DIY Vertical Garden for Under $20!

Boy o boy have I missed you blog land!  I never considered myself one of those people addicted to their technology, but after my hard drive failed in my beloved Macbook Pro and it went out of commission for weeks I now understand why they are referred to as "Crackbooks" lol.  The good news is that in the mean time I have stumbled upon some FAN-TABULOUS DIY projects that I've been documenting along the way!

While I was in my electronic exile I suddenly had all this extra time to <gasp> read!  I forgot just how much I love to read!  I went through SIX books in 4 days, one of which was the inspiration behind todays tutorial.  If you have even a single spare moment in your day pick up Jessica Alba's book "The Honest Life", you won't regret it.  It's all about simple substitutions you can make to live a bit more basically without so many of the chemicals and compounds that are not only unpronounceable but unstudied as to their effects on health (yikes!).  In the book Jessica shows off her adorable herb garden that provides her and her family with fresh organic seasonings throughout the year.  She used Florafelt Planters (3 of them!) but at $119 a pop they're not exactly economical...  Still, with yard space at a premium, I loved the idea of a vertical garden, and so began our latest DIY adventure.

Pop Quiz: What has pockets JUST like the FloraFelt planters, can hang on a fence/wall, has wonderful drainage, is made of 100% natural material, AND costs less than $15?

An over-the-door shoe caddy!

I know it sounds crazy, but think about it.  It comes with 24 pre-partitioned spaces that can each be filled with the herb/vegetable/flower of your choice and includes its own hanging equipment!  Just be sure to get the canvas variety to ensure proper drainage, I went with this one from Bed, Bath, & Beyond and it was only $13 (with one of their trusty coupons!).

 I would have been all for using the door hooks included with the caddy, however, my backyard fence was just a bit too thick for them so I used some of my trusty zip ties.  I ended up having to attach two zip ties together in order to make it around/through the fence, but once you trim off the extra bits you can hardly tell :)

So once I got my planter hung on the back fence (finished product at the end of post!), the next thing to do was fill 'er up!  The most important thing to remember when planting edibles is to start with high quality seeds/starters and soil.  For example, if you want to grow a lemon tree organically (fresh juice and zest all year? Yes please!) you should ideally start with a fresh, locally grown, organic lemon to harvest your seeds from. This gives you piece of mind that your product will be without genetic modifications and free of pesticides that can be absorbed through the soil of a non-organic plant.  Speaking of soil, you can use all of the fresh organic starters that you want, but if you plant them in a chemically treated soil they will absorb those same chemicals, so it's definitely worth the few extra dollars to pick up a good quality organic soil.  Please note that I have never grown plants before, I am simply passing along the wisdom I have gained from my own research and the good people at Two Dogs Nursery, my local organic nursery (you can find certified organic nurseries in your area by going to CCOF.org).  I in no way have a green thumb and prior to this experiment considered myself the grim reaper of flora :/  So it can be done guys! Easily in fact, and it makes all the difference in your cooking!

But I digress, back to our planter, gotta add the soil!  I went with Black Gold, the soil recommended by two dogs and have had outstanding success with it.

So I filled up each of the pockets with the potting soil and left a few empty at the bottom to hold my gardening supplies.  Then I decided to try out three different methods of planting, 1) Traditional (organic!) seeds, 2) Pre-started plants from nursery seedlings, and 3) (My personal favorite method and cheapest lol) Kitchen scraps! Below are seeds, seedlings, and scrap results pictured respectively :)

Above (from left to right) is my marjoram, purple basil, curly leaf parsley, and green onion.  Also important to note that the pockets may discolor momentarily when you water them but once they dry will go back to their canvas color (I was afraid they might stain but so far so good!).

Next up labels!  I found a pice of scrapbook paper at Michaels that was super cute and provided a good grid so that I would be able to make them as uniform as possible.  I printed off the names of my herbs onto address labels, cut them down to size, added them to my scrapbook paper and laminated those bad boys!

                       

               

BOOM BABY! Then I just added some velcro to the backs of the tags and front of pockets and I had weather resistant labels that I could change around with the seasons. So here it is, the finished project, for your viewing pleasure, my vertical spice rack.....

So there it is, a vertical planter that you gotta love for under $20!  If you have any tips or suggestions on  container gardening or gardening in general i'd love to hear any and all! This DIY project has I think given me the gardening bug! ;)