"Recon" trips - this is good, rather than "shopping".
Note that even a "recon" trip is with specific intent - to obtain the information necessary to decide, first, on "if" a purchase is necessary (if the cost is over the top, I'll reconsider) and second the "how" to go about satisfying the identified need statement.
Some recent examples from our garden:
There's a knee high retaining wall with a fence on top on the north edge of my property. There is a narrow bench up there with good sun exposure, perfect for planter boxes for sun loving food plants like peppers. I could either build or buy - had to check out what was available to buy, before deciding. I was unsure if there were boxes that would fit. Found some that did, perfectly. Cheap plastic planter boxes it is.
S.O. wanted a trellis structure for the cucumber plant to grow up, again, buy or build. SO was fixated on a "buy" solution at local Big Box Home Improvement store for $12. I vetoed and bought $1.50 in hardware and a $2 piece of lumber. 15 minutes of work later, a suitable fold up for winter storage trellis was done.
Hoop House. SO wanted a hoop house on one of our beds so we could start it earlier. SO was fixated on one in a seed catalog for a ridiculous amount. I vetoed and promised to make something. I had a couple of concepts, but needed to check out available material before I could choose the design solution. As it turned out, the semi flexible small diameter plastic pipe in the plumbing department was inexpensive and easy to dry fit plus duct tape together with appropriate 45 and 90 degree fittings. Pre-cut 2 foot pieces of rebar provided the foundation to hold up the pipe frames. Plastic sheeting, plus some rocks and boom....solution implemented with minimal time and money expenditures. Bonus - it can be taken apart and stored over the winter in minimal space.
