I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what to actually plant in our new Pallet Beds since, before last Friday, they hadn’t fully existed in our imaginations, let alone in our yard 😉 Until then we thought we’d just put a fence around the new bee space…this is so much better though!
See, sometimes Tool Lady and I will separately come across cool ideas online…sometimes we share those ideas with each other and sometimes we don’t. And, sometimes we just do things without thinking them all the way through to the end. This is fun for Tool Lady and keeps me on my toes 😉 So, now we have all this extra growing space and we need to figure out what to plant!
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| Lemon Cucumbers are my favorite |
I have to keep in mind that the bottoms of the red and yellow pallets won’t get much sun at all, so I’ll have to stick with shade loving veggies. The blue pallet will get some sun for about 6 hours a day. The tops of the pallets, where I can plant climbing veggies, should get anywhere from 6 to 8 hours of good sun each day.
I’ve been thinking about mint, strawberries, bush beans, spinach and cucumbers to climb up the trellis. What do you think? Any cool ideas? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
xoxo,
M
can’t wait to see how it works out! LOVE the idea. I’m always a sucker for homegrown strawberries. 🙂
Thanks Laura! We’re pretty excited about it, too!
I would definitely grow strawberries, in fact I’d be tempted to fill all 3 with strawberries but still…If you wanted to grow the mint and I do think its a good idea for the bottom sections, you could section off the bottom and then the roots wouldn’t invade the rest of the pallet. Lemon balm quite likes shade too and makes pleasant tea. I do like the idea of lots of herbs – mints at the bottom and things like thyme and basil that like the sun at the top. You could grow spring onions along the very top to look like hair – but that may be a little silly….
I could totally go for a whole “wall’ of strawberries 🙂 I do think I’ll throw a little mint in there…I like your idea of sectioning off part of the pallet to “trap” them. Thanks for reminding me about lemon balm, too! I just started some under the grow lights…I’ve never grown it before. Also, I just might be up for some “hairy” onions along the top 😉
Boy, What a great idea! You’ve inspired me again! I can see beans of all kinds claiming towards the sky and not to many weeds. I think Tomatoes would work as well near the top. I use Tomatoe clips and line to support the ones in the garden anyway. I would place a another support board across the supports you already have to tie the line too!
Also wanted to tell you that I got the Chicks today! Check out my latest post, There be pictures there and a big Thank You to you and Tool Lady!
Tom
We will definitely try some beans! Maybe some smaller/determinate tomatoes could do OK on top there…I’ll do some investigating! Thanks, Tom! BTW-Your chicks are just TOO cute! And, of course, you’re welcome 🙂 Enjoy them and your brooder!
I agree with GirlRural on the mint 🙂 What about some peas? Also, there are some smaller melons that like to grow up a trellis you could try.
Peas! Thanks you! of course! see, sometimes I just need a fresh perspective to point out the obvious 🙂 Do you have any names of melons I might be able to try that you’ve had success with?
Mint is very invasive so I’d caution against sharing a container with mint and much else because you won’t be able to access it to cut it back. Perhaps strawberries, some lettuces at the bottom and maybe the bush beans and cucumber. It’s funny how a lot of vegetables grow pretty well in more shade.
Thanks for your ideas! I tend to try to forget how invasive mint is 😉
How about a nasturtium or two? They’re a great “trap crop” to divert aphids away from the plants you want to eat while adding a beautiful splash of colour that you can also put to good use decorating a salad 🙂
Oh, I love the nasturtium idea! They are just gorgeous! Thank you!
What?!?!? Did I miss a post somewhere? What are these? They look amazingly awesome!! This might be something we can do somewhere on the farm until I get get bigger gardens built. Inquiring minds want to know! 🙂
As for what to plant, ditto on the mint, very invasive. I’d definitely have a few herbs in there as well, maybe something like trailing thyme or oregano that could spill down the side a bit, what about cherry tomatoes?
Can’t wait to hear more!
Ha! Hiya 1st man! Did you find the other posts? On a whim last Friday, Tool lady picked up some old pallets from my dad and we made these cool vertical garden beds last weekend. We decided to place them around the new bee enclosure to add some extra growing space since we’re so limited on space 🙂
Thanks for reminding me about trailing thyme!!! That’s brilliant! I also like the idea of cherry tomatoes as they won’t be as heavy as regular tomatoes!