How to Make an Herb Planter

How to make an herb pot that grows vertical instead of horizontal. Fresh herbs are always better than the freeze-dried-sitting-on-a-shelf-forever type you can buy in the store.  You can make the planter as big or small as you like. I use a LOT of herbs and so I made a large planter.

You will need, 

planter pot,

landscape barrier, 

chicken wire (I have a smaller holed wire here, I recommend a lighter gauged wire) 

Garden Soil, (I recommend Miracle Gro but you can make your own too) 

Wire snips, light weight wire,

herb plants.

Cut the wire so it makes a complete cylinder in the bottom of the pot, put into the pot, tie the wire ends with the light wire, and then  put the landscape barrier into the wire cylinder. 

Soil

Fill cylinder with soil

Cut three inch squares into wire and then cut a + into the barrier so you can access the soil.

cut herb plant out of peat pot

Remove excess soil but not enough to upset the root system of the plant

Put herbs into holes in cylinder careful to not damage plant, add as many squares as you want on the sides. Then plant taller herbs in the top of the cylinder. As the plants grow they will cover the exposed wire area.

Water and keep herbs pinched so they will stay fresh and manageable.  I keep my planter in an area that gets  mid-day sunlight.

Chicken Salad and vegetarian version too

This is a great recipe because you can cheat and buy already cooked chicken pieces in the freezer aisle and throw everything together on those days you are starving and don't want to spend a lot of time preparing anything elaborate.   Heads up you want to keep reading even if you are vegetarian I will tell you how to vege tweak it too.

3 cups cooked cubed chicken (I like to take boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cook them in the crockpot on slow for 4-5 hours until totally cooked.  I put 6 breasts in with 1cup lemon juice and 2 tablespoons lemon pepper)

1 1/2 cups purple grapes cut into halves

1/4 cup fresh basil cut into pieces

2 tablespoons fresh chives cut into small pieces

1 teaspoon lemon pepper

Nonfat Greek yogurt (I add about 2/3 cups but this is up to you, how dry or sloppy do you want it, your choice) 

VEGETARIAN alternative: add 1cup chopped jicama, 1 cup chopped celery, 1/2 cup chopped cucumber, and 1/2 cup shredded carrots instead of the chicken.

I eat them on Romaine lettuce leaves but you can eat it on croissants, bread, on its own, be creative!

If you prefer you can use a low calorie mayonnaise instead of the yogurt and there is a vegan mayonnaise you can use too.