There are many types of upside-down planters available and none are expensive in the least.  I have seen many people who use 5-gallon buckets but I must say that once you buy all the hardware you will probably be spending more than just buying a Topsy Turvy planter or the self-watering planters I have hanging on my garage.

The Topsy Turvy planters are cheap but incredibly ugly so I welcome any photos or ideas folks have to make them a bit more presentable.

Materials:

• 1-2 cherry, grape or other small variety tomato plants
• Upside-down planter
• Solid ring hooks
• Bamboo stake
• Self watering system (see Step #8)
• Tomato fertilizer
• Container gardening soil or 40% peat moss / 60% soil

Directions: 

1. First things first, choose the right tomato plant for the hanging planter.  There is just no sense in picking a beefsteak or other large varietal. Large tomatoes generally grow on large plants and have heavy fruit.  These small planters are better suited to determinate/bush forming (as opposed to indeterminate/vine growing) so that the plant can build girth rather than length below the planting bag.  Also choosing container-loving cultivars like Tumbler, Jolly Elf, or Gold Nugget will ensure fruiting is prolific even on smaller plants.

2. Location is another important factor in hanging planters.  Check out site selection for Growing Strawberries in Hanging Containers / Grow Bags as it’s pretty much the same: 8-12 hours of fun sun a day.

3. Prepare your soil for planting by either mixing 40% peat moss 60% high quality organic soil mix (like Sea Soil) or a container gardening mix in a wheelbarrow with some water.  It’s best to moisten the soil before planting to ensure it will hold the water not just run right through the planting hole.

4. Remove your plant from the nursery pot and secure the stopper around the stem, being careful to not damage the stem.  All store-bought planters come with a stopper: either a foam ring or plastic disk with a hole in the center for the stem.

5. Have a strong helper hold your planter while you gently GENTLY maneuver the plant upside-down into the bottom hole from the top.  Again, don’t damage the stem.  If the leaves get a bit mangled it’s OK, but if you damage the stem get a new plant and start over.

6. Gently fill the moistened soil around the root ball about half-full, add a handful of complete organic fertilizer and fill up the rest of the way with more soil.

7. Hang the planter up on sturdy hooks (that should be included with your planter) no less than 7-8 feet off the ground.

**While most folks stop at this point there are a few lessons I’ve learned from growing tomatoes successfully on my garage that I shared in this post:  Topsy Turvy: Ugly as Stink But Good Tomatoes.  These few extra steps will help with the most common problems of upside-down tomato planters: dry soil and broken plants.**

8. The challenge with an upside down planter is that when they dry out, they are difficult to re-moisten.  Water generally flows through dry soil, and with upside-down planters, it can flow right through even moist soil. Unless you want to spend most of your free time slowly watering these planters all summer long, it’s best to set up a self-watering system.  Luckily the new planters I bought have a self-watering trough at the top. Success with this system comes from to ensuring that you don’t let the wick dry out.

You can also make your own self-watering system with these plant stakes or make your own by cutting a hole in the bottom of a soda bottle and poking a few weep holes in the cap.  Screw the cap on firmly and sink into the soil.  Fill with water and let drain.  To see the bottle watering system, check out the photos in this post about Topsy Turvy Tomato Planters.

9. Tomatoes are meant to grow upwards and left to their own devices, they will curve up toward the sky, grow big beautiful tomatoes…and then the stem will break right off in the wind or from the weight of the fruit.  Easily deal with this by sticking a bamboo stake in the bottom hole with the plant, and train the plant downwards as it grows.  An easy solution to a fatal (to ripe fruit at least) problem.

There you have it.  All the tools you need for successfully getting an upside-down planter started this year. These instructions also apply for peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, or squash so get creative with this weekend project.

 Participating in these link parties: Between Naps on the Porch, Tip Junkie, Not Just a Housewife , The Thrifty Home, Savvy Southern Style, Delightful Order, My Romantic Home, Funky Junk Interiors, Under the Table Dreaming, Nifty Thrifty Things.

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It’s around this time each year that I start salivating for sweet, fresh berries as I see my hanging strawberry planter growing in and the flowers forming.  Establishing a fruit-bearing crop in a growing bag is not difficult, but there are a few key steps that will certainly help.

