Unique Containers for the Garden

An antique wash tub.

Rustic antiques in my shade garden.

What's a porch without a few containers of flowers, herbs, or even vegetables?  One of the features I love about my home is the wrap around porch.  I've collected  a variety of unique containers to bring flowers and herbs on the front porch. I also incorporate containers in the garden landscape.

  Antiques and recycled containers are perfect ideas for plantings on the porch or patio.  Antiques tubs and buckets that are rusted out on the bottom are often very inexpensive and already have the drainage for your plants.  Use your imagination.

An old crate and rusty shovel head.

A double wash tub and water bath canner.

Pineapple Sage is beautiful in pots.  The blooms are beautiful.

Soil for Containers or Hanging Baskets

Each year before  planting I dump the existing soil in the container into a bucket and break it up and add some additional potting mix  (without chemical time released fertilizers), a little compost and some dry organic fertilizer.  I don reuse potting mix but always refresh is with some new mix. I have all my flowers transplants ready.  I fill the container partially, set the transplants in the pot and fill in the gaps with additional potting mix.  I fertilizer once a month fish fish emulsion and kelp.

These are right by my kitchen window.

Herbs for Containers

Pinapple Sage

Marjoram

Lemon Verbena

Chocolate Mint

Thymes

Sages

French Tarragon

Cilantro

Parsley

Swiss Chard

Wash tub

Old chicken waterer.

Trailing Plants

Sweet Potato Vines

Wave Petunias

Majoram

Verbena

Lobelia

Nasturtium

Thymes

Water bath canner with potato vine and verbena.

Geranium, lobelia, and creeping Jenny

 

Flowers

Lobelia

Coleus

Geraniums

Pansies

Ornamental Kales and Cabbage

Ornamental Grasses

Impatiens

Nasturtium

Asters

Small Dahlias

Heuchera

Dead Nettle

The plants lists are by no means complete.  A trip to the garden center will inspire great combinations and new varieties.  Take pictures of hanging baskets and container combinations you like and save money by planting your own container gardens.  You'll begin to look at junk in a new way with new possibilities.  

What combinations are your favorites?

Container Gardening

A Gerber daisy in a kettle.

I love planning out the flowers, herbs, and vegetables that will go in planters and containers. I put container gardens (each container is its own mini garden) on my wrap around porch and scatter containers around the yard.  Anything sitting around for too long is fair game to plant in from old cement mixers to enamel pots, and chicken feeders.  Antique stores sometimes sell tubs, bucket, barrels, etc. that are rotted on the bottom at discounted prices.  I love finding a deal to bring home to plant in. Make sure to nail a couple holes in the bottom of your containers if there is not a way for water to drain.

I like variegated leaf color. Remember these were just planted so they will fill in a lot.

I reuse my potting mix for 2 years but do mix in some fresh compost.  If you are looking for a good potting mix I recommend Black Gold.  I use potting mix without time release fertilizers.  To the mix I add a couple handfuls of bone meal and some compost.

Before planting in containers be sure you have adequate drainage. Add grit to the mix of succulents and mediterranean herbs.  

A broken water can, chicken feeder, and hanging baskets lined up to be replanted in.

I love going to the nursery and choosing plant combinations. Choose a focal plant, fillers, and spillers. Spillers will creep or hang over the side.  A few good choices are:  sweet potato vine, marjoram, verbena, nettle, loblia, and wave petunias. (This list is by no means complete)  

My favorite geranium in a water bath canner.

Herbs and certain vegetables can be attractive in containers.  Kales including both ornamental and the edible varieties, chard, lettuces,  ornamental peppers, mints (chocolate mint is a must) and my favorite pineapple sage.

Mix a handful into your potting mix.

Be aware of how much sun each container will receive.  Certain containers because of color or the material will heat up more than others. Try to plant in the same container plants with similar sun requirements. There are beautiful options for shade tolerant plants. 

My own starts.  Many herbs and annuals are easy to grow from seed.  You decide if its worth the effort or easier to purchase them.

Watering is important in container plants.  I use our rain barrel water which makes for very happy plants.

This is one of my favorite containers- an old wast tub.  It's on stand. Wash tubs also make great fire pits. 

Everyone should try chocolate mint. The leaves smell like mint truffles and smelling chocolate adds no pounds on your waist. Mints are best grown in pots because they are so aggressive. This is an old enamel water bath canner which warped.  I used a nail to add drainage holes and it is an ideal pot for container gardening.

 We have one wooden rain barrel.  They are beautiful but more expensive.  The wood swells as it fills with water to make it water tight.  Most of our barrels are old pickle barrels with a spigot on them.  Not as charming but more functional and affordable. 

I've included a link to last years container gardens to give ideas for containers and plant combinations and show you what they look they at a more mature stage.  I would love to hear your ideas for containers and favorite plant combinations!  Gardening is an art and a creative endeavor so enjoy!

