Spray Painting Terracotta Pots

Terracotta pots are an inexpensive way to grow your plants. The dull clay color however is not very exciting to look at. To liven up my garden I decided to use spray paint to give the pots a vibrant splash of color.

I went to my local art supply store Dots 'N Doodles where the owners are always very helpful and discussed possible paints for terracotta pots. I was immediately drawn to the cool glossy colors of the Montana brand spray paint cans and settled on trying out the green. To get started on my project, I first covered the portion of the pot I was not painting with newspaper and used masking tape to hold it in place.

As I covered the lower part of the pot I made sure the tape was secured and that I covered everything up to the lip of the pot.

As you can see, the entire bottom part of the pot is fully covered. Since you should obviously never use spray paint inside the house,  I went out to the gazebo and laid out plenty of plastic on the patio table to use as my work space. 

 

I started with the pot tray. Since I was spraying both sides of the tray, I first first sprayed the top and set it aside to let it dry before flipping over to spray the bottom.

 

While I let the pot tray dry I turned to the actual pot and sprayed all the way around the lip of the pot making sure to let the paint settle in for fifteen to thirty seconds before applying an additional layer. 

After I was finished, I set the pot in the upright position to let it dry. After 15 minutes I went back to the pot tray and flipped it over and sprayed the other side.

I waited about an hour and then very gently felt the pot and the tray to make sure it was completely dry.  Although it felt dry, there was just a hint of stickiness which indicated they were not completely dry. As a precaution, I let them sit out another hour before bringing them inside.

Once inside and completely dry I used some potting soil and took a flower from my garden to plant in the spruced up pot.

As you can see, this simple project makes the world of difference when using terracotta pots for your plants and flowers. 

We went from this plain clay colored pot on the left to this vibrant green pot on the right.

My dog She-ra approves

Starting My Garden

Unlike LA, where sun is plentiful, and seasons are all but non existent, starting a garden will be a bit trickier here in rainy Astoria. Fall is in full swing and the weather continues to get wetter and colder. Despite the weather obstacles, I am intent on getting started on my garden.  I figured I would start small and indoors so I went to my local hardware store and purchased a Jiffy Greenhouse seed starter kit. 

This is basically like a mini green house where you can start your seeds. The best part is that you can pretty much use this anywhere and don't need direct sunlight (which is lacking here in Astoria)

I have never used a starter kit before as I've always just sewn the seeds directly into pots and put them outside. That's something that will definitely not work with the rain, wind and chilly nights here in Astoria. I took the kit apart and read the instructions to get started, as it turns out, you don't even need soil. There are 24 small flat pellets in the tray each containing peat which will be used to cover and grow the seeds. First, the instructions call for 3.5 cups of water to be gradually added to the tray.

After I added the full amount of water I waited a few minutes as the pellets began to expand. As you can see in the picture below, the pellets pop out and create a small dome that is covered in a very thin netting that holds the peat together.

While I waited for the pellets to fully expand, I selected my seeds. With 24 pellets in the tray, I decided to use 6 types of seeds (4 pellets per type of seed). I chose Basil, Parsley, Thyme, Oregano, Lavender and Swiss Chard.

 Per the instructions, once all the water had been soaked up by the pellets I carefully pulled back the top of the netting and inserted 2-3 seeds in each pellet.

Once I inserted seeds into all 24 pellets I carefully fluffed each of the pellets and made sure that all the seeds were covered with peat.

The initial water I used will be all the seeds need at the moment, so no additional water or soil need to be added. The last thing to do is place the lid back on the tray and place the seeds in a warm place away from direct sunlight.

I addition to the seed try I thought it would be a good idea to sew some seeds the good old fashioned way and use mini pots and soil.

For these, I only used 4 types of seeds: Basil, Parsley, Swiss Chard and Spinach. In LA I tried growing Swiss Chard and Spinach on multiple occasions but it's simply too warm and the seedlings always withered and died as soon as we had consecutive days in the 80s. I'm hoping the cool weather here in Astoria will provide me with a different result.

I am obviously also starting these seeds indoors. Once they begin to sprout and harden, I plan on transferring them to bigger pots and placing them in the greenhouse.

What to do with Halloween Pumpkins

With Halloween a few weeks past and Thanksgiving quickly approaching it's probably time to get rid of those decorative pumpkins sitting on the doorstep. This year, instead sticking to tradition by carving Jack o' Lanterns, Ryan suggested we paint our pumpkins.

I have to say, this was a lot more fun and much less messy than carving Jack o' Lanterns. However, unlike Jack o' Lanterns, which wither and rot, these pumpkins are not going anywhere. Most pumpkins remain fresh and healthy for up to 8-12 weeks. So what to do with them? My first idea was to make pumpkin pie, however, as I quickly learned, this is the wrong type of pumpkins for pie. For that you need the sweet baby type. As an alternative, I decided to turn the seeds from these pumpkins into a delicious snack by toasting them in the oven.

I laid down newspaper to avoid mess and cut the top off the first pumpkin. I checked the inside to ensure it was still in good shape, which it was.

 Next came the icky part of scooping out the seeds. This was one of the reasons I avoided Jack o' Lanterns in the first place, and here I am 2 weeks after Halloween scooping out pumpkin guts. After the second pumpkin, it looked like I had more than enough seeds to toast so I didn't cut up the other two.

Now that I had my seeds, what to do with the remainder of the pumpkins. As I recently read, deer love the taste of pumpkin. Given the recent deer activity in my backyard I thought it would be a great idea to cut out the inner flesh of the pumpkins and leave them out as a treat for the deer.

 

I obviously took great care to only use the flesh from the inside of the pumpkin and not any of the outer flesh that had been painted. I chopped two of the pumpkins and put them in a small plastic bag and took it outside to an area where I've seen deer roaming. After placing the treat for the deer outside I returned to the seeds. First I made sure to rinse them thoroughly and then laid them out on a paper bag.

I sifted through the seeds and removed any pieces of pumpkin flesh stuck to the seeds. I washed them again and set them back in the bowl.

Next, I scooped out some butter and put it in the microwave for about a minute until it was almost thoroughly melted. I put the seeds in a clean bowl and mixed in the melted butter and a bit of salt.

After tossing the seeds with the melted butter and salt I laid them out in a large cookie sheet making sure to spread them into a single layer.

Next, I placed the cookie sheet in the oven, which had been preheated to 300 degrees and set the timer for 25 minutes. After the initial 25 minutes I took the cookie sheet out and tossed the seeds and added some more salt.

I set the timer another 15 minutes at which point I repeated the step above and then set the timer another 10 minutes. After a total of 50 minutes in the oven the seeds were crispy and brown which indicated they were done. I put the seeds in a plastic container, added a bit more salt and tossed. Voila a tasty treat for all to enjoy.