lessons learned for next year #4

I keep having a vision of a nursing home where all the little old ladies have multi-pierced ears, eyebrows, noses, bellybuttons, shriveled/warped tattoos, etc. Ha ha ha ha ha.

xx, C

PS these ARE lessons learned, just not about wintersowing.

so far my tattoos are in places that don't shift too much....i have thought about how interesting it will be with a lot of inked seniors :-)

perhaps if i told my daughters not to write on the labels they'd come up with something permanent!

Well, I have visions of beautiful young women tattooed with flowers - which transform into cabbages when they are pregnant, and then the tattoos transform into something we would throw into the compost pile after the pregnancy.

I alway think of the tattoo either sagging or stretching. I have seen some lovely ones and am tempted to have one on my mastectomy scars, but I think it would hurt a lot.

i've been told the chest area isn't bad...i realize that is highly subjective!
i've seen pictures with tattoos covering mastectomy scars...have to see if i can remember where
mine are lower back, ankle & across my shoulders

If you remember where you saw them I would like to have the web site. I am doing a series of mastectomy sculptures.

Hi, I'm VERY new to wintersowing, but I've already learned one lesson. Not sure if anyone has mentioned it yet. Make sure you clean out your milk jugs WELL before you set it aside. I only rinsed it and tossed into my saved containers pile, and yesterday went to cut it up per instructions, and it reeked!!! I spent a good bit of time scrubbing and washing them down. Just thought I'd contribute a little something, since this forum has helped me so much.

I know exactly what you mean, Karm. And it only takes that one jug to learn that lesson.

As part of that lesson. I learned that having other people save milk jugs for you can have you end up with a bunch of smelly jugs. One neighbor saved several for us and when we got them all they had done was put the cover on the empty jug and put it aside for me until they had 8 of them. We thanked them and bleached them. Needless to say we won't have them save any more for us. What a smell.

Cordele, it had added up to three jugs before I realized it. The worst part was leaving it outdoors in the heat. Zen, eww gross. Mine was at least rinsed, but it was still pretty nasty.

I toss the top, swirl 'em out with a little soap and hot water and store them under the kitchen sink. So far, no probs with stinkyness...

The soap might be the key ingredient. :>)

x, Carrie

Hi! One lesson I have learned for this year is that I am vowing to get the task of washing and trimming my milk jugs done well BEFORE those times when the urge to plant seeds in jugs is irresistible. Maybe on some looong evening in early to mid-November when the nights are drawing in. Then later after the Solstice I can just plant away happily, labeling carefully, without having to rush through the trimming first because I am so eager to get to the planting-- which is very risky because I haven't found a really safe way of cutting through that tough white plastic on Hood milk jugs (the only kind I can find) and I tend to saw away impatiently with a kitchen knife. . DH can't watch me, he says, and this also dulls my kinves pretty quickly, too. Did someone mention a new single-edge razor as being the best tool? Would kraft knives from the hobby stores be good--at least they have a handle? Scissors are probably the safest, but they can't really handle the plastic.

We use a "box cutter" knife on milk jugs - works great. My DH is a safety nut though, so must wear protective gloves...LOL!

Joanne

A box cutter together with protective gloves sounds really SMART! Thanks, Grow_Jo.

the box cutter does sound good....i know i just found an envelope and coupon cutter (also can use on other things) which is really handy

i'm making my list and checking it twice for seeds :-)

We used to have tons of box cutters around - my husband would bring them home from work. Different (better) job now, so no more box cutters. But maybe that's why all the scissors in this house are so dull - cutting too many wintersowing containers!

x, C

i don't know anyone who has worked with box cutters that doesn't have some nasty scars to show for it....i cut myself with paper, so when my husband sees my with sharp objects he gets worried :-)

Oh, I wouldn't dare do it myself! I'm a total clutz!!!

Ya, I still bear the scars from borrowing a SHARP knife after working with a dull one on a plastic milk jug. Several stitches later and one scar later, I'm older but probably no wiser!

Serrated bread knives work easily. . . . and are easier to control.

I start the cut with a box cutter and cut around the jug with big scissors. I also make slits and/or X shaped cuts around the shoulder of the jug with the box cutter. Then when it's time to enlarge the holes for more ventilation in spring, it's easy to do. I'm pretty slow at prepping and sowing each jug, labeling each usually 3 times and starting ventilation holes in top for later. It makes life a lot easier for me later, though.

Agreed, I'm pretty dangerous with the box cutter too. My husband can't watch me, either.

Karen

My husband does that job with a box cutter for the holes in the bottom he uses an electric drill.

I am going to start a new thread here this is getting long.

new thread

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/784760/

I will ask to have it made a sticky.