Unique Containers 

Antiques are great for yard decor.  This old spring bed is now a flower bed.  Sweet peas are starting to grow up it.

I'm tempted to plant in the bed of this army truck.  It's been sitting around for quit some time...... 

Harvesting Honey

There is something mesmerizing about keeping bees.  We, or maybe I should say my husband, is among thousands of hobby beekeepers.  Beekeeping or apiculture is the practice of setting up  beehives to maintain viable bee colonies.  If you are a beekeeper or apiarist there are many products that bees bless you with including honey, beeswax, propolis, pollen and royal jelly.  Beekeeping makes you feel apart of the miracle of the honey bee.

Our fascination with bees began a few years ago.  My husband was first interested in using the top bar method and built top bar hives.  Our luck with this method was not what we anticipated so this last year we switched to the Langstroth hive. My first post is starting at the end with the harvest of honey but a lot of time and study goes into maintaining a health hive so that you have a harvest.  

Timing is Critical

Harvesting honey at the right time is the difference between a delicious product and a disappointing failure.  Time of harvest varies a little from region to region but generally begins when nectar flow ends.  Signs of this are wilting flowers and less activity around the entrance of the hive.  

The best way to determine if the time is right is to open the hive and look at the frames.  If 80% of the cells are capped they are ready to harvest.  It's important to wait until this point because bees will monitor and correct excess moisture in the honey prior to capping a cell with wax.  Honey is referred to as ripe when it has 18.6% moisture.  Harvest before this point means excess moisture in the honey could cause it to ferment in the jars.  Harvesting later than fall means that the honey may be eaten by the bees or crystalize in the comb due to cold.  (Beekeeping, Sweet Results)

The amount of honey you need to leave the bees will depend on the length of you winter season. In my area it is recommend that you leave 80 pounds of honey for the bees.  Honey is never removed from the bottom brood chambers.  

We invested in a  2 frame extractor to remove the honey.  Once the caps are removed the frames are placed in the extractor and spun forcing the honey out.  To uncap the frames use a warm knife or use a capping fork.  The wax from uncapping is saved.  We put it on a tray by the bees and they clean it up nicely for us. The process is a little sticky but smell is so amazing!  

Cutting the caps off the frame.

Beeswax from caps it will be left by the hive for the bees to clean up and then I use it in lotions.

Our honey extractor.  You can see the 2 frames spinning.

From the extractor we filter the honey through a honey filter to remove wax and debris.  My husband made his filter out of two buckets adding a spigot to the bottom bucks to pour the honey into jars.  Honey can be stored in plastic or glass jars.  I prefer jar with a squeeze top so you don't have to dip utensils into the honey.  It keeps it cleaner.

I loved our harvest this year.  So delicious and nutritious!  

"The only reason for being a bee that I know of is making honey....And the only reason for making honey is so as I can eat it."  The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

Tomato Mozzarella Tart

Garden fresh tomatoes are reason alone to plant a garden.  Heirloom tomatoes are old fashioned varieties that are open pollinated and have a heritage unique to the variety.  They also have a rich unique flavor.  So if you can try to mix a few heirloom varieties on the rustic tart for an irresistible meal or appetizer.

Ripe red, yellow, and green tomatoes sliced thin

Couple cloves of garlic minced

1 Tbs of butter melted

Can of cressant roll dough

Shredded mozzarella cheese

4-5 Tbs of shredded Parmesan cheese

Chopped fresh or dried basil

Chopped fresh or dried oregano

Olive or avocado oil 

Preheat oven to 400.  Combine the garlic and butter.  Place the pastry squares on a baking sheet lined with parchment or sprayed with oil.  Brush with the garlic butter.  Sprinkle the pastry evenly with the mozzarella.  Arrange the tomato slices on the pastry.  Sprinkle with basil and oregano.  Top with Parmesan cheese.  Drizzle oil on the top.  Salt and pepper.  Bake until golden. 

Other ways to use your abundance of garden tomatoes:

Seasoned Tomatoes: Italian, Mexican, & Cajun

Meet the Heirloom Tomato that was meant for Sun Drying

Favorite Heirloom Tomato- Paul Robeson

Paul Robeson is my pick for best tasting heirloom tomato.  Not only is it incredible delicious it is absolutely beautiful!

It is a Russian heirloom named after the renowned opera singer, law school graduate, athlete, actor, and champion of civil rights- Paul Robeson. 

This tomato is 3"- 5" in size and a rich brick red to deep burgundy color with green shoulders.
   

It provides you with a symphony of flavor.  It is intensely sweet with a hint of tangy traditional tomato taste.  The texture is perfect with lots of juice. 

Possibly the best tomato ever with the perfect acid to sweet balance!  This productive heirloom has a following of dedicated tomato connoisseurs!