Five Fun Container Finishes for Fall

 Five  Fun Container Finishes for Fall

By Steve Hess

 

It’s fun to create flashy colorful finishes on planting containers and they certainly stand out as a definite focal point when needed.  But most of the time its nice to let what is planted in the container be the star and let the container offer a neutral support of the knockout container planting.  Here are five “neutral-ish finishes you can easily apply to terra cotta or hypertufa containers that will preserve their porosity and breathability.

1.        Mud Bath 

Look around your yard and garden for the darkest dirt can find.  Scoop a shovelful or two into a large bowl and add water to make a paintable mud.  Coat the dry container with a thick layer of the wet mud and leave on the container for at least two weeks.  Place the container in the hot sunshine and allow it to bake.  Don’t waste water to clean off the container.  Just plant it up and the rain and will slowly wash away the mud and reveal the nice warm natural stained surface.

2.        White Wash 

Spray the container inside and out with water. Dip a two-inch brush into exterior white latex paint allowing it to enter the paint only ¼ “- ½ “.  This will prevent you from using too much paint at once.  Apply the paint with a light touch using crisscross or cross-hatch strokes.  This will keep the paint from getting into the darker areas.  Allow the container to dry in the sun

 

3.        Green Rub    

Put on a pair of mud gloves  those orange gloves with rubber fingers) and dip your gloved hand directly into exterior latex moss -colored paint.  Just dip the fingers of the glove into the paint.  Run your gloved hands over the surface of the container, allowing paint to rub off onto the container. Apply a heavier amount of paint at the top and create a gradation, gradually reducing the amount of paint until you reach the bottom with no paint at all.  As the paint dries, swipe a moist cloth over the surface to pull off paint from raised textured areas.  You can try two colors of paint as well.

4.        Mosaic Accent   

        This mosaic feature works best on a container with a smooth surface. Decide which        

        area on the containers you like to accent with a focus of mosaic work.  Use urethane

        glue, (E 6000 or Goop) to glue on colored tiles, stones or glass peices.  Allow to dry 

       overnight and grout using sanded grout close to the color of your container.

 

5.        Powder Coat   

In a small plastic bowl mix together 2 cups fine sand and 1 cup of Portland cement.  Then in another bowl, mix 1 cup of white glue with 1 cup Portland cement and enough water to make a creamy paintable mixture.  Lay your container on its side, doing one side one at a time.  Coat the entire surface with the glue/cement mixture. Immediately

Sprinkle the sand cement mixture over the wet surface using a mesh strainer, again, less is more.  When all four sides have been coated, place the container upright and do the top edges going down into the inside about 3-4 inches. Allow to dry in the hot sun.

 

Don't Trash it, Fix It

 Don’t Trash It, Fix It

 

Making new is fun, but repairing something you had for a long time is also a good thing.  

No matter how well you or someone else has made something there comes a time when it crumbles apart, a tree branch falls or a maintenance person mis-steps and a cherished container, stake or stone is broken. When something breaks, it is not always the end.  Here’s a good rule of green thumb: if it break into two or three pieces, it may be repairable, if there are more pieces than that, it is good policy to just let it go.

One reason hypertufa and cement are desirable is that they can be added to and repaired at any time versus something like terra cotta or higher-fired ceramics..  Once ceramic breaks, it can be glued together but will also show a visible sign of breaking.  With hypertufa, you can disguise and heal a break and many times the repair is unnoticeable.

Here’s what to do if you have a broken hypertufa or cement that is in good enough shape to repair. 

 What You Need 

Stiff plastic brush

Soap and water

Urethane glue (Goop or E6000)

Sticky masking tape

1” and 2” flat paint brushes

Sanded grout or sand mix cement 

White glue (Elmer’s)

Trowel and brick

What You Do

1.         Remove all loose dirt and rubble with the stiff brush.

2.        Wash all pieces in a warm bath of soap and water.  Allow to dry thoroughly in the sun.

3.        Assemble the broken pieces together to see how they fit.  If the repair will need propping or weighting to hold in place, get your weighted pieces and /or tape ready ahead of time.