Site Selection

Strawberries like many fruiting plants really like lots of sun.  It’s not to say that that a crop in a partly shaded are won’t bear fruit, but the fruit will be larger, sweeter and more prolific in 8-12 hours of fun sun a day.  Hanging planters will make the soil much warmer than the ground warm and out of reach from many pests which creates an more environment that can tolerate a less sun if necessary.

Container

I was able to find a green “Flower Tower” at a thrift store many years ago, but there are also very inexpensive grow bags that you can buy online or at hardware and garden stores.  You could certainly make your own, although with the price of these and all the hardware included, it seems more trouble than it’s worth.  If you don’t like the look of the bags (they ARE ugly) then wait a few months.  Soon you won’t see it at all with all the plants growing in.

Soil

Hanging baskets can get pretty heavy when filled with soil and water.  Regular garden soil isn’t light enough and compacts too easily for hanging planters.  The best choice is a container gardening mix that has lots of material mixed in to hold water, ensure drainage, and promote good air circulation. Add a few scoops of organic matter and mix well.  Strawberries like an acidic soil so stay away from mushroom manure which typically has lime in it.  I like to use my garden compost for the organic matter.

Plants

Strawberries are either June-Bearing (one large crop in early Summer) or Ever-Bearing (crop spread out over the summer months).  I like June-bearing as they produce more fruit.  Choose plants that are free from pests and disease, often it’s best to get them from a nursery to be sure.  Strawberry plants spread quickly through runners so if you have an established patch somewhere, or a neighbour does, you can easily clip those to start your planter.

Planting

  1. Fill the bag loosely with potting soil water thoroughly and slowly to ensure water gets absorbed throughout.

  2. Shake the soil off the roots of the strawberry plants and gently tuck them into the planting holes. Snip off any brown leaves, runners or roots and top up with more soil mix.

  3. Water thoroughly and slowly again, allowing the water to absorb into the soil rather than just running straight off through the holes.

  4. Hang and get ready for strawberries!

Watering

Watering these hanging bags can be tricky.  The water tends to quickly flow through the holes while the plant gets established.  If you lack the patience and arm strength to water very slowly, try a watering spike attached to a soda bottle or make your own by cutting a hole in the bottom of a soda bottle and poking a few weep holes in the cap.  Screw the cap on firmly and sink into the soil.  Fill with water and let drain.  Be careful not to let the planter dry out, particularly when it’s hot.

Fertilizer

Add a slow-release organic fertilizer at planting (a balanced 10-10-10) and a compost tea when flowering.  A compost tea or some Moo Poo Tea (from my friend, Annie Haven) are perfect to water with every few weeks in the spring and early summer.  Stop fertilizing when the fruit forms and water frequently for plump fruit.

Hopefully this will get you started with hanging strawberries as part of You Can Grow That! day created by C.L. of Whole Life Gardening.  For ideas on what to do with all your juicy berries check out Strawberry Coconut Torte, Organic Strawberry Jam, and Strawberry Balsamic & Black Pepper Preserves.

Participating in these link parties: Between Naps on the Porch, Tip Junkie, Not Just a Housewife , The Thrifty Home, Savvy Southern Style, Delightful Order, My Romantic Home, Funky Junk Interiors, Under the Table Dreaming, Nifty Thrifty Things.

In past years I have used a 4-tier wire shelf which allows me to grow 8 trays of seedlings into large plants as I can continuously move the shelves to make more room for taller plants.  Plus it comes with a greenhouse cover that makes the perfect transition to the outdoors to harden off seedlings.

I still plan to use the 4-tier wire shelf as an outdoor greenhouse when I pot up the seedlings into larger pots.  I decided that this year I would make something a little neater for the starts as the shelf is in a prominent place in our office.  Plus I need more room indoors for my air plants and terrariums.  I’ve seen the GORM shelf used for a few projects by fabulously stylish gardeners and this year I decided to give it a try.

