

merrymath, Not sure if netting (plastic?) would be useful Chicken wire is pretty strong and the large holes in it makes it very easy to pack the hypertufa through. I didn't use it on any of the smaller pieces I did and they have held up well. I covered a small plastic pot with some left over when I did the big pot and it has held up very well. You might want to visit the Hypertufa and concrete Forum if you haven't yet they have some very interesting and wonderful ideas as well as several recipes for mixes. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/hypertufa/all/

Merry--
Seems the BOX shut it's lid! Maybe confessions are hard to share.....

I thought this would be such a neat Thread..allowing many of us to share how and why--
we think outside the box. And--in what way.

Well--I certainly do! I am VERY psychologically minded--and that is ripe for finding
things "outside the box".....even in myself.

I actually think that I "live outside the box" in many ways....Just being unique.....
Doing my own thing--no matter what.
My sisters just don't get it--so we make war.....and at out ages--in the 70's--I am tired of it.

Come on--You all! I am sure you can share how you live "outside the box"--in your own
opinion. No one is going to judge you. Let it all go!
It would also be interesting to know what any of you consider "living outside the box"....

Such an intriguing topic!!!!! C'Mon! Share!!!!!

Gita

Well Gita, your latest contribution to winter sowing was a great example of THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX. I knew there was a reason for me saving the plastic container that a recently purchased cake came in. It has a plastic bottom and a 5" high dome. Lately, I find myself rescuing items headed for the trash.

Did I share with you my creative and very inexpensive idea on making homes for those wonderful mason bees?

MARY

Thanks merry--

Hearing back from "greenthumb" that my suggestion was "pure genius" made my day!

I look up to David a lot for his knowledge on all things gardening--just like Doc.
SO! That meant a lot to me!

Gita

"your latest contribution to winter sowing "
What, where? Now I'm all ears and no idea what briliant thing I missed.
I don't think I can contribute here, except maybe that I build a large leaf compost every fall and then plant some squash/ gourd/ pumpkin type thing in it the following summer, Add a couple shovels of dirt for the seeds to start in. Then move the bin boards to start new that fall. The then well-rotted leaves are ready to spread or just leave, as well composted new planting area. This takes a large area so it moves around, and also cuz the vines ramble.

Sally--

Judy sytarted a Winter Sowing thread. It is still very new....

My "genius" contribution can be found there.....:o)

Here's the link to it. .

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1150939/

A circuit breaker tripped and I had to go to basement to reset it. Took a quick look around and did a silent "AHA" ... lots of opportunities for "THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX" for gardening creations.

MARY

Many, many moons ago--there was a Thread started called--
"Poetry on the Pile". I liked the idea--and became a regular contributor
to this Thread--mostly writing short "ditties" as they come from my mind in a matter of minutes....

It flourished--like flowers in the frost---and then it died.....

Then--I found it and renewed it---and some more Poetry on the Pile was contributed....

I think, the last active contributions were in 2008. Someone--who cared--resurrected this...
How wonderful it is!!!!

I hope you go back through the links and read it all....There is some really good Poetry in it.
A lot of fun ones too.

I am, once again, writing one, or two, verse "ditties" just because I have fun doing this...

Here is the link to the current "Poetry on the Pile" as it slugs through the "stuff" with boots on...

Enjoy!!!!! Gita

HEY!!!
.What happened to this great idea of a Post?????

I am sure many of us like to "think outside the box"....
This couls be such a great Thread...like pouring your heart out of WHY you think
you are different--why you think you can live outside the box!

Like--coloring outside the lines when you werwe young.....and still feeling you
were an artist--and feeling good about it......

PLEASE continue sharing of yourself--how you have lived "outside the box".....

Think...Think...Think..........

Gita, I just posted my THINKING OUTSIDE the BOX contribution for today on another thread

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=8384797


I saw a lot of THINKING OUTSIDE the BOX items at the NJ Flower & Garden Show.

MARY