My potting bench

I was watching an episode of The Walton's today (yes, the Walton's - my favorite programs are the ones I grew up with, especially given the junk on T.V. today) and Olivia was spending  considerable time in the vegetable garden, which is where I've been spending my time lately, getting things planted and potted and weeded, etc.  Olivia commented that Grandpa used to say he could hear the plants breathe when he had his hands in the garden soil.  That's just how I feel.  I feel rooted (pardon the pun) in life when I work in the garden.  The plants that grow there, do so with such primitive elegance.  They have been growing the same way for thousands of years, yet each season of growth is exciting and new.  The promise each plant holds, whether it be the food it will produce, the flower that will bloom, the herb that will infuse other foods with enhanced flavor, or just the leaf that will breathe fresh oxygen into my world, is a true miracle.  I have a special potting area that I have created to help me with my garden work.  It holds my tools, organic fertilizers, pots and saucers, soil, and a little bit of whimsy.  I thought I'd share it with you.

 

The potting bench is made from a repurposed hand made vintage hutch.  I took off the doors and filled it with garden goodies.  An old enamel topped table buts up against it to create a larger work surface for potting plants into the terracotta pots I use on the deck and porch.  An enamel rubbish can holds potting soil with a vintage sifter as my soil scoop.

Some geraniums waiting for potting and a vintage picnic tin and basket waiting for new life as planters.

The vintage coffee tins on top of the potting hutch used to hold blooms (after their coffee holding days 50 years ago!), but several years of doing so has resulted in the bottoms disappearing from rust.  So now they provide a bit of whimsy to make me smile.  An old pantry organizer hangs on the shed clapboards holding small hand tools.  I hung a terracotta pot in a vintage plant hanger to hold plant ties.  The less glamorous red plastic bags hold composted cow manure from my dairy to serve as the ingredient for compost "tea" brewed in the also less than glamorous, yet practical 5 gallon plastic buckets.  The "tea" will help to make strong, healthy, vigorous plants.  The garden is really starting to shape up around here. And if feels so good to don a vintage apron and head out to the potting bench and work in the soil.  I'll post some garden pictures soon.  Happy day.