Instant herb garden! This 7-1/2 gallon galvanized washtub holds six herbs - rosemary, thyme, tarragon, chives, sage, and parsley - still in their original nursery pots - for an instant, no-hassle herb garden!
Need an herb garden fast but don't want to go to the expense and bother of buying pots and potting soil, and re-potting, or planting your herbs out in the garden?
Perhaps you're entertaining and want to add some instant greenery to a bare patio or balcony?
Or, maybe you just want a spot of greenery, flowers, or some fresh herbs to cook with.
Here are a couple of ideas for instant herb gardens that are fast, easy, and frugal. Don't want herbs? Use flowers instead.
I'll bet you have some unused containers lying around that can be up-scaled into your own instant herb or flower gardens!
While round, gallon-size nursery pots (about 18-inches in circumference, 6 1/2- inches across the top, and about 6 to 7-inches tall) work best in my oblong washtub, the chives are in a square pot nestled nicely among the rounds.
I originally purchased my washtub years ago for panning out blacksand from gold prospecting trips.
Filled with ice and drinks it has functioned as a large ice bucket for beverages when hosting back garden barbecues at the Cottage.
Here at Heartsease Haven it now holds a cook's selection of favorite herbs. Look for tubs like this at feed and farm supply stores.
The washtub makes an attractive, waterproof cachepot preventing water from puddling on my wooden balcony deck when I water. Runoff remains in the bottom of the tub evaporating slowly and humidifying the plants. I water the herbs until a little water runs into the bottom of the tub.
Next year, or the year after that, you may want to plant your nursery-grown herbs into larger pots or into the garden, but for this year create a no-fuss, instant herb garden to enjoy right now.
An option for keeping your herbs in their nursery pots for several years is at season's end to remove the overgrown herbs from the pots by cutting the roots away by half and trimming the tops likewise. Return the herb to the pot and settle the soil around the roots. Water and you're good for another year, or more. Save and dry the savory trimmings for tea or flavoring your cooking.
Purchasing herbs in gallon-size pots ensures that you have herbs to use immediately without having to wait for them to grow.
As the herbs become more lush or at season's end harvest most of the leafy stems and dry them on a wax papered baking sheet or bind with twine and hang to dry.
After drying, strip the leaves off the stems and store in jars or tins for use during the winter months. You'll save money on the purchase of expensive store-bought herbs.
Should you live in a cold-winter area, as I do, your herbs probably won't make it through the winter without protection. Simply buy new ones for another instant garden next year or see Garden Notes below for overwintering your instant herb gardens.
Here, I've created an instant mint garden using a wine tote from the supermarket. Now, my chocolate mint and spearmint are not only handy but add beauty and dimension to a plain balcony wall. This wine tote holds two, gallon-size nursery pots of mint.
Wine totes from grocery stores are usually free for toting up to six bottles of store-purchased wine. I got my totes from wine-imbibing friends and used them to transport canned pantry items and bottled water when I moved. This week I turned one into a hanging mint garden.
I prefer the sturdier vinyl totes, rather than those made from fabric. The one in the photo above came from Albertson's Market where my friends shop. Fabric totes may not work as well as or cleanly as vinyl.
The vinyl totes are not totally water retentive. They do slow-drip along their bottom seams. However, a slow drip is not problematic. Instead of a puddle of runoff the slow drip simply creates a small stream that runs to the edge of the balcony and off to the ground below.
After cutting away the fabric compartments inside the tote, I added some Styrofoam packing peanuts to elevate the nursery pots to the same level as the rim of the tote and hung it up on a hook by one of the handles.
Right now I'm enjoying the whimsy of the bubbles, bottles, and beverage glass designs on the bag. Later, I can spray paint them out or swathe the bag in garden-grade burlap or scrap material from my fabric stash.
Instant herb or flower gardens add beauty, utility, and dimension to balconies, patios, decks, fire escapes, and porches. Totes and bags can be hung along fences, off of railings, and stair banisters, too.
Think "instant gardens", and consider what types of containers you might have on hand to create your own fast, fun, and frugal gardens!
Garden Notes:
If you do want to try wintering over your instant herb garden simply remove the pots from the tub or container and layer the bottom of the container with two or three layers of bubble wrap, then wrap the sides of the nursery pots in more bubble wrap to insulate the plants and replace them in the container.
Leave the top of the pots open to the elements to prevent the growth of mold or mulch with straw or pine needles.
Insulating your pots against the cold simulates a garden environment wherein soil insulates the plant roots from killing cold and thawing and freezing cycles in winter. It is not so much the cold that kills the roots, but the freezing and thawing.
Wintering over only works for perennial, cold-hardy herbs such as thyme, lovage, chives, sage, tarragon, mint, oregano, burnet, etc.
If you live in USDA Zone 5 or 6 which is safe for many cold-hardy herbs that grow in the ground, plants in pots will be subjected to Zone 3 or 4 conditions because of cold exposure to the bottom and sides of the pots, therefore the need for insulation.
Tender herbs such as rosemary, catnip, and marjoram need to be over-wintered indoors near a sunny window. Annual herbs like basil, and biennials such as parsley and dill, may be started from seeds each spring. Parsley and dill produce edible leaves their first year and seed heads their second year.
A small bottle of store-bought herbs can cost $8, $9, or $10, or more. A pot of herbs costs much less and by harvesting and drying the top growth you can get several bottles worth of herbs to use or gift.
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