Herbalicious

In the (almost) words of Fergie, I am now Herbalicious. I’d like to make more comparisons but I don’t got the boys on rock rock and they aren’t lining up the block just to watch what I got… unless of course they like herbs. Because now I got ’em.

As you may recall from my earlier deck post and subsequent deck projects (my chandelier refreshing found here and my planter redo found here) this is another step in my plan to bring a little lovin’ to our deck. I still have a few more projects up my sleeve which I plan to roll out soon and then our new outdoor room will be done!

As we came into the season our herb garden from last year looked like this:

Let’s just say that I’m glad “Herbs Gone Bad” isn’t a reality show because I would find myself in a surprise ambush. “Surprise! We’re repo-ing your herb garden because you defaulted on watering and care”! How embarassing. No, but in all seriousness our herb garden is seasonal so it tends to look like this at the beginning of each summer. Put your clipboards away herb repo-ers (is that even a word) nothing to see here.

Okay, so aside from the herbs being dunzo these poor planters were also on their last legs. Not in the function category but in the Elaine-design-stamp-of-approval one. I am attached to these planters because my dad made them (awwwhhh) so really wanted to keep them and give them a new lease on life.

I decided on a glossy black to compliment the planters that would be below them (more on that later) so the first step was to empty these bad boys and give them a good bath, clean, hose down.

Then I removed the rusty little hooks that had been used in previous years. They had seen better days and I had no use for them for what I had planned.

Now on to the stain! I chose Minwax Polyshades, Satin & Polyurethane in 1 step (1 step! Yay for laziness) in Classic Gloss Black. I didn’t even sand because I’m a rebel (please don’t write in to the producers of any fictional herb éxpose reality show).

At this stage she was looking like this:

It worked great and I love the finish. A nice shiny black that still shows the wonderful texture of the wood but hides the aging and weathering that had occured. Note: I didn’t paint the inside of the planter because I didn’t like the idea of paint leaching in to any dirt and subsequently my herbs. These herbs are pesticide – and paint – free!

Now, earlier when I mentioned these were going ABOVE the planters that I redid last week it was because I planned to hang them off the white railing that sits atop the cement wall that my planters are working to camoflauge. My hubby – Chef Kev – is 6′ 5″ so if he can walk up to a planter that is chest height to grab some fresh herbs then that saves a good 30 seconds. He’s so tall that by the time he bends down to the ground we’ve entered a new time zone. For those unfamiliar with Chef Kev, learn more about him here and his wonderful dinner creations here and here. Create a herb garden for husband = more dinner inspiration that wife gets to enjoy. Done and done.

Okay, so back to the planter support hooks. I picked up six of these babies (two for each planter) at my favourite garden centre.

Once my hooks were installed (I had to measure them out and adjust them for each planter), I was ready to hang my planters. But wait! What herbs did I plant!? On the (planter) menu we have: chives, oregano, cilantro, parsley, thyme, basil, sage and rosemary. We also use a lot of fresh dill but to be honest it’s quite hard to grow (very floppy and finicky) so we continue to buy fresh dill. If I get my act together I’ll plant some in my actual garden with a tomatoe cage for support but I’ve been too busy avoiding the herb police to be that coordinated.

Planting complete, the planters were ready to hang. My ugly cement wall has gone from this (when we moved in)…

TO THIS! (if you’re wondering where the ‘grass’ went you’ll want to check out this post). And our dog’s name is Belle – Hi Belle.

The planters fit right in and have already begun to reap their bounty.

Here are a few more shots/details of our herbs in stagnant action…

Guess you won’t be seeing me on any future episodes of ‘Herbs Gone Bad”. Why? Because I’m HERBALICIOUS. Go basil, rock your rosemary, and your thym…. … get your chive on… party parsle…