recommendation: container garden, part 4 of 4 - where to plant

Part 4: Where to plant?
(Find Part 1, What to plant, here)
(Find Part 2, How to plant, here)
(Find Part 3, How to pretty up the pots, here)

This past weekend I finished up my project and boy oh boy am I happy with the result! After all the planning, potting, painting and pondering, I realized I had to do something more with my pots than just let them sit in a pile on the deck. It looked a little messy. Hubby and I were at Meijer getting a trellis for the side of the house and he pointed out the store's genius way of displaying their flowers on sale. And so simple! Wood planks and cinder blocks. That was IT. Some displays had a built rack for hanging plants too but the only extra requirement was 3 planks and some nails.

After days of researching folding plant stands that were turning up beautiful but $100 (pretty, no?), I knew I HAD to do this project. I lucked out because I was able to save on wood costs because my parents had a bunch of old flooring in the basement. If you were to do this on your own, decide how big you want it to be and Home Depot or Lowes will cut the wood for you so its the perfect size for your space. Wood will be about $2-5 each plank so up to $50 for the project but I'm positive you can find cheaper wood somewhere - lumber yard? Yard sale? Side of the road? Look around. Cinder blocks were $1 each, so for me, the project cost $12. How?!?!

I feel like the project was pretty self explanatory - stack 4 cinder blocks on each side, put the planks across, stack 2 cinder blocks on each side in front, put planks across. Done. You can paint it, stain it, or just let it be as is. I took the three extra pieces of wood and stood two up in the cinder block slots and nailed one (with 3 nails on each side) across to hang lights or hanging plants. (And I did this whole project while hubby was taking a nap, GO ME!)

Here are my before, inspiration, and after pics! Enjoy!

BEFORE:

INSPIRATION:

AFTER:

Hope you enjoyed this series! I can't wait for things to start growing, its so satisfying knowing that you did it yourself! Happy Spring/Summer and have a fun Memorial Day weekend!

recommendation: container garden, part 3 of 4 - how to pretty up the pots

Part 3: How to pretty up the pots?
(Find Part 1, What to plant, here)
(Find Part 2, How to plant, here)

I've been on the hunt for cheap containers! This was a project I was excited about but I wanted to keep it inexpensive. I had a lot of leftover pots from last year but needed even more this year. I found two GIANT faux wooden pots (they are metal) at Salvation Army for $8 each. A steal considering pots of that size at Home Depot were $25+. I bought three lime green plastic pots at Home Depot. Other places I saw pots at great prices were: Meijer and The Dollar Store (not sure how good they actually are, but price may be worth it). I originally bought some at Kmart but later returned as I realized their prices actually weren't great and Meijer was less expensive.

My plan was originally to get tons of pots and spray paint them lime green but honestly, sometimes its just not worth the effort.

The price to buy them already green at Home Depot was worth it (they are plastic) vs the price of buying terra cotta pots and spray painting them - the terra cotta color plastic is the same price as the green. And also I was a little nervous about committing to lime green for ALL of my pots. The brown pots are fine, why paint over them? I did however buy some glossy white spray paint just in case I change my mind as white is a little easier to stick with.

Boring or classic? I used it on two terra cotta pots from my grandma's collection and some old izzy bottles (vases for outdoor space). No picture of this (yes, I am too lazy to walk outside right now) but the pics in the linked tutorial are close, mine just didn't come out as milky because I used gloss paint vs satin. As always, spray paint rules: don't spray paint in a windy spot, always put down a tarp or newspaper, wear a mask or bandana, gloves and spray paint comfort grip are helpful!

Spray painting done, plants planted, what's next? Plant markers!

I found colored popsicle sticks at a garage sale, 100 for 50 cents. Spray painted with some chalkboard paint, used Galaxy Markers (markers that write on dark paper or surfaces, they are like paint markers) to write the plant and poof, instant (and adorable) markers! I had so much fun making them I have a ton extra now (I might have been a little spray paint crazy that day), so I'm thinking about posting some on Etsy next week!! Why not?

Here are some other pictures from the spray paint and garden marker project, enjoy!

I know the question you are all dying to ask... what are those wood planks under the pots? Well... Next up - where to put the pots...stay tuned!

recommendation: container garden, part 2 of 4 - how to plant

Part 2: How to plant?
(Find Part 1, What to Plant, here)

Well - this part was new for me. LAST YEAR when I got tomatoes, green peppers, eggplant, hot peppers and radishes in seed form, I put everything straight into potting soil in the pots and it grew from there. Well that project last year was in June and I wanted to start sooner this year!

