May 14, 2011

Affordable Hanging Herb Baskets

Haven't you always wanted small hanging baskets to put your herbs in, away from the perils of nature and without spending too much money? Potted herbs seemed to take up too much space on the window sill and sometimes kept you from opening your kitchen window for some air because you really didn't feel like moving your herbs just to do it. I've looked above and below for decently-sized baskets that my herbs could go in right in front of the kitchen window away from soil, bacteria, and animals, but I've never found them. They only seem to come in huge variety for flowers and such, which is way too obnoxious for a kitchen window.

I thought of the idea last year of putting spearmint above my bedroom window because I noticed that on my window sill, it was starting to droop and trail. I took a sturdy plastic saucer, or water net, and tied green bread tie wire to three equally spaced holes and then put a second saucer on top of that and then put my spearmint on it. It did the job realistically, but aesthetically, it was atrocious. This Spring, I decided to make my own basket... and this is what I came up with.


The baskets were bought at the Hobby Lobby for $1.99 each.
The black metal frame baskets were bought at the Dollar Tree for $1.
The 3.5" potted herbs were bought from Block's Stand & Greenhouse in Romulus, MI for $1.49 each.
Plastic sandwich bags can be bought and found anywhere, these were purchased at the Dollar Tree for $1.
Total: $5.48, not including tax.

Unlatch the hook from the metal basket on all three sides and set the basket frame aside.

Set it aside and make sure that the three chains aren't tangled.

Locate on the wicker basket where you want to put the metal closure through.

You may want to put the closure through the first two layers for support.

You may want to measure the diameter of the basket and then find the circumference and divide it by three so that it is evenly spaced, or you can just 'eye' it.

The basket is now complete. You may keep the chains at their full length, or you can make them shorter like how I did.

Count however many chain loops you want to decrease the height by, and clip it onto that chain loop.

You will have some excess and you can either remove it using a wire cutter, or tucking in like how I did.

The basket is now shorter and wherever I may choose to place it in the future, I can always change the chain length.

Get your sandwich bag and open it up. This step, if left inside, is to hold water so it doesn't drip everywhere. This step can be skipped.

Fold the bag down over itself to make it shorter.

After folding it four or five times, you may now put it into the basket.

With the plastic water net in place, the 3.5" potted herb can be placed into it.

This particular pot is a bit taller than the basket, but that is alright because the peppermint plant will overhang the basket and trail downward, covering that part.

You can hang the basket off of a chandelier or put it in a window. I chose to hang it above the kitchen sink, which is south-facing.

Grab a nail, industrial staple, or a hook from your local hardware store and install it if there isn't already a hook present for your basket to hang from.

A normal basket like this would probably run you anywhere from $8 and up depending, but I paid just under that. This particular herb can be eaten in foods or made into a tea, or anything! Enjoy.

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