Pal-in’ Around with the Fam: Building a Pallet Herb Garden By Ginny Mink
If you have spent any time on Pinterest and have even a slight bent, or mental gnawing when it comes to creative ventures, then I suspect you may very well have discovered the rage that is repurposing. People are hooked on taking old things and making them useful, probably because the dumps are starting to stink up the subdivisions. Regardless of the reason, the creativity that’s being utilized is worthy of note and admiration. Truth be told, I enjoy creative endeavors and have made bird feeders, with my children, out of plastic water bottles. I thought that was pretty nifty until I was introduced to the wide realm of pallets.
I had to convince him, of course, that we needed this herb garden and that it would be fun! So, here’s the set up for you complete with pictures so that you can do this at home as well. Let me tell you, this turned out to be a whole family event and honestly, I think it was one of the best times we’ve had in a while (well, camping was way more fun, but this was still cool). I am at an advantage though and that’s because my husband is hugely talented with his hands and he has lots of tools! He’s also way better with a tape measure than I am because I got the wood cut at Home Depot but only two pieces fit, he had to fix my mistakes (I’m so blessed).
Yes, pallets, those things that people are constantly offering for free on craigslist. What good are they? Well, I’ve seen people turn them into bars for their deck areas, super cool vintage looking coffee tables and rustic picture frames. However, as of this moment, my new favorite repurposing concept as applied to pallets has to be the pallet herb garden. This can be free standing, like ours, or can be something you hang on the wall, like the first one I saw. I am fortunate enough that a guy down the street happens to be putting an addition on his house and that requires pallets of concrete block. He laid some out by the road and I sent Jaidyn, my eldest, to ask if we could have them. Needless to say, we hauled two very heavy duty pallets back to the house much to my husband’s chagrin. My repurposing fervor hasn’t ignited the same passion within him.
Step 1: Acquire pallet and then measure the width and length of each of the six sections. More than likely you are going to need a 2 x 4 although I guess a 1 x 4 would work, too. Step 2: Cut the wood to fit the six spaces so that you are creating bottoms for your planters. Nail them in.
Step 3: If you are lucky enough to have a sawsall, use it to remove excess planks and then move and nail them where you want them for the proper planting depth. We made ours two planks deep. 60
INTHEFIELD MAGAZINE
July 2014
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