Red Dirt Farm and Studio

Living a creative life artist farmer dreamer

Sandwiched between somewhat sunny days and snow days; my garden fantasies have run rampant.

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Mr. Cottage and I shopped for garden supplies and treated ourselves to soft serve ice-cream over the weekend.

Tuesday it snowed.  Again.

Maybe we pulled the trigger on these too soon.  They have been covered with protective plastic since we purchased them.  The harsh winter has killed many of our plants, so we are starting over.

Especially hard to take was the loss of my beloved rosemary it was every bit of 6 feet by 4 feet.  We lost the smaller bushes as well.  The thyme looks to be a loss, but I won’t call it yet.

Creeping phlox on the back of the Koi Pond and down the front bank, mostly gone.

I’ve wanted to go to a large-scale container gardening system for a while.  I would love to use galvanized animal stock containers.  They are however, quite a bit expensive, so they are out of the budget at this time.  I have a lot of old galvanized buckets, wash tubs and sap buckets.  A few chicken feeders too; that I’ve used over the years in my gardens.  This year I hope to step it up a notch.

One of our chicken feeders from last year.

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Some inspiration from pins on my In the Garden board at Pinterest.

I purchased a few replacement herbs over the weekend.  Rosemary rests in a sap bucket I purchased many years ago on a trip up to New England.  The sign I made using my plasma torch and re-cycled duct work.  Parsley in an old rusty funnel.

I have these hanging on the side of the house outside the kitchen door, where I can easily bring them in at night; until it stays warm enough to keep out.

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Asian Cabbage in an old tub.

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Snapdragons wrapped in snow.

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I’ll have to put a hold on working outside for a bit, until the latest snow melts.

Do you use old containers in a repurposed way in your garden?

See you later, Bye!

Kim

P.S. There has been a bit of debate as to whether galvanized material is safe to plant your food in.  From what I have read – the concern is if it leaches zinc.  My understanding is that Zinc is a mineral that we all need and the quantity mostly like absorbed by the planted material would not be harmful.  Zinc is not a poison.  Cold tables (which I do not personally use) are made of zinc – just sayin.  So if you are concerned about using this material don’t.

9 thoughts on “repurposed in the garden

  1. Love your garden and house 🙂

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    1. Caroline – we kind of like it here too. Except all this snow makes me ready to pick up and move to Florida permanently. Sigh.

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      1. I know and am ready to go. May not be too far behind you! 🙂

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  2. Southernruralroute.wordpress.com says:

    Ah, I note that we have a tad more rhyme on the banner photo after my rant. Lissen, do some research about planting veggies in old galvanized stuff. I seem to remember it wasn’t the best idea. I’ve thought many times of planting stuff in old funnels, etc. but I don’t actually have that many. I’ve got the old wash tub but I can’t bring myself to drill any holes in it. What I do with old pots is freshen them up with paint. I want to make a trellis out of an old wooden ladder (a different one than my yellow one) but I can’t figger out how to do it. Oh yeah, put an old sheet or something between the plants and the plastic. I’ve read something bad about the plastic but I can’t remember what it was. Don’t you wish I didn’t have CRS?

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    1. They don’t call you Chairman of the Garden for nothing – thank you for bringing up the issue of the galvanized containers. I too had heard they shouldn’t be use, but also read some info on the subject and I have added a little note to the bottom of this post.
      I’m a horder, so I have a little of everything around here. I have a double tub, that has holes in it for drainage, I’ve been thinking of poking more. I’ve used that sink for a lot of different things over the years. The most fun was using it as a beverage station, ice then bottles of liquid refreshments. I also have a large stash of ladders… Everything is bad for you, so I say just eat more bacon! xok

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      1. Southernruralroute.wordpress.com says:

        Bwahahahahaha – Chairman of the Garden for nothing. I think the galvanized containers would be fine for flowers, just not food crops. Did I forget to say that?

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  3. P.E.A.C.E. says:

    Oh my, Kim, I’m so sorry to read about your rosemary! This weather has got to go! But until then, bring on Pinterest dreamin! Great board, I’m so glad you shared the link since I’d missed it before and am delighted to follow now. I adore all these galvanized containers, and your tag for the side of house rosemary is gorgeous! Thanks for sharing! cheers, Gina

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  4. Sarah says:

    How frustrating for it to snow again! I have recycled items for plant pots. We used to have a coal shuttle filled with a grass and I am just about to use an old wicker laundry basket for a salad crop. I love your recycled items in the garden too. Sarah x

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  5. Winter Owls says:

    Love your recycled containers Kim, they look wonderful! In my garden I have used an old olive oil tin to grow chillies in and they seem to love it. Sorry about your Rosemary 😦

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