4.        Glue the pieces together using the urethane glue. Watch for oozing or dribbles and wipe clean. Prop and tape to hold together.  Allow to dry overnight.  

5.        If there are larger pieces missing, you will need to mix a small amount of hypertufa to fill in the gaps.  The grout or cement will be heavier and harder to fill a larger gap. 

6.        Mix no more than ½ cup of the sanded grout/cement mix with water and 1 teaspoon of white glue to make a runny paste.  Brush the repaired area with water to moisten the surface and then apply the mix  to heal the broken area.  

7.        Allow the grout to stiffen and then use a clean, dry brush to shape and feather the grout disguising the repaired area. Allow to dry overnight.

8.        Burnish the repaired area with a trowel or brick to blend it with the exiting finish of the container and your piece is ready to back into the garden.

Here is an example of broken and repaired garden art:

Sculpture pieces led back together.

 Hypertufa mixed and used to heal the break line.

Repaired sculpture- You cannot tell it was broken.

 

 

 

 

FAMILY MILESTONE ACTIVITY

 I was “chosen” by my family from various towns in north central Wisconsin, to be the host for a summer gathering.  It was an exciting prospect and somewhat of a milestone since this group seldom is gathered in one place and was probably the last time my mom would be able to travel the distance. While we did the usual visits to popular KC attractions, I felt we needed to do something creative that would mark our time together and at the same time provide a setting for chatter, laughter, and interaction.  One day during the visit, I gathered them and announced we were going to do a creative project together. We were going to create a series of sculptural vertical stakes that would be installed in my garden, that’s right, they were to stay together as one piece and would someday be passed on to other family members. 

 Forging through the whining and complaints, we soon were so engrossed we weren’t even talking at first. Turns out it worked like a charm and my family can’t stop talking about the meaningful fun they had.  This group project idea could work with almost any activity, the key is to be organized and prepared in advance, so it runs smoothly and is a roaring success! Here is what we did.

 

I am a gardener who loves working with cement, I used this for inspiration and technique.  You can use what you have and do to make the activity your own. Before the guests arrived, I designed a series of garden stakes that were conceptual stems and leaves- very simple shapes cast from insulation foam molds and sand concrete mix.  The stems featured a recessed center rectangle perfect for glass mosaic.

Family members were given different stem sizes and were asked to paint in color where they wished from a limited color palette.   

While the paint was drying, they collected glass pieces from a glass buffet full of a rainbow of colored glass and mirror fragments.

Each person cemented the glass onto their stem and grouted it. 

The final step was to add paint to the leaf shapes and fit them onto the stems.  I installed the stakes in the garden early in the morning on the day everyone was to return home.  The last day's surprise was to see their finished work on display as a milestone of our fun time together.

 

CLOUDS and SUNSHINE PIE

The herbs in the garden are springing forth anew and a fat juicy Meyer Lemon ripened on my little tree and that nailed it. It was time to make CLOUDS and SUNSHINE pie. This is not your grandmother's Lemon meringue pie. It is made with an infusion of lavender, bergamot, and lemon balm and features not only lemons but a lime and a grapefruit as well.

 CLOUDS AND SUNSHINE PIE

 

Ingredients:

 

Pie Filling

 

2 cups herbed water

(see instructions)

 

1 cup white sugar

4 TBS all purpose flour

4 TBS cornstarch

¼ tsp. salt

 

6 egg yolks beaten  

 

Zest from 1 lemon, 1 grapefruit and 1 lime

Juice from  same lemon,  grapefruit and lime

3 TBS butter

 

Meringue

 

6 egg whites

½ tsp cream of tartar

½ tsp vanilla

¾ cup sugar

 

1.  Make herbed water.   Gather 3 six-inch sprigs of lemon balm, 3 of lavender and

3 of bergamot (bee balm).  Rinse and pat dry.  Bring 2 ¼ cups water to boil.  Turn off heat and add the herbs.  Cover and allow to steep for at least 4 hours or overnight.   Strain liquid and reserve liquid.  Discard herbs.

