We live in a condo. We love our condo. We love that we do not own a lawnmower. We love that we don’t pull weeds. But we miss our green thumb. In Harrisburg, despite living in the center of a city, we had two lovely planter boxes–home to all sorts of greens, tomatoes, and even black raspberries.
At #8, outdoor square footage is at a premium. As in, we have a 10×7 patch of concrete covered with chipping pool deck. It’s ugly and happens to warrant our DIY attention. In the meantime, I thought I’d bring some life to our otherwise drab and shabby front porch with some herbs.
A few planters made the journey from Harrisburg to Scottsdale and they looked a bit worse for the wear. In comes the DIY panacea: white spray paint.
I heart white spray paint.
Never forget the primer. Yes, it’s an added expense (just shy of $3), but totally worth the time you’ll save in spray paint layers. Never again will I spray paint without the primer coat (or coats in this case).
Because the white seemed so boring, I thought I’d liven the planters up with the addition of chalkboard paint. I liked the idea of labeling the herbs (for Quinn’s sake–we don’t want him mixing up mint and basil, of course). So, after two coats of primer and two coats of paint, I taped off my area and layered two coats of chalkboard paint. Thanks to my intense impatience the Arizona sun I didn’t have to wait to requisite drying period. Hooray!
Then came organic planting soil and Peppermint, Rosemary, and Basil. Rosemary has been the perfect addition to roasted veggies and the Basil found delicious company with ripe tomatoes, fresh buffalo mozzarella and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
The green is an affordable and very welcome contrast to our sorry looking patio (which is under transformation as I type!). Stay tuned!
Edited to note: The herbs have since moved onto another life. Despite strategically placing them to receive the least direct sunlight and watering them regularly, the herbs only lasted 4 weeks or so. Interestingly enough, their death coincided with my week long vacation to Philly and New Jersey. I left Quinn to tend to our mini-garden. You do the math.
