Don't Throw That Away, I can Use It In the Garden!

This bottom of a wheelbarrow was given to me by Sandra, and I screwed the tub on.  Plans were to fill it with lantana, but I have now decided to place a big fern in it, to add interest under an oak tree.

I was out in the garden yesterday and I thought I would share some of my unusual containers I have picked up along the way, or have been given. When you like junk, you seem to somehow attract it.  In fact, my friend Sandra called yesterday to let me know of a sale, and we are going this afternoon.  And how is it that you seem to attract friends who like the same junk?  Go figure. We also like the same books to inspire us to buy even MORE junk.  My best friend Becky and I are going to Minneapolis in September for a "Where Women Create" event, and as fate would have it, it includes a trip to the JUNK BONANZA! Life just doesn't get any better.

Hope these pictures inspire you to go buy some "recycled" containers. They look add interest and color to the garden, and the porch or deck.

               

hens and chicks in an old feed scoop 

lantana in a logold wicker chair and enamel bucket add color to this corner of house under shade tree  I only paid 10 for the chair years ago and it has been painted 3 colors.  Moss rose in a scotts spreader adds color to the area around the patio. The soil is bad and the area has full sun, so containers are a good choice.This is one of my favorite finds.  Found in an antique store, it made a perfect addition to the front yard perennial bed. Paid a little more than I usually do, but......it will last forever.

Happy Hunting!

I would love to receive pictures of your garden treasures to post on my blog

Karen@gardenchick.com

Garden Thrift Store Finds

My mother and I go to the Salvation Army Thrift Stores as well as the Goodwill stores about once a week. I love finding a bargain, and look for garden related items each time.  Here are two of my latest finds. The cost $1.00 each.   

The book is the 1958 Farm, Ranch, and Home Ford Almanac.  I am always drawn to the 1950's colors of red, yellow and green, and have many garden related 1950's items in my office.  (I was born in 1956)

According to the back cover, the 1958 Edition of the Ford Almanac is "crammed with exciting news, helpful how-to-do-it hints and colorful illustrations on what's happening down on the farm, and in the garden, too.

On page 55, which offers money-making sidelines, Mrs. Carl Collins (noticed how the women were identified by their husband's names), reported that many women are still a little afraid of cooking with herbs.  They think of it as foreign, and complicated.  "Poppycock!"  states Mrs. Collins, Any woman can cook with herbs just the same as Mrs. Vanderbilts chef can.  The secret is using them just like salt-in the same amount.
Mrs. Carl Collins (by the way her name is Mary), ran the Scotch Ridge Herb Farm in Kalamazoo.

Any one out there know if this is still in existance?


The corn holder is designed to hold a "stick" of butter.  You place the corn picks in each end, and then roll the cob in the butter.  I don't know the year of this piece, but again, those colors are what first attracted me.  Won't this look great on the picnic table?

The next time you pass by the thrift store.  Stop in.  You may just find a few "treasures" of your own.