Poo, $1.50 per bag

As people who are fond of spicy food know only too well, what goes in must come out. But what a boon it is when what comes out happens to serve a secondary purpose. This cannot be said for the poo of cats, dogs or people who are fond of spicy food, but by some magic of intestinal alchemy the poo of assorted farm animals helps our gardens grow. And to really drive home the point that this is recycling at its finest, old feed bags are often the packaging of choice. Also commonly available, if you keep your eyes peeled on your weekend drives and concern yourself with the journey as well as the destination, are lemons, pumpkins, small apples, fire wood and bags of mulch.

Reconditioned lawn mower, $150

A little four stroke lawn mower is just the thing for a suburban quarter-acre block. But for thigh-high grass on a weedy, rocky, semi-rural two acres, a little four stroke lawn mower suddenly seems like a bit of a toy. Luckily, I got mine out on a day my kindly neighbour Barry happened to be home. After an hour’s worth of pushing, pulling and tilting, I’d only managed to mow a tiny fraction of my yard, but the following week Barry came over and slashed the rest with a tractor. Who said chivalry was dead?

Barrell grill, $10

I had a barbecue a few weeks ago, and each time someone asked me what they should bring it was all I could do not to blurt out, “You don’t have a barbecue, do you?” You see, only the word “barbecue” was able to convey the sense of happy-go-lucky casualness I was aiming for, but on the day I planned to cook the sausages and rissoles on an electric frying pan. If only I’d found this cast iron barrel grill in time.

Swing set with slide, $75

Swing sets are an ebay perennial. After all, children are forever outgrowing them and they’re not the sort of thing you want to lug from house to house. On my first attempt at securing one I bid a ridiculous $270. Luckily I lost out, and a week later purchased one for $75. I was still congratulating myself on my internet savvy when I saw one at a garage sale for $25. Then I saw one on a hard rubbish pile that would have cost zilch - the owner even came rushing out of the house to offer to help me shift it. “Just looking,” I smiled wanly. Then my brother-in-law moved into his new home and found one stored under the decking. Ah, bargain hunting. You win some, you lose some, then the children don’t even want to play on it.

Plant stand, $2.50

Someone once said, “I like flowers but that doesn’t mean I want to lop off their heads and put them in bowls of water around the house.” My partner never buys me flowers and I couldn’t be happier because I can’t stand the idea of cut flowers. Plants, however, are a different matter. I have houseplants that have been to the brink of death and back many times over and their resilience never ceases to amaze me. This whitewashed plant stand is a shabby chic classic. It comes from an op shop with a startlingly diverse collection of plasticware, from the days when we all thought it was a nifty idea to cook entire three-course meals in the microwave.