Use what you have.... when you have it

Two days ago we cut down some mimosa trees in our back yard (I was testing my on sale $2.99 machette I bought from Tractor Supply) in an attempt to clear some space and give sun to the trees we really want to thrive. After cutting them down we noticed that the bark peeled very easily and my brilliant wife decided to make a basket with the bark. With no prior basket making experience she worked until dark to get as much bark as she could and create a basket. She was able to finish about half of the basket and it turned out beautiful, but the next day it did not want to cooperate because as it dried it curled and was not very pliable. The other trees we had cut down were also not peeling in whole sheets anymore as it dried. So if you start a project finish it as soon as possible you never know what might prevent it's completion later.
We also used some of the branches of the trees to make teepee tomato plant stakes to help guide them as they grew.
Following that we pulled all the leaves off of all branches and used it as mulch along with 30lbs of old dog food (to fertilize) and our trimmings from our bushes to smother some grass and help to create some rich soil in the future.
The more you think about becoming self sufficient or just how to be more sustainable you will start to see things that you can use that would have otherwise been dismissed as trash.
There is a great line in the Self Sufficient Life and How to live it where the author stated that the garbage man should be the last one called to a self sufficient homestead. Nothing is garbage when trying to be self sustainable.
Thinking this way we were able to take something that would have been trash and find 3 uses for it, or actually 4. We used some branches to give the chickens "roosting sticks." They really enjoy the sticks.
We listen to the Self Sufficient Homestead podcast and they have a great saying they put on their tee shirts now that I think is applicable here
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without."
Think outside the box and you just might find uses for things you never would have previously.
In a few days we will post our newest homemade item which will be shampoo. The soap is working beautifully already with only 1 week of aging. The aging is suppose to complete the hardening of the soap, but it is already hard enough to use and we are enjoying it a lot.
Chris, Sandi, and Sol