It’s Wednesday! This edition is garden adjacent with a herb seedling update, houseplant woes and creating my first foraged Christmas garland for my dinner table. hope you’re having a great week, what a great December so far. Happy Holidays, Christmas and New Years! Ok let’s get into today’s post.
My not so green thumb.
As I checked on my herb garden seedlings this week, I met some very sad houseplants. I’m so embarrassed, but it’s true I am a terrible houseplant parent. Outside, I may be a good gardener, but my green thumb does not continue indoors. It may look green and fine but if you look closely you will see wilty leaves, hydrophobic soil, and falling grow lights. Notice a trend in the pictures? Lots of cactus-like plants can tolerate some neglect; everything else died a long time ago. I really thought I was one of those people who’d tenderly care for their houseplants, but I’ve learned I am just not that person. The place where plants go to die, truly. These are in desperate need of some attention and repotting. Hopefully, that can happen during this short Christmas break. Do you have houseplants?
Windowsill Herb Garden Update
If you read last Wednesday’s post, you know that I started growing herbs inside for my windowsill garden, which hasn’t been going well. So far, the dill and parsley are all that’s left. As soon as the true leaves appear, I need to start feeding them fertilizer since I’ve noticed they haven’t grown as fast as usual. A contributing factor to this slower-than-usual growth is the basement’s temperature. It’s a tundra; the heat doesn’t reach the space well, so the plants suffer just a bit. I should start more seeding to replace the ones destroyed, but I just haven’t gotten that far yet.
Foraged Table Garland
A quick DIY: I was inspired by Axe and Roots Homestead homemade foraged wreaths. I’ve been needing to come up with a centerpiece for my Christmas dinner table, and this worked perfectly for my mood board to create that cozy winter look. Now, I only need to add festive placemats, a table runner, red candles, and thrift a few red and white dinner plates. Here’s how I pulled this together.
It started with a walk around my garden and yard. I found some white pine, yews, and lots of spruce. Next, I walked to a local hiking area and trimmed several other evergreens for variety. I would love to find some berries or something to add more color and texture. I’m thinking in the next few days, I’ll do a little more foraging before Christmas Dinner on Monday to make final adjustments. I love doing this; I forgot how much I enjoyed crafty projects.
Ok, now, onto the garland. I’m sure there is a better way to do this, but here’s what worked for me. I did not use the hydrangeas in the picture; they were too fragile. Plus, I love the layered all-green look. I also grabbed a pair of pruners, some garden floral wire, and a medium-sized twig to tie everything to. I would recommend wearing gloves, especially for the spruce, they are very pokey, and it was very challenging to get the sap off my hands.
I then tied together little bundles of a few varieties of each greenery. I made about 6-7 bundles, some large ones and smaller ones. I just winged it, but I figure the more rustic and homemade they look, the better, and that’s the point.
Next, I tied each bundle of greenery to the twig, overlapping each one to cover the base of the one before it.
That’s it! I made a few slight adjustments and trimmed a few stragglers, but I really like how it turned out for the most part. Now, all that’s left is to pull together the rest of the table. I find it so much easier to make a table once the centerpiece is done. I have to fill in with some red and patterns, but I’m pretty much done. It’s a fun little project for a cold winter afternoon.
Switch out the placemats for something more Christmasy. But here’s how my Christmas table looks so far. It’s coming along.
What do you want to know more about related to the garden? Anything you’re curious about? More DIYs, garden planning, small space ideas?
That’s all for today; not much going on. I’m just looking forward to Christmas and some cookie baking. Have a great rest of the week, see you Friday!