Making the Seasons: April

Hello! First of all, thank you so much for your lovely and encouraging comments on my knitted jumper. I am glad you all liked it and, given how chilly and grey the weather has been this week, I've appreciated it's warmth on more than one occasion. 

Welcome to my Making the Seasons post for April. In this monthly project, my friend Lucy of Attic24 and I are consciously trying to make time in our busy lives to focus on small and seasonal creative projects - activities which are achievable yet fulfilling, and in tune with the months of the year. I really hope it might inspire you to have a go at doing something creative yourself. 

My project this month was to renovate an unloved wooden box and turn it into a small herb planter for the back garden. This might at first glance seem ambitious but please believe me when I tell you that it only took a couple of hours, snatched here and there over the Easter holidays. 

The box, found in my Grandpa's garage, was in reasonably good shape and just needed a bit of TLC and as soon as I clapped eyes on it I thought "planter!" I gave it a quick sand and two coats of outdoor wood paint in a lovely soft grey, then drilled a few holes in the bottom for drainage. I lined it with a couple of heavy duty plastic bin liners staple-gunned to the inside of the box, trying to roughly match up the holes in the plastic with the holes I'd drilled in the box - I have no idea is this method is correct but it has worked for me on previous projects, allowing drainage but reducing the effects of water on the wood over time.

I bought a selection of herbs from the garden centre, choosing rosemary, chives, flat leaf parsley, thyme, oregano, mint and lemon balm. I am a bit nutty about fresh herbs. The olfactory power of them just sends me into such a spin; the memories, the recipes; the  meals - it makes my mouth water. Fragrant rosemary reminds me of lamb and little roasted potatoes, while savoury thyme makes me think of roast chicken every time. Oregano I associate with pasta dishes and the oniony chives with cheese and salad. But the herb that really moves me is mint. The associations and memories are so powerful, just a whiff of that plant takes me back to my grandparent's beautiful garden on a summer's day. My late maternal Grandma - who would lunch "casually" in the garden with a table that was laid for state occasions including, tablecloth, china, crystal glasses, silver cutlery, the works - would send my sisters and I down to the "herb garden" (rockery) to cut mint or chives for various salads and other dishes. Mint would be chopped and sprinkled liberally over butter-drenched Jersey Royal new potatoes which would be eaten as we sat under a tree in their garden. I'm sure the filter of time and love has skewed these memories slightly, but they remain. Also, in recent years, I've come to associate the smell of mint with mojitos, and the memories around those are no less warmly remembered, although they may be at times fuzzy. Goodness I love a mojito: white rum, mint, lime, ice - summery heaven in a drink. 

I aimed for herbs that I knew we would use a lot in cooking (although sadly I don't think I'll ever be able to grow my most-used basil or coriander successfully without a cold frame) and that were hardy for the British climate. I deliberately planted the mint and lemon balm separately in pots as they will spread quickly and need to be contained. I have to admit here that I have no idea what I will do with the lemon balm, I just liked how it smelled. Any ideas most welcome! 

I realised once I'd planted them that, while I knew which was which, the children (and very possibly John) might not. How could I ask the kids to go and cut me some rosemary if they didn't know which plant it was? 

And so I decided to make some herb markers from Fimo modelling clay, simply because I had some in the house and had seen something similar on Pinterest, and I thought I could use my little stamp set with it. (Incidentally, this is the stamp set - I've had it for some years and use it absolutely loads, I'd really recommend it.)

Stamping the Fimo took a little practise (and I had to give the stamps a good clean!) but was fun to do and they have the desired effect.

I've since moved the herb planter to right outside the kitchen door, so that they can be easily cut in all weathers (so important in April!) without trekking down to the bottom of the garden.

Ziggy hasn't eaten the herbs yet, but has had a little nibble at the corner of the planter. 

That last photo reminds me that I really must jet wash and treat the decking soon, it's looking awful. That job is one of the many things on my garden to-do list this spring, one of many ideas that's always simmering away at the back of my mind, as I try to think of ways to improve our outdoor space on the smallest of budgets, so that hopefully we can sit out in the warm sun in a few months and enjoy all our hard work. With a mojito perhaps? :-)

Please do pop over to Lucy's blog and read all about her creative adventures this month. I hope you're all enjoying your weekends. Happy crafting!