…and my best garden treasure…

Finding my ‘find’

Some time ago, I went to my local nursery and was stopped in my tracks by what was standing by their dumpster!  This old galvanized utility sink was a bit rusted, but definitely worth asking about.  This nursery was always a favorite of mine because they had had the junk gardening vibe, but sadly, it was going to close down soon.

Sadly, this sink stayed here for two years!

To me, Flea Market Gardening is a bit of taking materials that would otherwise be wasted and giving them a new sense of value by turning them into something beautiful and useful.

Before- My old galvanized sink,…pretty sad…

I tentatively asked about the sink and wouldn’t you know,…they were surprised ANYONE wanted it!  What?  They said they’d let it go for twenty bucks!  Ha!  Luckily, I could take it right then and there.  Score!  It sat for awhile,…and eventually we moved to the mountains where we had plenty of room to stash it.  One day, I finally was able to set it up to be my work area.

Once moved to its new spot, the old sink was ready to play with

Galvanized sink into a functional garden potting sink

Tractor Man and I took some old wood and some iron brackets I had found at a yard sale and put up the sturdy shelves.  I had a rake head and hung that for hand tools,…everyone has seen that idea, right?

I arranged all my extra clay pots on the shelf, then added two more treasures, a wrought iron twine holder and an old Boraxo dispenser.

What is it that I like about vintage dispensers?  This Boraxo dispenser would remind me of my Dad, who always had Boraxo on the garage sink when I was a child.  I can still feel the grittiness of it when my child sized hands were washed after a day of playing out doors.

After- My play kitchen and potting sink

An old crock for more hand tools, a woven cloth basket and two small pictures completed my kitchen.  Next project will be to attach some faucets and hook up a hose to make it even more functional,…my play kitchen!  I’m so happy with it and work there a lot.

Have you noticed a LOT of kitchen themed garden vignettes lately?  What’s your best garden treasure?  ~~ Sue

See the whole story of how I spiffed up my messy potting area.  Yikes!

In which, I clean up my potting bench