Tuesday, 22 March 2022

Car Boot Shopping List

Nothing better than a good list......... I've been meaning to write one for ideas to look for at boot sales all month and finally wrote the one below just so the metal dustbin could be immediately ticked!  it is perfect for making a rhubarb forcer.

Ideally I would have loved one like this .......but these Victorian reproductions cost around £60

Image of 50cm Terracotta Rhubarb Forcer / Clay Cloche

My dustbin, which I found at the boot-sale last week, was £3..........a much better price I reckon!
 
 

 
 I'll get Brother-in Law to remove the bottom. Then next year I'll have my favourite long pink stems nice and early. I'm not pulling any this year as it's the clump I dug and potted and moved here with me last year. I'll let it get well established and feed it up this year.
A clump of rhubarb was the only edible thing growing here when I moved in but it was a sad looking clump and died off over winter. Maybe I ought to add another pot of rhubarb to my shopping list then I can force them in alternate years. I'm sure it can be squeezed in somewhere.

 So this is my list of what to look out for.............

 Birthday cards that have granddaughter/grandson and an age

 Interesting looking books

 Herb plants - cheap sage and parsley 

Few plants for the plant stand (lost two over winter) + clay saucers after the crash

Metal Dustbin ✔

 Duplo for middle grandson 

Lego for oldest Grandson 

Barbie sized dolls clothes

Possible Christmas gifts 

Raffle prize for WI

Cheap New Funnel

  Christmas Crackers 

Anything cheap that I would usually buy (The house clearance people often have things like half boxes of foil, parchment or similar which they'll sell for pence and random things like those tins of fruit I found last week and washing soda)

Did I find anything else from the list on Saturday? 
Back Tomorrow with photo.
Sue



31 comments:

  1. That metal dustbin would look great painted a vivid blue with sunflowers all over it 😉

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    Replies
    1. If you are offering to pop over and do it....?!

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  2. Can't you also grow potatoes in a similar container, heaping the soil as the green leaves appears? To think that when we were children we would eat raw rhubarb dipped in sugar..

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    1. It would be possible but I eat so few spuds that it's not worth me growing any

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    2. Raw ! Oh my goodness you must have been tougher than me!

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  3. I'm with you I would love the clay one, but sadly their prices stay high, your dustbin will work as well.

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    Replies
    1. Although the clay one wouldn't be big enough really - £3 seemed much better!

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  4. OOhhh...for one glorious moment I thought you'd struck lucky with a genuine forcer...but still the bin will do the same job. x

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    Replies
    1. That would have been a surprise!
      They do pop up sometimes on Bargain Hunt and still fetch huge amounts and not really very big compared to the bin.

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  5. My clump or rhubarb will be finally nice and large for using this year well hopefully I am not the best gardener.
    Cathy

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    Replies
    1. Rhubarb is usually pretty tough and survives most things - except the clump that was here which just faded away over winter.
      Hope yours is good

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  6. Much more fun to MAKE doll's clothes!

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  7. Good luck with your car boot shopping! It is good to have a list so you can keep in mind what you need/want. Of course, it is fun to find those inexpensive surprises too! You have a good eye for bargains!

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    Replies
    1. Need to actually look at the list when I go out!

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  8. Having a list gives focus and works well. When I have no list, I buy items that seem interesting or really attractive to me but have no particular use. 3 pounds for that dust bin is outstanding. I just paid 24 dollars for a plastic bin about the same size. Rhubarb is so good. Strawberry rhubard pie is my favorite.

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    Replies
    1. Strawberry and rhubarb pie sounds interesting. I like to make a rhubarb fool - custard and cream!

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  9. A brilliant buy for £3 We have an old brittle plastic bin to cover ours with. I don't think it will last much longer 🙄 Hope you find everything on your wish list!

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    Replies
    1. This was a cause of much argument many years ago as I said a plastic bin would make too much heat and make the rhubarb sweat and only a metal or ceramic would do! Col said a plastic bin would be fine. - Maybe he was right!

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  10. That looks a lot classier than my grandparents solution which was an old plastic bucket. I live near Wakefield where they grow rhubarb by candlelight!

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    1. The Victorian one is certainly classy but would make for very expensive rhubarb!
      Brother in Law said they used to use a plastic bucket in his dads garden when he was little but it was never big enough and the rhubarb would push the bucket up in the air!

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  11. We pick our rhubarb direct off the normal plant, so I've never tried forced rhubarb and have often wondered if the taste was any different.

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    Replies
    1. The stalks are lovely and pink when forced, less tough and sweeter

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  12. It's great that you got the Dustbin off your list. Now I'm curious about tomorrow's picture!

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  13. A fond childhood memory is a neighbor with two plants behind her garage, one on each corner. A rhubarb plant and a horseradish plant. She taught me how to use both.

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    Replies
    1. Once had a horseradish at the smallholding - it kept trying to take over and I never used it!

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  14. Not sure I'd be able to carry that on my bicycle!

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  15. Great list of things to look for! A good idea to make a list so hopefully you won't get distracted too much!

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  16. I've always dreamed of a clay rhubarb forcer, but with Alan's accident prone ways I don't think it would survive long. I do need to get a rhubarb plant in here ready for next year, thanks for the reminder ... it was on a list, but I lost the list!!

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