Last week, I finally took some time to get my wooden wine boxes ready for planting in, as well as the old chest of drawers that had finally seen the last days of its ability to hold clothing.
For the dresser, I took all the drawers out and planned to use the main part as a planter as well. After I got it apart, I changed my mind. There was no bottom and it was just too big. I would have to rebuild part of it and buy a ton of dirt to fill it and at that point it becomes an expensive project and not a simple “re-purpose old stuff” project. Instead, I turned it over on it’s belly and it is now an outdoor work bench – just the right height for me to sit at and work in the fresh air.
For this project, I used a drill with a 3/4″ bit to drill drainage holes in the bottoms of the drawers and wine boxes. I have my own drill, but Tom let me use his new Makita since it has more power. (insert apelike noises here) Make sure you have enough holes: four or five per drawer/box.
I used a discarded vegetable brush to get the dust and dirt off, and a can of compressed air in the cracks and corners.
Then, I used a paintbrush to apply boiled linseed oil to every surface of the drawer/box. Be generous and thorough: any crack will allow water in and your wood will rot and warp the first season. The cheap dry wood took several coats so I just kept feeding the wood until it look satisfied. Funny thing – the wine boxes were made with better wood than the dresser!
It looks really nice when you’re finished and the wood kind of comes alive again.
I loved this wine box from Chile, which promised that they plant a new tree for every one harvested. Fabulous!
Then, I took everything back in the garage and stacked it up so it could finish absorbing oil and dry. My garage now smells like a furniture factory.
I used the drawers yesterday since they seemed dry enough (I gave them five days), but I will wait a couple more days to use the wine boxes. I lined the drawers with newspaper first, figuring an extra layer between dirt and wood would be best. Here’s a drawer full of lettuce seedlings under the apple tree.