Carrie from Read Between the Limes’s $29.99 IKEA Seed Starting Rack was the inspiration for this project.  Her shelf has fewer lights and adorable labels for her seeds and soil supply.  Make sure you check out Carrie’s blog for the instructions on how she set up her shelf and lots of great ideas on gardening with kids.

I added to Carrie’s set up by using 6 lights on the top three shelves which has been the perfect amount of light to prevent the seedlings from becoming too leggy.  Disclaimer: I had to leave the seedlings in a bright window for 3 days while I visited the Tulip Festival, so they did get somewhat leggy.

Tall, spindly (aka leggy) seedlings do not give your plants a great start.  It’s not the end of the world, but it indicates that the plants are not getting enough light which is stressful for the plant.  Growing really tall and skinny can cause the plants to flop over and break or easily be damaged.   If you have leggy plants, re-pot them in deeper pots with the soil line all the way up to the seed leaves (the first leaves that appeared when they sprouted).  All that extra stem can be tucked under the soil for protection and the leaves will have a fresh start.

The best remedy for leggyness is to provide enough light and the right kind of light.  For most home growers wanting to start a few seedlings, standard florescent utility lights work just fine.  If you can find inexpensive lights specifically made for growing plants, they may have a high colour temperature that more closely mimics the sun (and they are pink!).  These can be very expensive and for the price the results are not that much different than standard florescent bulbs so save your bucks and buy a “daylight” bulb instead.

Materials:

• 1 GORM Shelving Unit assembled as per instructions with 2 extra shelves.
• 6 utility lights with full spectrum or grow lights where available
• 12 screw in hooks
• 12 x 7” lengths of chain
• Wire or twine
• Power bar

Directions:

1.  Assemble shelving unit as per instructions. Space top 3 shelves 15” apart; these will be your growing shelves.  Space remaining 2 shelves as you desire from the bottom; these will be supply shelves.

2.  Screw 2 hooks to the underside on both the front and back board, spaced 2” in from the width of the lights.

3.  Tie wire or string around the light and affix the end of a length of chain to each side.  Simply hang the other end of the wires on the hooks at about 1” above the seedlings.  Continue to raise the lights as the seedlings grow.

4. I plug all the lights into a power bar so that I can easily turn on or off the whole thing with one switch.  Start by giving your seedlings 8 hours of light a day and slowly increase to 12 hours.  This mimics the increase in light the plants get as the seasons change and the days get longer.

Now don’t think you must have a dedicated area specifically for seed starting indoors.  My friend Sam sent me some great photos of the Victory Garden’s office where they have seeds growing all over the place.  I particularly love them growing under the desk – what a smart use of space!

For more information on seed starting, please check out the other posts in this series:  Seed Starting 101, Homemade Seed Starting Containers DIY Projects,  The Best and Worst Store Bought Seed Starting Containers and Seed Starting Outdoors Under Umbrella Greenhouses.

Part 2 of Seed Starting Containers: The Real Dirt checks out the pros and cons of store-bought seed starters from your garden center or supply store.  Just like the homemade containers, there are many different options for starting seeds with purchased containers but not all of them will give your seedlings the best start.  The prices range from frugal to just plain silly.  Expensive doesn’t always mean best.  Please have a read through this list of pros and cans so you can sort out the gimmicks from the goods.

Peat Pellets

These little pressed peat pellets are sold in small disks covered by thin netting.  When soaked in water they grow to 3-5x in size and have a little hole in the top for the seed to go in.  They are often sold in mini greenhouse kits with a black watering tray and clear plastic greenhouse dome.  With these pellets you are growing a plug which is meant to be potted up to a larger pot or in the ground quite soon after the seedling sprouts.

Pros: fairly cheap if bought in bulk (but watch out for high prices in some shops), compact to store, fits nicely in seed starting trays (in many cases you can fit 72 plugs per tray), netting can carefully be removed providing a protected soil plug that can be carefully potted into a larger pot or the garden

Cons:  too small to be useful for most seedlings, the netting should really be removed as to not stress the roots when they are tiny (technically roots can grow through the net, but in my experience the plants are smaller as the net restricts normal root growth), re-potting when seedlings are that small is unnecessarily stressful to the plant and they are easily damaged

Please note that peat moss is a controversial product. Some reports say that peat bogs are being over harvested and other reports show otherwise.  For more information please check out Peat Moss and The Environment and The Myth of Permanent Peatlands.

