With all of the great produce coming into season now, I’ve been finding myself with extra berry baskets around the house. Rather than throw these away, I thought I would put them to good use.
Berry baskets come in both cardboard and plastic mesh. Both have their uses. I’m partial to the cardboard ones myself for a couple of reasons; they usually absorb a little bit of moisture and they can be recycled.
I find that the cardboard berry boxes come in handy when I reuse them for more produce. We just got about a pint and a half of cherry tomatoes from the local CSA, and these baskets are just perfect to keep them safe. Because they previously held other produce, I will rewash the tomatoes before consuming them, just in case any bacteria happened to be hanging around.
The cardboard berry baskets serve as great craft supplies. Kids can build with them, cut them into shapes, decorate them and glue them into all sorts of creations.
A couple of the mesh berry baskets can be used as organizers for tools. Screwdrivers can be pushed nicely through the slats in a hanging mesh berry basket for example.
The mesh berry baskets can also be used in gardening. A friend of mine was just telling me about her ruined iris bulbs. Planting a bulb with a mesh basket over it will still allow the plants to grow through the slats, but it will also discourage creatures from nibbling at the bulbs.
Mesh merry baskets also make great bubble wands! Just pour some bubble solution into a pan (or make your own solution) and did the basket in it. Wave the basket around to produce many bubble. (Learning bonus: ask kids if they think the bubbles will be square or round).
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