 

2. Prepare and roll out  single crust pastry for 9” pie.  Bake in 450 degree F oven for 10-12 minutes or till golden.  Cool on rack.

 

3.  For filling.  Separate egg yolks from whites; reserve whites for meringue.  In medium bowl wisk together egg yolks. 

 

4. In medium saucepan combine sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt.  Gradullay stir in the herbed water and mix well.

 

5.  Cook stirring constantly over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.  Reduce heat.  Cook and stir 2 minutes more and remove from heat.  

 

6.  Add about ½ cup of the hot filling to the egg yolks and whisk to mix.  Immediately return to saucepan and mix into the rest of the filling and cook 2 minutes stirring constantly.  Remove from heat. 

 

7.  Add the butter, zest and juice to the hot mixture in the saucepan, stirring thoroughly to combine.

 

8.  Turn the hot filling into the baked pastry shell.  Place in a 350degree F oven for 10 minutes to evenly warm the pie.

 

9.  Meanwhile, whisk sugar and cream of tartar into the egg whites in a metal bowl. Place over simmering water and gently warm the mixture unitl sugar  is dissolved and whites are warm to the touch.  Add vanilla and beat hard for 4 minutes until mixture is thick and satiny smooth.

 

10.  Remove pie from oven and immediately spread the meringue from the edges to the center of the pie.  Bake in the 350 degree F oven for 10-15 minutes or until meringue is golden.  Remove from oven and allow to cool before serving.

 

 

 

REVERSE MOSAIC TABLETOP

 Reverse Mosaic Tabletop  

This is a fun easy project that gives pleasing results and helps to give new life to discarded items. My neighbor gave me a triangular rebar stand he was going to throw out.  As he was handing it to me over the fence, I thought that it would make a great stand for a small garden table, but what to use for the decorative tabletop?  Answer:  A cast reverse mosaic slab of concrete!

 What You Need:

2-inch insulation foam 

Hand saw

3-inch box nails

marker

Assorted colored glass, shells, marbles…anything you want to use for your tabletop mosaic as long as it is reasonably flat.

Vegetable oil and a brush

Bag of sand topping concrete mix

Cement trowel and plastic mixing bowl

Urethane glue, if necessary

Natural colored sanded grout, if necessary

 

What You Do:

 

1.    To make a slab of any shape, make a mold using a sheet of pink or blue insulation foam from the home improvement store. It cuts easily with a hand saw and goes together with simple long nails.

 

2.    Decide what shape you would like for your tabletop; circle, square, free form, etc. Draw the shape on the sheet of insulation foam using the marker. Draw the same shape 2 inches larger all around.  Cut out the outside shape first using the hand saw and then cut out the inside shape, so you have a 2-inch-thick frame.  Use nails to attach to a base piece of foam.  This is the mold for your tabletop.  Brush it with vegetable oil as if you were oiling a cake pan. 

     

3.    This technique is called “reverse mosaic” because the mosaic elements are placed into the mold first and facedown, so you see the bottom sides. Cover the bottom surface of the mold with mosaic elements, staying at least ¼” from every edge. 

4.    Mix a manageable volume of sand mix with water to a consistency of thick frosting using the trowel and plastic mixing bowl.

 

5.    Be careful to add water sparingly, it is easy to add too much.

 

6.    Gently scoop mixed concrete over the surface of your mosaic pieces making certain to completely cover them.  Use the trowel to press the concrete over everything until the surface is smooth.   You can tap or bounce the mold to settle the concrete. 

7.     Mix up more concrete until the mold is completely full.  Smooth off the top with the trowel.

 

8.    Usually, you can wait for the mold to set overnight and take out the casting, BUT…don’t do that.  Because we want to be certain the mosaic pieces are firmly embedded in the surface of the tabletop, let the mold sit untouched for three days.  The cast concrete will be significantly stronger, and then you can easily remove the tabletop from the mol with less chance of losing pieces. Use gloved hands to smooth the edges.

 

9.    If some mosaic pieces come free, replace them using urethane glue.

             (Goop or E6000).  

