Spring Clean

In order to take my mind off things I’ve been spring cleaning my deck and getting my planters ready for growing veggies and herbs. Currently garden centers are considered an essential service and still open, so I will have some seedlings delivered. There are many early varieties available. Apparently the optimum time to plant lettuce and hardy vegetables around here is mid March, so I have to get my skates on.

As you see after two days of intense work I have most of the balcony swept, wiped and rinsed. I have arranged three tall planters to catch the morning sun, which I may ultimately use for geraniums, but use for seeds or seedlings for now. I have three long planters in full sun for my leaf crops, three more tall planters for root crops and various pots for lavender and other flowers. I’m not a particularly good gardener, so this is a big experiment.

In an effort to keep more reflected light in the area I decided to chalk paint my repurposed shutters and create trellis. They were black and I decided on beige because white might be too reflective and burn the plants.

I have yet to refinish my giant farmhouse style table, but since the thrift store delivered it a couple of months ago, it has been used for so many projects. Initially I cut a protective cover from fabric backed vinyl left from another project. Then I cut another thick plastic cover from yardage I had used for classes. These two give me a thick, soft, non skid surface that I don't mind being messy on.

I wasn't too fussy with brush strokes because I love the slightly weathered look, but each of the 8 trellis panels took an hour to paint back and front. There was no need to do two coats, wax or varnish as they are going outside. I love the way chalk paint dries so fast that a project is useable in less than an hour. You get a real sense if achievement.