(Or for my American friends ‘99 bottles of milk in the shed’…)

This post is an homage to the simple plastic milk bottle.  I’ve never been much of a fan but then again I’m old enough to remember the milkman leaving fresh milk in glass bottles on our doorstep (and the birds pecking through the foil tops to get at the cream on the top).

We get through a fair amount of milk each week as the Minkey is a big fan, indeed rather a connoisseur (she routinely turns her nose up at anything but ‘Pittenweem milk’ as she calls it, and can’t understand why our continental cousins insist on drinking UHT milk).  Anyway I digress.  We diligently put our empty plastic bottles in the bottle bank but we’ve been recycling in more creative ways this week.

Here’s the Minkey’s broadbean greenhouse courtesy of the Junior Hortus club at St. Andrews Botanic Garden.

We decided to give some strawberries a head-start in the tunnel and take advantage of the growing space provided by the crop bars.  Thanks to Plough Your Own Furrow for this particular idea.  The Minkey and I took it one step further by adding polka dots to the bottles (girls will be girls).

I’ve also made them into scoops for compost, bird seed and bunny food; when they start to wear out they can be sent for recycling and a fresh bottle called into service.  “Cheap as chips” as they say.