Peat or Coir Pots

Pots made of pressed peat or coconut coir (fiber) that you still fill with soil before planting your seeds are becoming increasingly popular plus they on-trend with a push towards green, biodegradable products.  The claim is that the roots can grow through the pot so they can be planted directly out in the garden.  You should rip the top of the pot off to soil level when planting out however, because if the edges of the pot sit above the soil line, it will wick moisture away from the roots.

Pros: Large enough that you don’t need to repot the seedling right away, more sustainable than plastic (but see note on peat moss above)

Cons: EXPENSIVE, gimmicky, gives roots unnecessary struggle to get through pot to reach garden soil (some manufacturers call this “root-pruning” but I still find the plants are much smaller and less healthy than those without the root ball surrounded by a biodegradable pot

Plastic Pots

There is a wide array of plastic pots available for seed starting.  You can use the nursery pots that you or your gardening friends will no doubt have stacked up somewhere from buying brand-sparkly-new plants.  You can also buy a whole array of sizes and shapes for setting in black plastic trays.  In general, bigger pots are best for bigger plants and plants that are delicate (that you don’t want to transplant too many times). Smaller pots sometimes come in multiples like 6 or 9, can be used for growing smaller plants, plugs of multiples (like lettuce and peas), or for seedlings that will move out to the garden in a very short time (like beans).

Square tall plastic nursery pots are my favourite way to start plants.  I like that they have a deeper soil base, are large enough that you don’t need to pot-up seedlings before transplanting in the garden, and the square shape efficiently fits into black plastic trays.  I also like plastic containers with 6 separate sections for growing many of one kind of plant.

Now, while plastic is not sustainable or biodegradable, I use the same pots year after year, washing them out at the beginning and end of the season.  Some I have purchased but many I’ve just acquired so the cost is very low.  I do replace my black plastic trays every few years when I can’t patch up the holes.  I have found a place to recycle them though, so I feel a bit better about that.

Pros: cheap to free, reusable, variety of sizes, best possible start for plants in my opinion.

Cons: not biodegradable, not cute or trendy

Mini Greenhouse Trays

The peat pellets, fiber pots, and plastic cells can be bought in pre-made mini greenhouse kits that include a black plastic bottom tray with some grooves to drain off the water and a clear plastic dome to act as a greenhouse, which prevents soil from drying out and maintains humidity.  You must remove the dome after the seeds sprout as too much humidity can lead to “dampening off”, a fungal disease that will kill the new seedlings.  I have a set of these from when I was a seed-starting beginner and I use them year after year.  They are a great investment and an essential seed starting tool for me.

Pros:  neat, convenient, good system for germinating seeds, reusable

Cons: you will have to buy a larger dome if you want to keep using it past the sprouting stage as seedlings will quickly outgrow the lid, dome only useful for germination (after that high-humidity causes fungal disease)

Self-Watering Trays

If you are a forgetful gardener, or plan to be away when you’ve started your seeds, then a self-watering tray is a good option.  The pots sit on a fiber pad that wicks water up from a reservoir below.  You must soak the pad and ensure that the reservoir is full then the soil sucks up moisture from the pad when it’s needed.  I have some and they stay very moist which is good for seedlings AND fungus.  One thing to watch out for is mold growth or fungal disease starting on the wick.  Keep the wick clean, washing occasionally and spray with a bit of hydrogen peroxide to kill fungus.

Pros: low maintenance, prevents seedlings from drying out

Cons: expensive to buy, promotes fungal growth

Heat Mats

Some greenhouse kits come with an electric heat mat that sits below the plastic tray.  These can also be purchased separately. Heat mats claim to aid in germination by raising the soil to the optimum temperature.  Some people use heating pads (that you would use for your back) but the temperatures are much higher on those so proceed with caution, you could easily cook your soil and seeds.

I always use heat mats for my tomatoes, it helps them germinate in just a few days as opposed to weeks and gets them off to a better start.  Use the heat mat during the day and turn it off at night to simulate the natural cooling of the soil at nighttime.  Remove the heat mat as soon as all the seeds have germinated and set them up with some grow lights instead.

