This may not be the most exciting table ever, but I love it for a few reasons. One is that it has a crisp, clean feel. Two, is that it is functional. And three, it cost me nothing.

In a hallway near our kitchen is where our recycling goes. It is the most obnoxious, untidy area. This isn’t even a good obnoxious photo. Usually there is so much recycling that it’s overfilling the bags and spilling all over the floor.

The space was in desperate need of tidying. I asked Farmer John if there was enough scrap wood laying around to build a small table. He found 2 closet doors and got to creating.

One door was used to make the table top. The other door was cut to make 2 36″ tall legs.

The doors are 18″ wide, which is a couple inches wider than I would prefer for the hall. But, it works just fine.

The doors obviously have a hole for a door handle. We cut that section off the leg pieces. But, chose to leave it for the table top so we can put cords through it if we ever needed to like for a slow cooker or Christmas decor.

Using a drill and countersink, Farmer John screwed the top piece to the legs.

The door had space for hinges, of course. But, we just placed that ugly side towards the wall.

Since the doors are hollow, the ends are open. We have old matting in our garage that Farmer John cut to cover the openings. It’s not fancy, but it worked.

He also used the matting to cut gussets to stabilize the table.

The triangle gussets were stapled to the back of the table.

The finished thrifty, yet functional, table!

To try to keep the recycling mess organized I labeled each container. Hopefully the family follows the labels and it actually stays organized.

As an added bonus the table is perfect for my cookbooks and old cookie cutters. I was also able to hang mine and Farm Girl’s aprons near the table. Win, win!

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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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