Garden Harvest Basket

This garden harvest basket is a practical and cost-effective alternative to those typically priced between $50 and $80 on Amazon. It is perfect for gathering your home-grown produce and bringing it inside for consumption. The basket, pictured with 5 lbs. of potatoes for scale, is also ideal for carrying hand tools and garden aids such as trowels, gloves, soil testers, clippers, and my Square Foot Gardening Template 😉. I hope you already have the materials, as I did; if not, they are easily acquired. The side plates are designed in two parts that latch together with a one-way locking mechanism, making them very sturdy when combined. I created a continuous slot that runs from the left side, around the bottom, and up the right side, allowing the 1/2" hardware cloth to slide into place as one uniform piece (this should be a snug fit). Additionally, there's a 1" hole for a 1" dowel to serve as the handle. The entire basket is press-fit together, but using some glue or silicone can help secure any looseness if the dimensions of your materials differ from mine. To protect your vegetables and hands, I also designed a 3D-printed rail to cover the exposed sharp edges of the hardware cloth. I printed the rails at full size and cut them to fit afterward, allowing you to decide the length of your basket.

The completed basket in my pictures measures 18" x 14" x 8.5" (LxWxH)

For reference, I used some of this hardware cloth leftover from when I built my chicken coop nearly ten years ago, but you should be able to find something similar at your local hardware store, Tractor Supply, Home Depot, etc.  I cut a piece of hardware cloth measuring 64 cm x 44 cm using tin snips, but wire cutters also work.

Printing: I highly recommend printing in PETG to better stand up to the elements.  You must print the Side Plates twice each and the rail plate once.  If you need to go to the store to source some hardware cloth, I added a test fit block that you can print and take while shopping to ensure you buy some hardware cloth that will fit the side plates.

Assembly is pretty straightforward, but I recommend two sets of hands when lining up and pressing the hardware cloth into place (it likes to fight back).  Start by pressing one corner of the hardware cloth into place, following the slot around to the other side, and repeating this with the other side plate.  If you don't want to use a 1" dowel as the handle, you could braid a nice paracord strap.