Like I said in the last post, here is what I planned on planting:

- In Seed form: hot peppers, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes, green onions, onions, lavender
- Starter Plant: mint, basil, cilantro, chives, thyme, sage

A lot of the seeds I bought said if you are starting in May, to start inside because frost could still come. When I was at Home Depot I saw this pellet pack by Jiffy. Super easy to use - I got the 36 pack for $4.29, instructions are on the back. Basically you carefully rip open the pellet's netting, move around a little soil, put the seed in and recover it, add water, pop the top back on and wait for sprouts. Seeds ranged from $1.00 - $1.50 per packet. I'm still waiting to plant all of my pellets, some of the sprouts seem to frail to put out into the real world, so I'm babying them by slowly taking them outside in the afternoons and back in at night. Once they get a little thicker/taller I will plant them in their proper pots.

The starter herbs I did not purchase until about a week ago and those I stuck straight into the potting soil in individual pots. Water right away! Some plants like basil and mint are never ending, so give them their own pot so they can have their space.

The herbs I got were $3 for 10 at Whole Foods, and all from a local vendor here in Michigan. How great is that? Look around, you don't have to get everything from the same place. I liked their selection much better than the ones at Home Depot & Meijer.

So what you need for any veggies & herbs that are starter pots, are full size pots (make sure to get appropriate sizes for what you are planting so you don't crowd the roots), potting soil, and water. That easy. Don't these projects always seem bigger than they actually are?

Next up - how to pretty up my pots (the fun part)...stay tuned!

recommendation: container garden, part 1 of 4 - what to plant

This weekend, I completed the project of all projects, my container garden. I've been working on putting it together for a little over two months now. I did one last year and was happy with my peppers and herbs but wanted to try out a few new things this year. I'm splitting this project up into 4 posts for the week - 1. How I figured out what to plant. 2. How I actually planted it. 3. How I made it pretty. 4. And where I put the plants!

Part 1: What to plant?

I was sick of winter weather in February and wanted to be proactive about spring projects so I started planning my garden. I had already found out that it was too late to grow some things I wanted to because I should have planted them in the fall (garlic!). Oops. I had been reading different articles and found this awesome resource called Sprout Robot that my friend Jenny pinned.

This site is super helpful. I'm not even doing the paid version so I can only imagine. Basically you pick if you want to grow your garden in containers or a bed. And then you pick what you want to grow - and you can change this list at any time. Then they put together a master wonderful amazing list, of what you need to plant each week and how to do it and everything you need to know about it. how awesome is that?

Unfortunately I got caught up in other projects so after signing up and figuring out what I wanted to do, it pretty much ended there for a while. Last month, late in the game for starting seeds (you are supposed to start them indoors 6-8 weeks prior to the last frost), I decided to pull this project back out. To figure out what else I wanted to plant, I spent some time at Home Depot looking through the seed packets. It does take some time so don't go on a weekend when the place is packed! Any garden shop - big or small, local or chain, will have seed packets. I went through and read the backs to figure out which ones can be planted in the next few months. I decided to get the basics and then take a few risks to try something new. Here is what I got:

In Seed form: hot peppers, carrots, mini cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes, green onions, lavender and just for fun: cauliflower, cabbage, onions. giving it a try, why not!

Starter Plant: mint, basil, cilantro, chives, thyme, sage (by accident! someone stuck the wrong marker in it! thought it was lavender but it doesn't look or smell like it! hmph!)

I think there are a few important parts to figuring out "What to Plant"...

• Be reasonable. Don't waste money, soil, effort planting 15 pots if you can't remember to ever water your one indoor plant.
• Plant veggies & herbs that you will actually use, or gift. Otherwise what's the point? I'm thinking about returning the sage. I grew sage one year before and oregano last year and learned my lesson - they are two fresh herbs that I don't care for as much and its kind of a waste. Oregano is great dried but at $3 an herb plus a whole summer of watering plus the effort to dry it out, grind it and preserve it - just spend $3.99 and get a whole jar of it at the grocery store. Cilantro on the other hand, I don't like and feel like I'm wasting money every time I get a bundle for garnish for my hubby. Now I can just go pluck some from my garden.
• Have realistic expectations. By this, I mean read the stats on what you are planting. Some things take a long time to come to life. I waited all summer last year for my eggplants and got two that didn't turn out great, they were split and one was kind of rotten, I should have picked it sooner. Trial and error. But don't expect things to grow right away and provide bountiful amounts. These things take time!

Its not too late to start a container garden - not all plants have to be started in advance. With some veggies you can take the seeds and put them straight into the pots and after May 21st, its OK to plant outside so get to the store try planting something this Memorial Day weekend!

Next up - how I planted everything...stay tuned!