You gotta' excuse me, but I just can't help getting on my soapbox every once in a while.

About 'frugal gardening' . . . I wouldn't dream of doing it any other way.

I very rarely spend a whole lot of money gardening. I've always been that way.

Unless it's a big landscaping job where a contractor has to come in, I don't see the point.

The Earth Goddess, Krsna, God - whoever's in charge up there, provided us with all the material we need to look after our gardening beds.

There's so many things you can use and re-use and re-use . . .

Lemon peels and lemon juice to keep the bugs out of jugs of rainwater you're saving - it's a heck of a lot better than spraying some high priced killer around.

Pots - expensive planters? Get outta' here . . . they're thrown out by other people left and right.

The other day I was ambling up Roncie with my old friend Ken - somebody had left a broken planter on one of the cement blocks that hold the trees.

It went into my bike basket immediately. It might not hold a lot of soil without breaking but it's a soft material that can be sliced (carved) to make a smaller pot - the remaining pieces can be used to border one of my wee circles.

plants? Hoo hoo . . . like I say, plants are everywhere - they grow wild.

If they don't grow wild in your area, get yourself out to the country where they do - you don't have to dig 'em up - you don't even have to take clippings - grab the seeds.

Of course, I can't take credit for all these brainstorms - I learned a lot of this from you.

Keep your money in your pocket and the soil under your fingernails.