DIY Herb Pallet Garden

For Mother's Day/my Mother-in-Law's birthday, the three daughter in laws built her this herb pallet garden.  It was so simple and turned out so cute!  I now need to build one for myself :)

We started with a small pallet.  I then cut spare boards from other pallets, as well as some leftover 1 x 4 boards to fit the bottom of each row and screwed them in.  

We then used chalk board paint to create a writing surface, and stenciled our herb names onto each space.  Soil filled in each of the boxes, and then we planted our herbs!  We included basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, lavender, and strawberries.  You will need about 1/2-3/4 of a regular sized bag of soil to fill a small pallet like this.  

I loved how simple it was to create, and how cute it turned out!  I can't wait to find another pallet for my own herb garden at home.  

DIY: Compost Bin for Under $5

I've been on the hunt for a super frugal and easy option for a compost bin.  I stumbled across this post with the easiest and cheapest option I had seen.  I quickly got to work emptying out a large tub that I already had in my garage.  So, this project for me was completely FREE!  

Creating your own compost is super easy to do, and will frugally help to enhance your garden.  Adding compost to your garden soil helps to improve the soil and adds tons of vital nutrients to help grow healthy plants.  Compost is a great additive to both dry, sandy dirt and to hard, clay-like dirt.  It will turn it into nice, rich, nutrient dense soil, great for all your plants.

So, to begin...

Look around your house for a large, dark tub (don't use a clear tub).  It doesn't have to be in perfect condition, but it does need to have a lid that snaps on securely.  Small cracks are also okay as you will be adding many holes to the tub anyway.  If you don't already have a tub that you can re-purpose, you can find these tubs at stores like Target or Walmart for around $5.

Using a drill, begin to drill holes everywhere!  They can be completely random, just make a bunch of them!

Be sure to add holes to the lid to allow for rain absorption (saving even more money), and to aid in circulating the air.

Ensure that there are plenty of holes drilled into the bottom for proper water drainage.

Lastly, add some dirt!  This can be excess dirt from your yard, or even a small, cheap bag of soil.  I used old soil from a planter box that I've been trying to empty out of last years' soil.  I filled about 2 inches with dirt.  

Now all you have to do is add scraps!  You can basically do anything that has been grown (veggie scraps, cores, banana leaves, etc.) or waste from your yard (leaves, plant clippings).  Egg shells are also okay.  Avoid pine needles in large amounts as they decompose slowly.  If you add lots of fresh green grass/yard clippings, be sure to balance it out with browns/dry stuff from your yard or else it will get stinky!  When adding food scraps, chopping them into smaller pieces will speed up the decomposition.  

DO NOT add anything dairy, any pet droppings, litter, lime (too high of pH), meats, fat, greases or oils, or coal or charcoal ashes.

If your pile is not decomposing fast enough, or if it begins to get stinky, it means you have an imbalance in the nitrogen to carbon ratio.  You can read more about maintaining those ratios here, and you can read about a list of nitrogen and carbon composting items here.

Finally, anytime you add scraps to your tub, be sure to give it a good shake up!  You should also add a small glass of water to the mixture.  You want your pile to have moisture, but not be super wet.  A cup of water each time you add stuff will help maintain good moisture.  

It sounds as if this particular method (tub with holes) will yield a ready compost in 4-6 months.  I am so excited to start and use this new frugal, and environmentally friendly aspect in my garden!  

I am storing my bin just outside my back door for easy access from my kitchen.  Have fun!

Looking for my DIY garden projects?  Go HERE to learn how to re-grow celery, or HERE to use that celery to stamp roses!  Check out my first DIY planter box HERE!  

Update (4/5/14):  It's been 1 year since I made this bin and started my first compost pile.  Sometime in the fall, I stopped adding stuff to my pile and just let it sit.  About once a week through the fall and winter, I would give the tub a little shake.  If it looked dry, I'd add a cup of water.  A couple weeks ago, I dumped the compost into one of my garden beds.  It was AMAZING!  So rich and moist.  I only found one avocado peel that had not quite decomposed all the way, but it was easy enough to pull it out.  I've started over with my $5 compost tub, and I'm thinking I may actually start a second one this year, too!

Our Lettuce Experiment

We've been living in our current home since July (so almost 4 months).  I was super excited when we moved in because there are two HUGE garden planting areas.  One is in the front, and one stretches across the back fence.  

We moved in and got all settled, and then I quickly realized...they were in the shade!  Super sad face.  You see, we have these huge trees that provide lots of shade in our backyard.  That's really nice of course, but when it comes to planting, it's definitely not ideal.  The angle of the house prevents the front box from being the sun, too.  And so I got to work making myself a planter box for some plants I'd been growing in pots.  

After about a month in the house, I had this idea.  "Let's just plant all the seeds we had still in those planter boxes and see what happens".  The girls and Aaron were more than excited to dig in the dirt and help me clean up the space.  We planted all sorts of things and then waited to see what would happen.

Now remember, the space in front of my house does not see an ounce of light all day.  And guess what happened?  Stuff totally grew!  I've never had luck with lettuce (too hot here in the summer), but it seems as though the shade cooled it off just enough to allow it to flourish!  The zuccini did very well, however it did not produce any fruit by the time it froze last night (it did flower though!).  Carrots also did great in the shade (but still too small since we planted so late).

