As I started some green beans in an egg carton yesterday, I got to thinking about the many ways gardeners recycle. I'm not talking about curb-side recycling, but good, old fashioned re-use of everyday items: * Cardboard egg cartons are ideal for seed starting...and a lot less expensive than store-bought cardboard seed starting pots. Some gardeners also use old newspapers, toilet paper rolls, and half eggshells, styrofoam cups, cardboard milk containers, soup cans, or yogurt cups with drainage holes punched in the bottom. * Instead of buying expensive glass cloches to protect young plants from frost, I use plastic milk jugs. Just wash them out with soap and water and cut off the bottom with scissors. Leave the cap off the top, and you have a mini greenhouse.

* I've also heard of some gardeners who take leaky hoses, punch more holes in them, and use them for drip irrigation. That's a lot cheaper than soaker hoses! * For garden stakes, you can get really creative. Have an old wooden ladder laying around that you're afraid to stand on? Use it for beans, zucchini, or any other vine to grow on. You can also use old broom and mop handles, molding, or pipe as a plant stakes. * I never throw away broken terra cotta pots. I turn them upside down and place them in a much larger pot to improve drainage and make the pot lighter. I also break broken pots into smaller pieces and place them on the bottom of other pots (in place of gravel) for improved drainage. Damaged dishes, lined up along a flower bed, can also be quite pretty (just put the broken sides down into the soil). Or break the dishes into smaller pieces and make mosaic stepping stones from them. Old teacups make charming bird feeders if you attach them to a pipe, and old plastic bowls covered with concrete are great bird baths. * I make all my plant markers from aluminum soda cans. I cut them with ordinary scissors and write on them with a pencil; the pencil leaves an indentation that won't wash away. Some gardeners I know also use old mini blinds for plant markers. Just cut them up and write on them with a Sharpie pen. * If you have kids, you know all about those awful, plastic-covered ties that toys are packaged with. Put them to better use by using them to tie up vines. You can also use twisty-ties from bread or old pantyhose or tights. How do you recycle in the garden?