I am happy to be partnering with Ace Hardware on this post.*
Wow that is a long title, but I have a lot to share today! We have had this terrible weird looking fence area that has needed a new purpose in life for a while. I finally decided that it would make the perfect simple DIY vertical kitchen herb garden as it’s right outside our kitchen, and just steps away from where we keep our Weber grill.
This project was really so simple because we already had the perfect piece of fence right there. All I needed were a few supplies. I ventured to my local Ace Hardware in Thurmont (love the people there, by the way!) and picked up everything I needed.
Fiskars Self Draining Planters
S Hooks
Herbs
Scott’s All Purpose Plant & Vegetable Food
And some items I needed that I already owned….
Potting Soil
Drill bits, including a 1″ hole bit and a 1/2″ bit
Chalk
While at Ace, I spied this fabulous Weber Stainless Kabob Set which looked perfect for us and easy to use as the kabob rack goes right onto the grill. I was excited to try it out with a healthy dinner so I brought it home with me.
Now, for the garden wall I began by deciding where I wanted to place my pots. I purchased 9 pots, 9 herbs, and planned to make a 3×3 grid on my fence.
As you can see, I used chalk to start off marking the first row. I drilled the first row before I began with the next as I wanted to see how the pots fell.
I used a 1″ hole bit to drill 3 holes on the “X”s above. I drilled with my 1/2” drill bit into the side near the top of 3 pots. I threaded S hooks into the holes on the fence and then threaded the other ends through the holes in my pots and tested them out.
It worked perfectly! I laid out the next two rows of chalk marks and continued until all of the pots were on the wall. I have to add here that Emmy selected the color pattern. And I selected colors that worked with the rug I had just picked up for my porch.
Next, Emmy and I worked together to place our herbs into each pot, and then fill with potting soil. The herbs had been outside for a couple days where I had accidentally neglected them and they were looking a little…. well a picture is worth a thousand words, right?
Don’t judge me.
Scott’s plant food to the rescue! I sprinkled just a tiny bit, following the directions on the bag, and then watered the plants.
I am happy to report that our vertical herb garden is now thriving! Actually, just two days after that awful near death experience, my oregano looked like this! (Cue “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child).
Actually, every herb on that vertical planter is not only surviving, but thriving! It’s a great spot with just enough light and luckily we’ve had rain. 😉
And there is nothing I like more in the summer than eating fresh veggies and herbs and grilling! I thought I would share a recipe I created for Whole30 and also show off our new Weber Kabob set.
We decided to grill veggies along side Whole30 Grilled Pesto Chicken. For the veggies, we simply cut them up and placed them on the set’s skewers, and then right on the rack.
The rack then went directly on the grill and we were able to easily turn and cook the veggies! This was so much better than before when we would lose one or two of my precious grilled veggies to trying to turn the skewers.
For the chicken, We grilled them right on the grill because we had used up our entire rack with veggies. Mama likes her grilled veggies.
We skewered the raw chicken and then brushed on the Whole30 pesto I created.
We like ours slightly charred, as you can see…
And for those of you wanting the Whole30 recipe for pesto, here you go! I simplified it onto a nice little image for you.
It was delicious! I served mine over a salad with the veggies, and Chris ate his over pasta with parmesan cheese. And I am looking forward to hanging out on our porch this summer, drink in hand, while Chris grills and I admire the herb garden.
And now for the reality, so you can see where the grill is in relation to our little garden and hang out area, and also all the mess of plastic bowling pins the kids left out that I forgot to pick up…
And if you are still reading this post, I have a big fat reward for you! Ace is generously giving one lucky reader a $100 gift card!!!!! Follow the rafflecopter prompts to enter and good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
*I am a member of the Ace Bloggers Panel and Ace Hardware has provided with the products used within this project. I was also compensated for my time and this blog post. All opinions and positions expressed here are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of Ace Hardware
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