My conclusion:  Certain plants do excellent in the shade!  Next year that planting space will be filled with lettuce and carrots!  I can't believe stuff grew there, but it did!  And now I have a bowl of lettuce for salads this week ;)  

Plum Picking and Other Things

A week ago while on a run, Zoe and I spotted a plum tree that was hanging over the fence and onto the sidewalk.  We picked a couple and continued on our run.  A few days later we picked a couple more and then knocked on the door to see if we could pick a basket full.  No one answered ;(  

Yesterday, my friend Jami texted me to let me know that she saw a house advertising "free plums".  I knew exactly the house she was talking about.  I packed my whole family in the car, and Ben drove me over.  I brought a stool with me and grabbed what I could from the street, but only managed to grab maybe 5.  And so.  I knocked on the door, introduced myself, and asked if I could come in their backyard to pick.  He said YES!  He already had a ladder out and everything.  I frolicked back to my car to grab my bucket and was met with anxious and curious eyes from my littles (and Ben, he must've thought I was crazy).  He let me in his yard and I went to town picking plums!  

I was so giddy.  I filled my bucket to the top, and I wished I'd brought another.  I picked around 20-25 lbs worth of plums!  I will be attempting a Honey Plum Preserve recipe later this week.  Here they are:

Later that night I made a quick run to the store for some essentials.  I bought huge bag of "ripe" bananas for $1.49.  Oh, and I forgot, I picked peaches at my friend Trista's house yesterday, too!  I went home, peeled, sliced, and froze the bananas and peaches.  If you ever see those "ripe" bags for super cheap, or if yours just start to go downhill, freeze them for smoothies!

Pictured above are some frozen peaches and bananas.  Lay them flat on wax or parchment.  You can even do a couple layers (with the paper in between each).  Once frozen, you can move them to a bag in the freezer.

This morning I made baked peanut butter oatmeal.  It is a family favorite.  If you like peanut butter, you should definitely give it a try.  The recipe is in the pic below, but you can find it HERE.

While that was in the oven, I sewed 5 more budgeting envelopes and puffy-painted their purpose.

Ben left for work, and the kids and I got started on the front planter area.  It is quite large, but it's mostly in the shade so I've avoided it.  We have a ton of seeds left so we figured we'd just plant a few different things and see what grows.  I was surprised to find that the soil was actually quite nice and moist.  Ellie was excited that there were lots of bugs and worms, and Aaron was excited that he was allowed to sit in the dirt and dig with a mini shovel thing.  Zoe was unknowingly our photographer and had a multitude of unflattering pics of my butt.

We planted some lettuce mixes, zuccini, watermelon, carrots, and basil.  I am hoping that at least a few things will grow.  We'll see soon.

And now it's nap time.  Beautiful nap time.  

Re-Growing Celery

Did you know that you can re-grow celery?  Neither did I!  I recently learned of this fun little fact and so I bought a stalk of celery during my next grocery trip so my kiddos and I could try it out.

First, you need to cut off the bottom of your stalk of celery (I cut mine about 4 inches up).  You can save & use the rest of the celery as normal.  Place the base of the celery (the part you cut off) in a bowl of warm water to get it started.  After a few days, you are supposed to transfer and "plant" the celery base in the dirt (you can cover up to the edge of the top, or even the entire thing).  I, however, have been so busy that I keep forgetting to do this.  Mine has sat in water for about 10-12 days (I refill the water as needed).  Here is the celery at about 4-5 days:

It grows from the middle!  I never expected that.  In fact, I kept waiting to see the individual celery stalks start to stretch taller!  Here is is at about 7-8 days (I forgot when I started the process, so my days are just estimates):

And here it is at 10-12ish days:

Look at those leaves!  You can see the itty bitty stalks starting to stick up, too.  I really need to put it in dirt, but having it on the counter has been SO FUN for the kids!  They love checking it out and feeling the new leaves.  They don't really like celery, but this has been a really fun experiment for them!

Once it grows nice and tall, you can just cut it off from the top to use as needed.  How cool is that?  

In my eagerness to try this out, I totally forgot about the rest of the celery in my fridge and it went bad ;(  

I'll update you in a couple weeks when it's nice and tall!  

Have you ever re-grown a vegetable?  I've heard that you can do it with several different veggies.

Free Gardening eBook

Amazon is currently offering "How to Grow Container Gardens: Vegetable, Flower, and Herb Gardening the Easy Way!" eBook for FREE!

Don't have a Kindle?  No worries...neither do I!  You can download a free app for your MAC HERE, OR for a FREE Windows app, click HERE.  Then "purchase" the book here (it's free!).  It will go straight to your Kindle app on your computer.  There are also apps for iPhones, Blackberries, and more.  To find an app for your other devices, check HERE.

My computer is a bit older and can't download the kindle app, but I've done it on Ben's computer.  So as soon as he's home, I'm "buying" this book!  So excited!  I just planted a bunch of plants this week, but I need A LOT of help in the gardening area ;)



(Some of the links in this post are my referral/affiliate links.  Read my disclosure policy HERE)  

Backyard Beauties

 

This is currently my favorite tree in the backyard.  Isn't that pink lovely?

  

Does anyone else think it's strange that my cherry trees blossom in complete white?  My apricot trees blossom in pink, but my cherry trees do not.  Weird?  I think so.

 

This tree is right outside my living room window.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  It is truly a beautiful, untainted, bright white, blossoming tree.  The bees love this one.  I wish they'd go away. 

I will miss these beauties when we move in a couple months.