Another Angle

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There is always room for a second chance on the balcony. Introducing my passion for upcycling.

Along with the big spring cleaning comes the discarding of unused things. But what feels superfluous to one person, and looks sad and abandoned to another, may still appeal as promising to a third. Such is the concept of trading posts. Old phone booths, citizen-made swap stations, and public nostalgia cabinets scattered throughout the city. Or – a typical Berlin sight – just a small box with the note “To give away” on it. Well, let’s be accurate here: this box would probably be sitting right next to a battered but cozy chair (a little hobbled on one leg, but otherwise fine), a nice warm sweater over the armrest, and an assortment of homegrown tomato plants in pots placed next to it. All lovingly arranged under a parasol, of course. Yes, I am exaggerating a bit, but Berliners do put a lot of old things on the sidewalks. That’s why the local waste management company BSR has set up an alternative store in town (non-profit) where you can bring things that are still usable. The shop sells them for little money. Of course, in the age of digitalization, there is also an online version of the store, where you can exchange things directly. Both are very cool and environmentally friendly ideas, I think (thanks, BSR!).

So you could say that reusing is a very popular thing here. And I love that. Because for me, old pottery, small shelves or cabinets are just the right material to work with. Some we refurbish (shabby look, very up-to-date) and place between the ‘standard’ furniture (bought or inherited). But often the flotsam and jetsam of swift city life and bygone eras finds a new life in the little oasis of our balcony. And there they make wonderful bird baths, tree terraces, or useful sideboards.

I got the best plant platforms out of two old bamboo shelves that were waiting for me on the sidewalk down the street in true Berlin style. I turned one of them upside down, and it provides the perfect place to nurture young plants – or put down a cup of tea.

Of course, this progressive approach to accommodation means that now all of the balcony’s current regular tenants are a pretty liberal bunch. They will grow without fuss wherever they get the right amount of sun, water and nutrients, plus nice neighbors (did you read last week’s post on mixed cultivation [‘Best Beeties, Best Buddies’] , a table talk with organic gardening expert Ortrud Grieb?).

So blackberries, grape vines, strawberries, gooseberries, blueberries, raspberries, plum tree, birch, ginger, thyme, rosemary, sage, lemon balm, savory, hyssop, parsley, salad rocket, dandelion, broad-leafed plantain, stinging nettle (broth herb and organic plant nutrient / aphid repellent) as well as the two special mints, the red and the bushy basil, the two different chives and the four roses live the urban hipster life with designer ‘exterieur’. I would mention the two other new plants as well, only one of them has a name I cannot pronounce – an Asian tea plant that supposedly has very special health properties (I going to use it in broth making 😉 ). And another tree, I don’t know what to call yet, that just decided to show up. Or had the grace to grow from little sticks or stones of fresh wood. Like the birch, the plum tree and all the roses.

That way showing that ‘Up-cycling’ actually is not a new invention but an ingenious trick that nature has been using for all times. Changing color, shape and even domain along the way.

Simply beautiful from any angle.

So blackberries, grape vines, strawberries, gooseberries, blueberries, raspberries, plum tree, birch, ginger, thyme, rosemary, sage, lemon balm, savory, hyssop, parsley, salad rocket, dandelion, broad-leafed plantain, stinging nettle (broth herb and organic plant nutrient / aphid repellent) as well as the two special mints, the red and the bushy basil, the two different chives and the four roses live the urban hipster life with designer ‘exterieur’.

Side Notes:

  • As you can see, I am in the middle of starting the balcony season. Which is a lot of work every year, but – once my back has readjusted after days of bending over, and my knees are the color they should be and not green and bluish from constant collisions and crouching in uncomfortable places – it is absolutely worth it. Balconia, Balconia, you are so wonderful…’ (fictional balcony gardener’s anthem).
  • This is one of the very few posts where you get a lot of pictures. I explain below what you can see in them.

    Picture descriptions:
    • First collage (row of three pictures, main post picture):
      On the top left, you can see the new tea plant in a hanging basket we inherited from the former residents of our place, attached to a trellis from the sidewalk with a hook from the same place. Next to it is a straw heart I got at a local farmers market (I won’t say who gave it to me, but you can guess). In the middle is the original sprouting leaf of a salad rocket that planted itself out of seeds left in the soil from last year’s plants. And at the right end of the row, the picture shows one of the lower corners of my amazing bamboo shelf (upside down) where I plant and nurture young plants. … a little hobbled, but that can be helped.
    • Second collage:
      In the upper left corner you can see the current status of our gooseberries on the balcony. They still need to grow a bit and turn red, but this year’s crop looks promising (I might be able to make a jar or two of [‘Golden Goose Berry Jam’]). In the middle of the top row you can see part of my balcony rock collection, which I use for decoration, but also to support the plants, build makeshift shoes, or balance vessels on the shelves (see next collage below). And in the upper right corner you can see some stinging nettles that have just moved into a bag that used to contain clay pebbles to aid in irrigating the plants. Just below that, in the lower right corner, you can see an old rusty platform (also inherited from the previous tenants of our place) and the beautifully rotted plates for the plant containers. In the middle of the bottom row, you can see the new salad rocket that I planted from seeds of last year’s crop, and – behind them – the cores of purchased lettuce heads that I planted in a neighboring container to regrow. Works splendidly. And – last but not least: the lower left corner of the collage shows the mysterious tree, which turned up in a planter on the balcony and which I moved into an old lamp hat (this time from our own household, before from a hotel by the seaside, which was renovating its rooms). Since growing on metal might not be to its liking, I used the bag of special organic soil for herbs as a sock (only the hole at the tip of this sock is there on purpose).
    • Third collage:
      In the top left corner you can see another purpose for my stone collection. Here I used some as a counterweight to keep the old box in the narrow shelf. In the upper middle, the lovely flowers of our blueberries look like they could make little jingles at any time, and at the right end of the row, I demonstrate a possible reuse of former rabbit-house furniture as a platform for a rosemary (not in the picture). Below, the selection of former rabbit furniture continues with a beautiful cylindrical installation of old gnawed twigs (formerly a bridge to the second floor of the summer house) behind my favorite basil (red). In the middle of the lower row you can see my typical balcony footwear. Quite old and battered, and maybe a little too big for me, but very warm in any season. And – to end the tour – in the lower green corner on the left you can see three curious and still green strawberries, looking for the opulent sunshine the weather app recently promised. Above the plant, in the far left corner of the picture, you can also see the very old lids of yogurt buckets from long ago (Stracciatella flavor, the kids’ favorite), which I use as plates under the clay plant pots, because they are very flat and a bee or a wasp can land on them and drink without drowning.

That’s about it. I hope you enjoyed this little stroll across our spring balcony.