Americana Burlap Fence Hangings

I cannot encourage people enough to check local farms and farm stands for raw materials like burlap first rather than trotting out to a craft store and paying four times the amount for a newly manufactured, characterless roll. I saved the designs on the burlap bags I purchased for a few bucks from a local farm since the bold graphics summoned images of undulating corn fields and other midwestern Americana. I stitched the burlap into old wire hangers which looped over fence pickets. The hangings brighten the gray fence for the summer.

This potato sack, depicting a tiny mustached man with a boater raised to greet others as he cruises by on a penny farthing. I find the name of the chemical "to prevent sprouting" that may have been used dissonant alongside this genteel illustration. 

Upcycled Burlap Container Gardens, Part 1

Repurposed papasan chair container garden.  I stumbled upon a perfectly stable bamboo papasan chair while walking my puppy the day after seeing suggestions for its reuse as a container garden on Pinterest. Hoping for a more organized garden, I flipped the basket though my image search (albeit with aesthetic concave examples) suggests no one else has publicized such an innovation. I staple-gunned burlap and plastic mesh over the former chair seat opening and stabilized this since dirt is heavy with a Z of scrap wood nailed into the bamboo rim. I anticipate that the rings of bamboo will act to both trellis and compartmentalize the different plants inside. So far I experimented with corn, beans, and onions. (Notice the compost bin in the background of this photo? I installed the Earth Machine after a workshop session with a state resource recovery manager and a visit to my city's department of public works which subsidized my purchase, paying 50% of an already discounted product. Only $20 and a lot of discussion with my family to prevent food waste!

Burlap lined wire bicycle baskets for beans, squash, cukes, and nasturtium. Because the soil quality in New England can be poor, my compost know how was acquired very recently, and the neighborhood squirrel and rabbit populations have exploded, I wanted some of my veggies to be protected. Containers-- here from curbside reclaimed wire bike baskets with burlap from a local farm's corn and potato sacks (only $2 for 7 huge sacks!) sewn in with garden twine- let me take the higher ground in more ways than one in my struggles with pests and soil. The impromptu stake stick mini-fences to scare off bolder vegetarians take away from the rustic aggie charm in their primitivism, but I'd rather have several lines of defense. Salvaged wooden decor, rubbed down with coconut oil so the wood will resist the rain, serve as trellises. 

Honeycomb Jars Succulent Hanger

Honeycomb Jars Succulent Hanger. Succulent gardens stir my urge to venture to the Great American Southwest and adopt their close relatives, cacti. Pinterest boards could no longer sate my hunger for designed my own green microcosm so I took some clippings, saved my mom's peach jars, and found inspiration in the structurally sound hexagons of honeycombs. Save those sculptural glass jars! Weldbond glue (though I hope to try a boiled vinegar and baking soda glass to glass adhesive next time) and a wire hanger frame hold the jars together. I used activated horticultural charcoal, soilless potting mix, and extra perlite to plant my new specimens. While I hunt for more more cheap or free little plants, I store my old geology/gems collection in one lidded compartment.  A ribbon scrap for hanging and my weird contraption was set to hang in a window.