Boxed up for Good

Our balcony is not too big. But there are spaces that expand according to their needs.

We have a lovely balcony in an old part of Berlin. The houses here are reminiscent of castles and mansions – only town-sized, you know.

As I said, the balcony is beautiful, but … . Its size poses a bit of a problem if you have blackberries, vines, Hokkaido squash and beans in mind. Well, to be honest, I managed blackberries and vine. Like anywhere in big cities with limited (and expensive) living space, they share a room. Or a rose arch, to be exact.

The Hokkaido pumpkin comes to visit every year. Of course, his guest room is a bit cramped and he doesn’t get the space he’d like, so he just produces a large amount of blossoms, but the pumpkin itself is rather … town-sized.

On the beans. That was more of a challenge because their roots need depth and space. And that’s pretty limited in a regular planter – and on the balcony.

So one day, it struck me. Well, actually it was more like a series of hits, because the original idea was there before: I had seen gardeners recycle restaurant kitchen packaging like canisters and pots. I mean, you see that everywhere in urban gardening projects.

But the space was still a bit too small for old restaurant packaging. And then I saw: our “milk” (oat drink) cartons are tall and slim. But how to stabilize them? And where to stow them?

Again, the solution was obvious, because of course you can attach planter boxes to balconies. On the outside. And in these boxes there is just enough space to form rows of cut open plant drink boxes. To ensure stability, I put 1 – 2 large pebbles on the bottom. To make room for the liquid, I cut off the lid with the sealing device and placed it under the main part of the boxes (lid removed), which I had previously perforated with a few holes (be careful with the cutting, the boxes bend). This worked really well. Three years in a row.

Now I have a new project. I’m planting a meadow of wild herbs on our balcony. Only, you know, town-sized.

Like anywhere in big cities with limited (and expensive) living space, they share a room.

Side Notes:

• If you want to reuse packaging of any kind, you have to be really careful because it was originally made to stay in shape. This means you need the right material to cut and a good installation to hold the packaging you want to cut while you do it (not just hold it in your hand, please). Ask a handyman in your family/friends/neighborhood how they would do it. I learned it from my father and grandfather.
• Hokkaido squash blossoms add an interesting note to soups, so I’m collecting and drying them for the winter.
• See also my post on the other benefits of Hokkaido squash [‘No Hokkaido is ever Wasted‘].