Thieves guild!!

[hit or miss]

Well, I joined the compost pile thieves guild this afternoon!! My neighbor mowed her yard and dumped a nice pile of chopped up grass and leaves out by her alley so......I loaded up some tubs and helped myself!! It was already starting to cook in the middle of the pile!!

[rot]

..
Get it while it's hot.
..

[applestar]

[Lunacy]

Yeap, you're one of us now. My neighbors have caught me stealing leaves from their property and making "friends" with their gardeners. Look for me on the "America's Most Wanted" TV show soon.

[Halfway]

Friends LET friends pilf and compost.

[toxcrusadr]

Self-described curb thief and dumpster diver here. Past capers:

Countless fall leaf bags and spring lawn clipping bags @curbside
Pots and potting mix from city free mulch site and occasional dumpsters
Half dozen 50 lb bags of Potting Mix from farm supply store dumpster last summer - bags were torn
10 bags superfine mulch that collects in a certain spot under the city's yard waste shredding machine - it's like powdered organic matter!
This spring, 8 bags leaf mold/decomposed wood humus from INSIDE gigantic hollow oak tree that friends were taking down

Guilty as charged!

[toxcrusadr]

Bumping this because there have to be more curb thieves, neighbor pilferers and scroungers out there with stories! Fess up!

[Yogas]

I fess up too. One person's trash is another person's treasure.

Recently I saw someone raking leaves at a gas station and I slammed on the brakes and pulled in. I asked the man raking them if I could have them for my garden. He was curious and asked lots of questions. I thought he only had a few bags but then he took me to the garbage dumpster and it was full of bags of leaves - a heaven for compost. I am sure he thought I was crazy!

I've also taken landscaping stones from the curb on trash day and seed starter trays from the trash of someone moving out of their house.

I am one of you now!

[Halfway]

Bags of shredded cardboard - pilfed

Office coffee grounds - pilfed

neighbors bagged leaves - pilfed

ashes in neighbors burn pit - soon to be pilfed.

[Hitched_Gibson]

I've really gotta look into that. I haven't been dumpster diving in a while either. I got a lot of strange looks when I asked everyone at school(culinary) to save the egg shells and banana and lemon peels. I've only worked at my current job for two days, so I haven't worked up to taking the goody bits from there.

[swickstrum]

I think I just got some good ideas for my green shortage! After mowing my lawn this afternoon I'm going shopping for neighborhood grass clippings, and other possible greens.

Also, I can go take the coffee grounds from the office without feeling bad about it. As a matter of fact, our company is really pushing our green program so hopefully I can get my name in the hat for our Quarterly "ConGREENiality" award.

If nothing else I'm showing my wife this entire topic so she knows that I'm not the only one pilfering my own home's trash in order to produce some good compost! Thanks to all my fellow composting Obsessives!

[Hitched_Gibson]

Wives are a funny thing. Mine is just happy I found a hobby that doesn't require an expensive purchase I can just throw in a closet.

[swickstrum]

Wives are a funny thing. Mine is just happy I found a hobby that doesn't require an expensive purchase I can just throw in a closet.

I'm looking at it this way.

Money Spent on Gardening Supplies - $100.00
Money Spent on Seeds - $15.00
Money Spent on Water for garden - $50.00 ?? Give or take $20.00
Total spent (high estimate) - $185.00

Money saved on vegetables and fruit this year - at least what I've spent, right?

I can't think of too many things that netted positive results that she or I have spent to this point, so I call this a win!

[rot]

..
Dumpster diving behind the supermarket. Supermarket managers have no sense of humor though. A bunch of nazis really.

Shredded office paper works nice for my operation.

Otherwise I ask and get stuff from the office, starbucks and the neighbors. They tend to look at me funny but I'm used to that and now, so are they.

to sense
..

[swickstrum]

..
Dumpster diving behind the supermarket. Supermarket managers have no sense of humor though. A bunch of nazis really.

I don't understand people. They throw it out, and then when you show some kind of interest in it, it all of a sudden becomes valuable in their eyes. Hey, I'm all for someone going through my trash and finding something they want/need. In fact, I consistantly put large things out there that people drive by and pilfer...good for them, I say.