Around Jack's Birthday, Ga-Ga & Pa were supposed to take the kids for a weekend so Michael and I could get the trailer ready for our first camping trip of the year. Well.....2020....Ga-Ga got the regular stomach flu and had to quarantine and in the end our camping trip got canceled so it didn't really matter. Ga-Ga felt so bad though once she was recovered they took the kids so we could have a break.
We honestly didn't even do that much. I watched Rachael's kids so she could go meet her new niece, we binge watched a new show on Amazon Prime, went and fed Micah & Kim's cat and chickens and just relaxed. My only real goal for this kid free time was to make an herb garden.
One of the ladies that I follow on Instagram made an herb garden using a pallet and I thought it was so cute. I've been wanting something like this for a long time, but Michael didn't want planters sitting on the new deck getting it all yucky. The pallet idea was a perfect solution. Also Lance and Rachael had collected a bunch of pallets to make their garden fence and they had a few extras. I found one that was almost in perfect condition.
Michael and I went to Lowe's and got all the supplies I needed. I got 6 of these buckets...they cost less than $6 a piece. I also got two cans of Rustoleum Satin Black spray paint. Rustoleum is my favorite spray paint. The little thing between the buckets and the spray paint are the hooks to hold the buckets. Those cost about $2 a piece.
Two cans of spray paint ended up being exactly what I needed!
In the video the lady on IG made she only drilled one hole, but I was worried that the it wouldn't be enough drainage. Now fast forward a month I really wish I had only drilled one hole.
I was really big on good drainage so I put a little crushed rock in the bottom of the buckets and then filled them with dirt.
I couldn't find all the herbs I wanted at Lowe's so we drove down to Carpinito Brothers and I got what I needed even though I had to get some seeds instead of plants.
The original design had all the buckets in line with each other, but I know that Basil can get pretty tall so I wanted them to be staggered. Once I did that though the middle just looked bare. I got to thinking it would be fun to have some form of metal art in the middle. That's when I shopped my own house and found this Americana Star hanging up in our office. It fit perfectly in the middle....like it was planned that way! I love happy accidents!
I thought that Michael would want the outdoor rug under the pallet, but he was actually fine with it being set directly on the deck. This is the northeast section of the deck and it gets a good amount of sun. Unfortunately because I was so focused on drainage my plants have had a hard time retaining moisture. It hasn't been a total loss though. I've harvested both the lettuce plants once and they are starting to grow back. I've clipped from my cilantro a couple times too...unfortunately that's going to seed now so I need to fully clip it. As for the seeds those plants have barely grown so I doubt I'll get any basil.
My plan for next year is to drill one hole in the middle of the buckets and plug the other 4 holes with caulk. I'm also going to buy that Miracle Grow Moisture Control Soil. I've used that before in pots and it really does a great job. I will also try to buy my herbs early enough that I can get plants and not have to plant seeds.
