alpine strawberries have colonized almost the entire backyard at the cabin in mccall. they produce small, red, super-flavorful berries, and i’ve gotten to eat only four or five of them thanks to a combination of factors: some plants are too shaded to produce fruit, i’m not there at the right time to pick them, birds snag them before i do, etc. (i used to blame my dad for mowing over them but they’re so low-growing, i’m not sure the blades even hit them.)
last weekend i dug up a couple dozen plants to grow here in boise:
i put half of them in a hanging basket lined with coco coir, and half of them in this thrifted pot:
i showed this to my mom, and she was like, “is that a potty?”
i’m thinking, what the hell, mom. yeah, it’s a pot. why are you being cutesy and asking the obvious. “potty?”
“yeah...like, a chamber pot?”
oh. oh my.
yes friends, i unknowingly used a piss pot for a planter.
We need to compare our alpine strawberries. Our neighbor put their old toilet out on the curb after remodeling. I told Kyle we should make it into one of those classy planters.
ReplyDeleteWell...at least it's a nice-looking piss pot. And you're taking something old (and admittedly pretty, despite its original purpose), and putting it to good use. Nothing wrong with that.
ReplyDeleteI *just* finished planting out the last of my alpine strawberry seedlings this weekend...I have a few varieties, and I think I have something like 30-40 plants altogether, started from seed in March and April. They're still so tiny compared to the rest of the strawberry patch plants. Then again, the rest of the plants aren't that big yet either. I got my biggest harvest yet today - 3 whole strawberries at once! This is the first time my boyfriend and I won't have to split a strawberry in half just so we can both get a taste.
hahaha oh spoon...my mom has a giant chamber pot in her backyard that she uses for a planter...but she knew exactly what she was getting into :)
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha!!!!! Great!
ReplyDeletegoneferal--i'd love to do a taste test. haha, toilet planters are awesome, you should have taken it.
ReplyDeletejess--congratulations on the strawberries! i'm totally familiar with splitting the first strawberry...and even some after that, because normally my strawberries don't grow well. this is the first year they've produced a lot of berries.
spoon--i'm not the only one?! that's hilarious.
victoria--that was my reaction too, after i got over the initial ick factor.
Ha ha ha! Thats great! Its kinda funny how ornamental with birds and such a chamber pot is.
ReplyDeleteI have a patch of alpine strawberries of my own- grown from seed even... like a few years ago. I have to say, they are not bad... small but tasty. I should do a blog post about them! if I don't eat them all that is :#
small but tasty indeed! yeah, it is a very decorative chamber pot. one of the reasons i originally bought it is because it seems to be handmade--there's an inscription in the clay underneath that says "tillie/1977/twin falls, ida." someone was proud of their potty!
ReplyDeleteHA! That's funny! Repurposing at its best. That's even funnier about the inscription on the bottom. :)
ReplyDeleteI hope you get lots of yummy strawberries!
Oh, but what a lovely piss pot it is! ;)
ReplyDeleteJealous of your alpine strawberries. We get wild strawberries all over our yard, but I'm sure they're not "alpines" because they're practically tasteless and not good for anything. :( Wish I could find a use for them, though... they practically take over wherever they grow.
~ Angela
bumble lush--thanks! i hope so too--it's quite an abrupt shift for the poor things to be ripped out of the ground and crammed into a crapper, so i'm worried they won't produce.
ReplyDeleteangela--strange, i wonder what kind they are...maybe if you dried them the flavor would be more concentrated? you could also toss them in a bit of sugar--there's no way that wouldn't taste good.