Earth Week DIY: Macramé Hanging Herb Garden
Earth Day is Monday, April 22nd! To celebrate, and keeping in the spirit of things, we’re reusing and recycling some old favourites that inspire us to care for this little blue dot we live on, and that simplify the sometimes Sisyphean-seeming task of making the planet’s future a priority in our day-to-day lives. Today: it’s thyme to spice up your long weekend with a do-it-yourself project: a macramé hanging herb garden.
Do you know where your food comes from? We will always be proponents of buying locally sourced goods wherever possible. Local produce is often harvested more recently than its imported counterpart, meaning fruits and vegetables contain more nutrients. Buying directly from growers at local markets also gives you the opportunity to ensure produce is organic and sustainably farmed. What’s more, buying local supports your local economy, and it is an easy way to reduce your personal environmental footprint.
You can hardly be blamed for the extra strut in your step as you proudly peruse farmer’s market stalls. Still, we hear you wondering—short of putting a down payment on a John Deere, could I do one better than buying local? Alas, you are an urbanite at heart, with admittedly little personal harvesting experience; nor does your less-than-spacious city lot allow for an abundant crop garden. Our solution is a start small approach—an at-home herb garden. It’s the perfect compliment to a refrigerator full of locally grown goods. A kitchen herb garden is an easy way to get your green thumb on, and to ensure your meals are made and garnished with fresh additives, free of any pesticides or harmful chemicals.
We hear your next question already—once I have my herb garden, how will I display it? Fear not: we’ve got you covered. Sure, you could place potted herbs on an arbitrary window ledge and promptly forget about them—or you could craft a beautiful macramé hanging herb garden, the new focal point and conversation piece of your kitchen. The choice is yours, and the DIY is below.
Materials:
Hammer
Nail or hook
Cotton string (look for cord made from recycled materials where possible)
Small plant pots, filled with the herbs of your choice*
Steps:
Cut three equal-length pieces of cotton string. Each string should extend approximately four times as long as your desired final hanging. This length will vary, depending on the size of your plant pots and your desired number of tiers. Our three-layer macramé is about 3 feet long, so we cut our strings to 12 feet.
Hold your strings together, and fold in half at the centre. (For us, this was at 6 feet.) Tie a knot just below the fold—this will create the loop to hang your herb garden.
Now, you should have six strands coming from the loop. At this point, we suggest attaching the loop to something sturdy. We used a coffee table leg. This will hold your macramé in place, and make the following steps much easier to complete.
Separate the six strands into three groups of two. Tie a knot in each pair at the same height—approximately 2/5 of the way down along your remaining string length. For us, this was at about 15 inches.
Separate your strings into six individual strands once more. Leave the two outer-most strings alone, and group the four interior strings into two new pairs.
Tie one knot into each of these two pairs at equal length, approximately 2 inches from the knots above. At this point, you should have two rows of knots—three at the top and two below.
To complete the lower row, bring the two individual outer strings together, and tie a third knot at approximately the same height.
Now it is time to finish your plant pot bed. Bring all six strands together and tie in a single knot, approximately 2 inches below the three-knot row.
If you are only creating a macramé hanging for one potted herb, then congratulations—you’re done! Proceed to Step 10. If you, like us, have decided to create a multi-tiered hanging, then continue on. Return to Steps 3 through 8, repeating for as many layers as you’d like.
The bottom of your macramé should have a full knot, containing all six strings. We’ve left our remaining string length hanging for stylistic reasons, but any excess string can be trimmed as necessary.
Screw in your hook or hammer your nail into the wall where you want to hang it—we suggest a window, but we’ll let you make your own choices—and voilà, a hanging herb garden!
-Elena Mari and Nathan Legiehn with GHJC
*Note: During the spring season, many nurseries and farmer’s markets sell pre-potted, organic herbs for relatively inexpensive rates. Or, for our fellow gardeners, we recommend Gardenista’s “Gardening 101: How to Sprout a Seed” for a step-by-step guide to planting seeds, and for a helpful guide to caring for your herbs, explore The Kitchn’s “Tips for a Small-Space Kitchen Herb Garden.”