Cooking with fresh herbs is a must if you enjoy delicious food and wowing your dinner guests. Many GemLife residents have chosen to downsize from large housing blocks with gardens because the work has just become too much. The green-thumbed amongst us often miss the pleasures of having fresh vegetables and herbs at one’s disposal – so here’s the best of both worlds in one low-maintenance project.
YOU WILL NEED:
- A pallet
- Two large bags of high quality potting mix
- Seasonal plants (16 seedlings will generally fit nicely, depending on size)
- Small roll of weed cloth or landscape fabric
- A staple gun and staples
- Sandpaper
- 4 mounting brackets, one for each corner of the pallet (optional as can be simply leant against a wall)
METHOD:
- Acquire a pallet
- These can be found around the back of stores who receive or deliver large goods. If not, try looking on Gumtree as they are nearly all being given away for free somewhere.
- Prep your pallet
- Wearing protective gloves, sand back any chipped wood and inspect for any stray nails.
- The back of the pallet, the side with the largest openings, will be the side placed against the wall, so when prepping lay the pallet with this side facing up.
- The landscape fabric will need to cover the back and sides. Pull the fabric tightly and ensure it efficiently covers the bottom rung of each level of the pallet. Staple in place. Then use the fabric to cover the entire side that is currently facing up – which will be the back. Make sure it’s tight to cover any soil that may fall out.
- Staple some more, just to be sure. The more the staples, the better in this project.
- Fill your garden
- Put the pallet in the position it will be staying (this is where you would mount the pallet, if you’ve chosen to do so). We recommend either your courtyard or alfresco if you have one – take into consideration how much sun this area will get – the more the better.
- Fill the pallet with light, good quality potting mix.
- Transplant your starter plants, water liberally. Many people believe winter plants need less water than summer plants, this is not strictly true. Winter plants can be very thirsty!
*Remember! GemLife resorts often have community gardens where you can continue to propagate your love of horticulture amongst like-minded others.