Here is a photo of my set up, that include plastic pots in mini greenhouse trays (tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, kale, tarragon, cilantro, spinach, radicchio) and some green self watering pots with individual greenhouse domes (different lettuce varieties and oriental greens).

For more information on the whole process of seed starting, check out Seed Starting 101 for a birds eye view of what’s required to start seeds.

Stay tuned for the next post in this series, Growing Seedlings Indoors, which will have instructions to build a DIY grow light set up like this:

Buying Guide

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I recently attended the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show that took place on March 21-25, 2012 at the San Mateo California event center.  With over 200 green exhibitors, garden displays, design seminars and cooking demonstrations, this event is one I will remember for years to come.  It was that spectacular!

Considering this was my first garden and flower show I’ve ever attended I had no idea what to expect.  As I stepped into the show entrance I was immediately overwhelmed with beauty, color and serenity, not only in the garden displays, but in the attendees faces. The mood of the show was calm, the lighting was perfect and the setting was relaxing.  One attendee described having a horticultural hangover after a day strolling through all the exhibits and I agree.

Thankfully I brought my camera and out of the hundreds of photos I took I’d like to show you some of my favorite parts of the show.  Enjoy!

Can’t you just picture yourself here enjoying a glass of wine?  I love the use of old windows in this cozy setting.

It’s not a fantasy…any garden can be green.  Do you have some rusty shovels or garden tools?  Hang them on a garden shed as shown here at the Hillbilly Hilton garden display…

I love the use of materials and design of this stacked stone wall.  Gorgeous.

How amazing is this vertical succulent garden?! This display was so popular I had to wait in line to snap a photo.

I had a blast and made some fun purchases at the NW Glass Gardens Booths. It was a complete joy to meet the fabulous owner and artist, Barbara Sanderson.  Here’s some of her work.

I love this concrete path filled with pebbles and the raised planter.

For more show information and inspiration check out North Coast Gardening.  Genevieve Schmidt has a wonderful blog post on Stone Work at the 2012 San Francisco Flower & Garden Show and she also lists several links to other blogs and articles that feature highlights and photos from the show.

Next year if you have the chance to attend The San Francisco Flower & Garden show it is scheduled to take place March 20-24, 2013.  Maybe I’ll get to see you there!

~ Nicky from Dirt and Martinis

I volunteered to make this one as part of a group gift and it was so much fun.  I filled the back with a bit of cactus soil, then planted in a pretty little sedum.

I covered that with some moss and some white river stones to set up a base for the Tillandsia stricta that I glued into a shell.  Won’t it be gorgeous when it blooms?!

To make your own, I’d suggest checking out the Terrarium Craft Review & Salad Bowl Terrarium Project.  

Give it a try as part of “You Can Grow That” day, the 4th day of each month.

I’ve read in a few places that a great way to store your tools is in a bin filled with sand and a little oil.  Last summer I decided to give this a try.  They ‘recipe’ recommend adding coarse sand to some sort of bucket and adding motor oil.  I didn’t want to use motor oil as I was worried about the adverse affects on my organic garden, and I thought vegetable oil would go rancid, so I left out the oil and just oiled my tools regularly.

The benefit of this method is that your tools are easy to grab and easily kept organized.  The drawback is that the sand really mucks up your tools, particularly the pruners.  It gets into all the crevices and it just doesn’t work for me.  I do not recommend storing your tools in sand but if you have a way that it works for you, please let me know.

Since I liked the organization I got with my small tools, I decided to replace the sand with river stones.  This works beautifully!  Fill up 1/3 of a shallow but wide bin with round river stones and insert tools.  It holds them in place so you can find them easily, it takes up very little room, and it’s simple to maintain.

It’s also a good idea to wash and sharpen your tools regularly. Many gardeners will wash, oil, and sharpen pruners before each gardening day.  Others may do it more often (i.e.: between plants which is always a good idea if there are disease issues that can be spread), and some do it less often (one a week, a month, never.)  Keeping tools clean and sharp will ensure they perform as you wish, last a long time, and don’t spread disease.

