Recycled Indoor Herb Garden

It's getting pretty hot here in the Arizona desert. Actually, it's been pretty hot for over a month already! My poor little garden is shriveling in this heat. My tomatoes are looking more like sun-dried tomatoes. My strawberries look like tiny dehydrated strawberries. I thought I would rescue my herb garden before I had a ton of dried up herbs. I have always wanted a nice indoor herb garden in my kitchen. One with a good variety of herbs so that I would always have several choices when preparing meals.

Now, what to put all of these herbs into? I certainly didn't want to go out and buy a bunch of little pots. So I threw around a few ideas and then it hit me. I have a ton of formula cans lying around and they would be perfect! I hate throwing things like that away. Especially jars, bottles, boxes etc. I try to re-use them for craft storage, screws and nails, crayons, beans, grains, pasta, snacks etc. As it turns out, they ended up being perfect for my little indoor herb garden. The formula cans are the perfect size to simply slip the herbs into. I used my bigger cans to transplant my basil and thyme which grow rapidly and I use frequently. The small cans will contain the herbs so they don't take over my kitchen. I bought a few new herbs to add to the family

and the little pots slip perfectly into the cans leaving an inch on the bottom for drainage.

So, I painted 2 coats of paint, let dry, labeled with stickers and sprayed with a non-toxic gloss sealer, let dry outside then transplanted my herbs. For the big cans I cut scrapbook paper and used MOD PODGE to adhese it to the cans. Then I aplied a second layer of MOD PODGE over the top of the paper to give it a pretty matte look and protective sealant. I love my MOD PODGE! ;-)

 

Herbs need to have WELL DRAINED SOIL! So for the herbs I bought I left in the pots they came in which already had drainage holes and they fit right into my cans. When I water them, I empty any water which has dripped into the bottom of the can. This was perfect since it eliminated any water damage to my curio. The big cans needed drainage holes so I punched several into the bottom with a screwdriver, added a bit of gravel so the soil wouldn't flow out then transplanted my herbs.

 

LOOK WHAT THE BOYS AND I FOUND HIDING IN OUR ROSEMARY! CAN YOU SEE HIM?

Herbs need AT LEAST SIX HOURS OF SUNLIGHT A DAY!! So place close to a window that gets a lot of sun. Preferably in your kitchen for easy access at meal times. These little pots will dry out quickly so remember to water frequently, but let dry out in between waterings.