The next few weeks will give many a chance to get some cheap and efficient poles at no cost. They will be sitting by the curb in almost every locality. They are used Christmas trees. Strip off the boughs and you have one leg of a bean tepee. (My idea of doing that came years ago and was so successful that I had 52 stolen from a community garden!) The boughs can be used for mulching garlic, strawberries, or other things that appreciate some winter protection. Later they can be chewed up with a mower and used as mulch.

Martin '

Thank you for that advise. What a good suggestion.

I always liked to light the dried up things on fire to show kids how dangerous it is to play with fire.
Gets the point across nicely.

Very nice, and a great way to recycle.

I'm extremely lucky to have a friend with 60+ acres of woodland about a stone's throw from my house. I clean up the trash from partying in return for as many 11 foot maple poles as I would like to cut and carry out. With such dense growth on his land, the thinning helps to keep things more in balance.