BC Living
Crispy Fried Brussels Sprouts and Broccolini
The Best BC Wines to Gift in 2024, According to the Experts
You’ve Gotta Try This in December 2024
How Barre Enhances Your Flexibility
Top Tips for Workout Recovery
5 Tips to Prevent Muscle and Joint Pain When Working a Desk Job
Inviting the Steller’s Jay to Your Garden
6 Budget-friendly Holiday Decor Pieces
Dream Home: $8 Million for a Modern Surprise
Local Getaway: Hide Away at a Lakefront Cabin in Nakusp
6 BC Ski Resorts to Visit this Winter
A Solo Traveller’s Guide to Cozy Accommodations
B.C. Adventures: Things to do in December
Disney on Ice Returns to Vancouver This Winter
5 Boutique Art Galleries to Visit in BC
The Best Gifts for Homebodies in 2024
11 Advent Calendars from BC-Based Companies
10 Nourishing Hair Masks and Oils for Dry Winter Days
Tips on how to turn wine boxes into stylish planters for edible greens
Large-leafed Genovese basil looks pretty nice in this port box.
This lively mix gave several cuttings. The spotted lettuce is ‘Forellenschluss’ , which means “speckled like a trout’s back.”
There’s no need to drill holes or do anything fancy, as the wood drains easily between the seams of the box.
I put mostly good rich soil in the bottom, and add half an inch or so of seed-starter mix to the top, then sow thinly, sprinkling with a little more seed-starter mix.
Germination is usually in a week or so. All of these got started in an unheated greenhouse but are now growing outdoors quite happily.
A caveat: sometimes birds like to nibble on tiny seedlings, so you might have to keep your eye on your wine boxes; also the occasional bird (or squirrel) has been known to dig a little in the box.
Sown about three weeks ago, this is a mixture from Cook’s Garden seeds, evidently containing such lovely lettuces as ‘Hyper Red Rumple Waved’, ‘Orcarde’, ‘Redina’, ‘Red Velvet’ and ‘Ashley’, none of which I have previously heard of.
The seed was planted atop four inches or so of good soil, then a layer of seed-starter mix from West Creek Farms.
It has been amended with kelp meal, worm castings and all kinds of other good stuff; so far this hasn’t had any additional fertilizer. After cutting, though, it’s a good idea to give your lettuce box a feed with diluted organic kelp or fish emulsion.
How do you get the wine boxes, you ask? I am lucky to have worked for a wine store a few years back so I was able to score this box, as well as a few bottles of the much-esteemed wine, none of which have been opened yet. We shall see.
In any case, private wine stores are a good place to ask for the boxes – for free, or for a few dollars.
Often they are slightly damaged so they’d just be thrown away….do ask when you go into a private wine store in your neighbourhood.
Not sure about LDB stores, but it wouldn’t hurt to see what they do with any boxes they might get – usually they’d only get very expensive wine in a wooden box.