 

10. If there are gaps around some of the mosaic pieces because the concrete did not make it around them, you can mix a small amount of sanded grout and fill the gaps.

 

11. Position whatever you are using for your base and then add your new tabletop!

 

MEMORY KEEPING COLLAGE STEPPING STONE

 MEMORY KEEPING COLLAGE STEPPING STONE

 Here’s a fun activity for mixed ages that will help to preserve memories of any significant event. In this case, a recent trip to the beach.  A pretty much-given activity when you are visiting a beach is to walk along the shore collecting shells, bits of coral, sea glass- anything of interest.   On my recent visit, I made a point to search and discover something I could add to my stash each day.  

By the time I headed home, I had a pretty good collection of stuff including leftover coins and beer caps from the local beers I had the pleasure of sampling.  Anything permanent and “outdoorable” should work.  

PHOTO 1

 

What You Need

-Cool stuff you’ve gathered to feature in our stepping stone  

-Two 2-inch thick slabs of foam sheeting.  You can buy this in the form of foam insulation at the home improvement store but it is much less expensive to recycle blocks of shipping foam you may have received when opening a package.

-Sheets of newspaper, a Sharpie, and a pair of scissors

-Keyhole saw

-3-inch nails

-brush and vegetable oil

-plastic bowl for mixing concrete

-bag of sand topping concrete mix

-mixing trowel

-mud gloves and a plastic-covered work surface

 

What You Do

1.  Design a simple shape for your stone using the Sharpie and sheets of newspaper.  Remember that your designs need s to be smaller than your sheets of foam.

 

2.  Keep your shape simple with no thin portions that stick out.  These will break off in no time.  Cut out the shape with scissors.  It will serve as your pattern and the base to plan your design. 

 

3. Trace the pattern in the center of one of the sheets of foam with the Sharpie and cut out carefully.  Try to cut the shape out of the foam in one piece,  Remember, it is the negative or outside portion that will become your mold, not the shape itself. 

4.  Cut the outside shape into two pieces.  This makes it much easier to remove the casting after the concrete has hardened.

 

5.  Use the nails to stick the mold sections onto the second piece of foam, which will become the base of the mold. Use them as if they were giant pins.

Then use the brush to coat the bottom and sides of the mold with vegetable oil.

 

6. Lay out your found objects on top of the pattern piece. This will guide you when it comes time to insert them into the wet concrete.  You do not have a great deal of working time before the concrete begins to set.  Having a layout plan ahead of time will ensure you get it all safely inserted before this happens.

7.  Scoop about 1/3 of a bag of Sand Topping Mix into a plastic mixing bowl.  Add water and mix to a thick, smooth paste using the trowel.  Stir at least 25 times to ensure it is smooth and homogenous. Pour immediately into the mold up to ¼” from the top edge.  Lift an edge of the mold and gently tap several times to remove air bubbles.  The top surface should be completely smooth.

 

8.  Gently insert your objects according to your layout plan, pushing them into the concrete.  Remember, you will be walking on this stone, so make sure nothing is sticking up too far to cause you to trip!  If something decides to sink, no worries; fish it out, wash it off, and try again. 

 

9.  Allow your completed design to set and harden overnight.

10.  The next day, carefully remove the nails to preserve the mold.  You can use it several times if you wish. Gently wiggle and remove the two side sections of the mold.  Invert on your work surface and left off the base piece of foam.  Smooth edges with gloved hands and clean off your objects with a toothbrush.

 

11.  Let the stone cure for a couple days and it will be ready to place in your garden.

 

 

 

 

10  GARDEN INSPIRED COCKTAILS THAT WILL SURPRISE AND DELIGHT YOUR GUESTS 

Artisan cocktails are one of the hottest trends in home entertaining. What will be your special new drink at your next gathering?  You can turn to your own garden for the answer!  You may already have plants growing in your garden that can be used to create a unique, refreshing cocktail.  Here are 10 exciting new cocktails I have made from fruits and herbs from my garden.

Here is the link to the GARDEN ARTISAN COCKTAILS presentation with recipes and photos:

https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:bc72659a-26ac-331a-b79f-1695711ed05f