I found this old Radio Flyer wagon while driving down the street one day. Someone had put it out with the weekly trash to be picked up and destroyed. I couldn’t have that. I love old things too much, and my car had plenty of room to fit it.
The wagon has sat in my basement for a good three years, holding random boxes of tools and supplies in the workroom. However, this weekend while in New Hampshire I found a great little nursery with tons of annuals, perennials, vegetables and herbs. Each pot of herbs and veggies only cost $2.99. I couldn’t resist buying some.
Last year I had a couple of potted herbs sitting on the patio. This year, I now have a few more to add. I wanted them in one central location, out of the way, but easy to access for cooking. I saw the old wagon in the basement and decided it would be repurposed as the home of the herb garden.
It’s in a spot that gets a decent amount of sun, but with the wagon, I can easily move it to other parts of the patio if I think the herbs could benefit from even more sun. Once the herbs start to really grow, they should fill the wagon in nicely.
What did I plant?
- Basil (a must-have for any garden)
- Cilantro (for taco night and guacamole)
- Pineapple Mint (for Mojitos to accompany whatever I use cilantro for)
- Oregano (basic herb, but great fresh flavor)
- Lavender (for cookies, butter, homemade cleaning products, etc)
- Thyme (This survived the mild winter we had and never really lost leaves from last year’s growing season)
I ended up placing an extra solar yard light I had into one of the potted herb plants. It will add a little more to the evening atmosphere of the yard and patio. I also had some room to place a small watering can in the wagon as well, so that I can use the rain water it captures to hydrate the plants when they need it. Another thing to note…I drilled a few holes into the bottom of the wagon to drain any excess rain water. This will prevent your herbs from being overwatered if there are holes in the bottom of the pots that are used.
And I also was able to finally fill the raised garden bed I built last year (Post: How To Build A Raised Garden Bed). I’m looking forward to filling that with vegetables and updating their progress here.
The Things I Think About 
Oh my gosh, it’s like we’re sharing a mind right now! I’ve had this grand idea to plant herbs in a radio flyer wagon for awhile now so if I ever have to move I can just wheel them with me! I’m glad to see it works and looks so classy and nostalgic.
Find yourself one and get to it! I still need to find an old crock pot to try your paint removal method…
What a neat idea! You have great photos on your site. I also really like how you add text to some of the lead-in shots. I’m a big fan of the “label maker” font you’ve used in this post! Do you use photoshop? I’ve been trying to figure out how to do this with some of my pics. Any tips you have would be much appreciated!