Both of my subscription magazines arrived this morning, this one with £8.18 worth of seeds in the packet it came in ....
... and this one with £2.65 worth.
They are proving to be a really good subscriptions, the initial offer of freebies more than covered the cost of the year long subscription to both of them, and the free seeds just keep on rolling in. I intend to have a sort of of all my seeds this coming week and decide which I will keep for planting and which will go into a box to be sold a our first car boot sale of the season. Any money made from the sale of the seeds will go into a 'growing fund' to purchase anything I need for growing more food for us.
Also last night on our first visit to the cinema of the weekend, we did what we nearly always do and came home with some popcorn for the chickens. We don't buy any for ourselves, we take drinks in with us and rarely buy anything on offer at the snack counters to eat, unlike some folk who seem to think they are in imminent danger of starvation during the course of a two hour film and buy drinks, crisps, sweets and icecreams. I know it can be a treat to visit the cinema but do you really need to munch your way noisily through a three course 'meal' while you watch your chosen film!!
And don't get me started on the rubbish they leave strewn on the floor when they leave ...... and this is where our bags of popcorn for the chickens come from. We stay in our seats reading the credits until the cinema is almost empty and then as we walk down the steps glance down the lines of seats, nine times out of ten there will be at least one almost full bag of popcorn.
Better in our chicken tummies as a little weekend treat than in the bin and on the way to landfill.
Final freebie of the weekend ..... another elastic band that came holding the packets of seeds together .... every little helps :-)
Have a good weekend.
Sue xx
I find lots of elastic bands from the postman when I'm walking to the charity shop, I'd be very upset if I had to buy some.
ReplyDeleteThat's brilliant!! Never thought about picking up the popcorn for the chickens! Does it matter if it's salty or covered in toffee?
ReplyDeleteI doubt your chickens would mind, as most chicken owners will agree chooks will eat ANYTHING. You can't feed it to them if you are selling the eggs, but it's okay for them to have scraps and free foods such as popcorn if the eggs are for family and friends only.
DeleteHave you thought of using a few of your extra seeds to get some plants started in your polytunnel and sell the plants at the car boot sale? You might even make a bit more money that way. People will often pay 3-5 times the cost of a seed pkg. for say, a tomato or herb plant.....
ReplyDeleteI do this every year.
DeleteBut I don't give growing space to things that we don't eat, so what gets sold is the excess from the crops that I sow the seeds for and grow for us. The money we make from the car boot sale plants is usually enough to cover the cost of our whole years food and keeps me supplied with the few bought in things I still need to buy at the moment such potting compost etc.
For instance of the packs of seeds above I wouldn't grow the Red Celery, it would take up a lot of room and we wouldn't eat it, so in this case I would rather sell the pack of seeds for 50p and buy myself a plant off another grower at the car boot sale of something that I need.
It's taken me a few years of growing and planning to know exactly what we eat, how much we need, and what is excess but it works well now.
I knew you must have already thought of this! Your system makes total sense. 😃
DeleteIt probably goes down the perch like wildfire among your chickens - aye up - they.ve gone to the pictures again - get ready for the popcorn.
ReplyDeleteNow that's clever! - waiting until everyone's gone and then hoovering up the left-overs. Good for you.
ReplyDeletexx
We have our free seeds too, I can see a fine veg garden on the way, good job my old freezer is coming home. I think we will need it.
ReplyDeleteHave I missed it, but you didn't say what you watched?. We don't go to the cinema much these days either, and when we do we also take drinks in but never buy anything. I agree with you totally. How cute you picked up popcorn for the chooks.
ReplyDeleteWe saw 'How to be Single'. It was very good. Then last night we went to see London Has Fallen', also good but in a completely different way. We have Unlimited cinema passes and are determined to make the most of them this year :-)
DeleteWhatever works for you, but I would not want to give my hens popcorn covered in salt. Plus whatever junk the movie theatre puts on it to make it "flavorful."
ReplyDeleteI had a taste and there I hardly any salt on the salted version and the sweet version is only mildly sweet.
DeleteContrary to what you seem to think I do take care what I give to my girls.
Sorry you feel that I was criticizing you; not my intention - as I said "whatever works for you."
DeleteMaybe movie theatre popcorn is better quality in the UK. In the US, I think it is more like "junk food."
Anyway, my comment was just my (I thought) mild reaction to the idea. Very sorry if I've offended you.
It explains why you thought it was an unhealthy treat to give to chickens if you live in America .... so I apologise if I sounded stroppy :-)
DeleteIn the UK the majority of cinema popcorn is simply plain popped corn with either a sweet or salty powder added for flavour. It is not the buttery or overly spiced sort and there is no actual salt on it.
Ha ha, I like that idea, picking up the left overs.
ReplyDeleteWaste not want not! Fools for spending money in cinemas anyway, so expensive!
ReplyDeleteDo you ever make popcorn on the simmering plate of your Aga, fat free and no sugar! (on a piece of bake-o-glide). Just a treat for you AND the hens. xx
ReplyDeleteNo, we don't eat popcorn. I would never have thought to do it on the simmering plate though, doesn't it bounce everywhere when you lift the lid?
DeleteI'm having visions of popcorn all over my kitchen now ;-)
Put a handful of popping corn on a piece of bake-o-glide on the simmering plate and close the lid, a minute or two later it'll start popping, then it'll pop like mad for a bit. When you think it has stopped, count to 20 and open the lid and there will be a nice snack for your hens and friends. (there's always a few that don't pop at all by the way! Have fun!
DeleteThanks, I'm going to give that a go ..... I'm sure the chickens won't say no to an impromptu snack :-)
DeleteI love this idea - I am going to give this a go tonight!! Thanks both for the popcorn/chicken thoughts.
DeleteOh I just love that you find the discarded pop-corn and take it home for your chickens. That is definitely something I would do but I thought perhaps I'm just a little weird, so I'm having quite a chuckle here. ;)
ReplyDelete