This past week was Sukkot, Feast of Tabernacles, a holiday to which we “nomads” feel remarkably attached. To commemorate the holiday, and finally take advantage of our little courtyard, we built a sukkah. Take a look:
How we built a Patio Sukkah
Planning a Patio Sukkah
Our patio has a ledge on the top edges, so we decided to use that structural feature to support our structure. In order to hold up the “sukkah”, I had seen posts that we supported by cement online.
Rather than buying cement, and making a permanent fixture, we decided to invest in a couple of larger flower pots. This was so when the sukkah came down we could still use those pots and plant something! As a bonus, it is also the more eco friendly option.
Assembling a Patio Sukkah
We put our two posts into the pots filled with dirt. Then we assembeld the top frame with regular pieces of lumber. We used simple nails to attach the wood.
To top the sukkah with schach (the roof covering), we went to the Guadalajara flower market and obtained palm leaves. Aren’t they so beautiful?
Now technically, a sukkah needs to have two and a half walls to be kosher, so this is not exactly how it should be. We made do with what we had!
Decorating a Patio Sukkah
To decorate our sukkah we used some string lights we had from our Boston days, and made a sign!
I also made some “paper” chains. However these were actually made with flower bouquet wrapping paper. That meant that the chains were water resistant! (And yes they lasted all week, even with some rain!)
I’m super happy with how everything came out in the end!
