Years ago we acquired a 3 barrel garden fountain. I liked it, but we didn’t have a place for it. We finally have a patio and a nice place for a fountain. However, I wanted to try herb gardens on the patio and these unused barrels seemed perfect.

Two of the barrels just wasting space in the yard.

GETTING THE BARRELS READY FOR HERBS

The main purpose of the barrels was to grow herbs. But, I envisioned our new patio with lights, so the barrel install included posts for hanging lights.
Top Left: Metal posted cemented into an old plant container. The container is placed in the barrel.
Top Right: Gravel spread at the bottom of barrel for drainage.
Bottom Left: Barrel filled with dirt & compost.
Bottom Right: Tomato cage placed over the post and into the dirt to support climbing or vining plants.

THE HERBS

I started many of the herbs from seed. I also bought a few from a local nursery.

HERB BARREL

The herb barrel and surrounding pots include:
Basil – Siam Queen
Lemon Balm – Melissa officialnis
Marjoram – Golden
Oregano – Sicilian
Parsley – Italian Flat Leaf
Rosemary – Simplyherbs & Tuscan Blue
Sage – Salvia officinalis & Dwarf Green
Tarragon – French
Thyme – Dot Wells French

extras:
Morning Glory – just for a tall, pretty element
Cucumber – that I didn’t plant (on purpose anyway)

the label:
black paint on brick

My original plan was to create three herb barrels. Somewhere along the way I altered the plan. One barrel is primarily herbs. One of the others is a pizza themed barrel. And the third barrel has a taco theme.

PIZZA GARDEN

Basil – Dolce Fresca, Sweet (Ocimum basilicum),
Chives
Oregano – Sicilian
Tomato – Costoluto Genovese, Aunt Ruby’s, & Black Plum
Thyme – Dot Wells French

the label:
sharpie on broken terra cotta pot
Next to the label I added a love rock. I put the rock here mainly because it makes me happy. Plus, I love pizza. And Italy.

TACO GARDEN

Coriander – Santo (Coriandrum sativum)
Peppers – Ancho Tiburon, Jalepeno Conchos, Cayenne Ring of Fire, & Anaheim
Tarragon – MexicanTomato  – Black Plum

the label:
black paint on a rock
There is also a rock with a tomato label painted by a child in Farm Kid2’s class.

PATIO LIGHTS

Each of the barrels has a cemented post with lights hanging from it. I wanted lights that could withstand our windy, rainy weather. I ended up getting the ones from Costco. They’re quite heavy duty and weigh more than I imagined. This put more strain on the posts than I was anticipating.

Two of the posts handle the pull from the lights well enough to be left alone. But, one of the posts leaned more than we were comfortable with. The temporary solution for this summer was running a guy wire from the top of the post to a chunk of wood. It’s not fancy, but it’s working.

The lights. The herb/pizza/taco barrels. They all turned out awesome. I love it!

This set up really has worked perfectly. I’m using fresh herbs more than in previous years since they are right out the kitchen door. Also, for some unknown reason the deer are leaving the plants alone. Score!

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• Flowers are blooming.

• Tomatoes in the greenhouse are ripening.

• The lighting on our patio is up and it’s beautiful. We did sparklers already.

• Many snakes have been calling the greenhouse home. I’m assuming they enjoy the warm temperatures. Unfortunately, one didn’t make a good choice in his exploring. The pump on the aquaponics system wasn’t running, which is always a big concern for Farmer John. When he investigated, he found a snake had climbed through the pipes and got caught in the pump. The outcome was not good for the pump or the snake.

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• The cement path that was begun 7 years ago is now complete. So, so excited about that!

• While we were mixing cement for the path we also poured cement to secure 2×4’s for our soon-to-be-installed patio lights.

• The spring flowers have been extremely lovely this year. I’m loving it. And, so are the bugs. The amount of insects out and about is crazy. I don’t remember this many out so early.

• The violet-green swallows are here. I enjoy watching them fly around searching for a lunch of insects.

• The dirty, crummy task I did this week was clean out duck sludge from the pond in the front yard. It was disgusting, but absolutely needed done.

• Mo, our one eyed Easter Egger rooster, has been living with the goats. He got inside their fence and can’t figure how to (or doesn’t want to) get out. It’s actually a good spot for him. He can mind his own business without the other young roosters bothering him.

• I can only guess that the barley seed I got is bad. I’ve tried starting it a number of times and it just won’t grow. Such a bummer. I was hoping this would save us money – instead I just wasted money on bad seed. Blah. I’ll try barley again. But, not yet – I’m irritated.

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