It's been a tough couple of days removing my vegetable beds to take to the farm and I'm still only half way through. It was hard enough to leave the rich black soils I had carefully crafted over the years, there was certainly no way I could leave the the red gum sleepers that  held them together as well.

Here is a photo of my old vegetable patch.

A few years back I tore down an old shed for a friend who needed more room in his backyard. 'What are you going to do with the timber and corrugated iron?' I asked.  'Oh, hire a bin and recycle or dump it.'

Its amazing what people see as junk.

Now recycling is a good thing, we can all agree on that, and I keep a separate bin for all my recyclable material too.  But reuse is better.  Why?  Well, to recycle something, there needs to be a process of some kind that converts the original waste material into something that can be used - for example old cars crushed down and processed into reusable steel.  This takes time, effort, energy and money to complete.  Reuse on the other hand leaves the original material in its current state to be used again, or used in another way - for example old car tires used as tree guards.

Being able to look though a lens of reuse has helped me see the world in a different light and really appreciate what I have ... it has also saved me lots of money too.  So if you could see yourself getting into this habit, I really recommend giving it a go.

As I uproot my old veggie beds, I think back and still marvel at the treasure I found.  Can you really blame me for taking them?  : )