I try to keep my tools clean and sharp but it’s not a perfect system. I work best with scheduled activities so in both the spring and fall I like to follow this hand tool maintenance program:

1. Collect all tools from wherever they have migrated to and lay them out grouped by type.  Cull any duplicates or unused tools, replace or repair broken tools, and buy new tools if some have gone missing.

2. Fill up a basin with soapy water and wash all tools.

3. Take apart and sharpen pruners.  Only do one pair at a time so you don’t mix up parts.  Wash all the bits, scour with steel wool, and sharpen with a diamond blade.  When you have the pruners put back together, oil them with some olive oil.

4. When all tools are clean and ready to get back to work, store them in the handy, dandy bin of stones for easy access.

After reading the book cover to cover, I was so inspired to try some projects I have all but put my seed starting on hold and transformed my corner window grow-op into a terrarium building site.  Air plants, succulents, shells, rock and found objects abound as terrariums are a nature lover’s doll house.  For my first project I fashioned a woodland-inspired terrarium out of a salad bowl, moss, Aeonium, Sedum, Bromeliad and a tiny felted owl.

Materials:

• Glass salad bowl
• Indoor cactus soil
• Polished river stones
• Branches, lichen, found objects

Plants:

• Aeonium
• Sedum
• Bromeliad
• Spanish Moss (epiphyte)
• True Moss (bryophyte)

Instructions:

1. Fill the bottom 1/3 with cactus soil (note: the book suggests using sand or moss balls to plant your terrarium, but I don’t mind the look of soil and I’m not worried about drainage because I’ll carefully. The book’s projects do look cleaner with the sand so it’s all personal preference).

2. Place true moss around one side of the bowl.  Shake soil gently off the root ball of the aeonium, sedum and bromilad.  Dig little holes in the cactus soil and place plants.  Back fill with soil and place moss around plants on the moss side.  Add some river stones to the other half to cover the soil up to the moss level.

3. Add fun personal elements that will add personality to your “mixed salad”.  Shown here are Spanish moss (which is a type of Tillandsia or air plant so it should float above the soil), a twig with bird’s nest mushrooms I collected back in the mushroom foraging days of autumn, and a felted pocket owl that I bought from Etsy which has it’s own story.

The final result is a quirky terrarium that reminds me of days waking thought the woods with the dogs, hoping to spot a real owl like these, and collecting gems from the forest floor.

There are a few other projects that I’d like to try from the book, like suspending plant roots in a moss ball inside the terrarium, but for now I best get on my seed starting or I’ll be very sad and/or broke come heirloom tomato season.

If you have tried a terrarium, or plan to try one, please let me know.  I would love to see photos of this very personal art form.

Micro greens are different than sprouts because are grown in a soil or soil-like medium.  This is a time lapse photo journal of about 2 weeks growing time for my sunflower micro greens.

For more information on how to grow them check out this post on growing micro greens in a chicken dome.  For information on sprouting check out this post on sprouting mung beans and green peas in a mason jar or this post on my Fresh Life Automatic Sprouter.

Day 1

Day 5

Day 7

Day 15

Day 17

This apron has large, deep pockets so you can fill them with seed packets, plant labels, and various tools.  It is quite wide, so that you can fill the side pockets with all sorts of stuff, and still bend over to dig without getting stabbed in the belly by a weeding fork (!).  I also made a loop to hold my pruners off to the side so I can draw them quickly when encountering a showdown with unruly branches.  I like my ties to be extra long so they tie in the front with lots room to make a pretty bow.

Here’s how to make your own.

Materials:

Sturdy weight fabric – plain for apron back, pattern for pockets, waistband, and sash cut as follows:

• 1 – 20” x 14  plain colour fabric for apron back
• 1 – 23” x  10” patterned fabric for apron pockets
• 1 – 20” x 4” patterned fabric for waist band
• 2 – 42” x 4” patterned fabric for long, wraparound sashes

Directions:

1.  Cut all fabric to the dimensions listed to make a ladies’ large apron.  Adjust size up or down to fit.  Hem the two short sides of the back fabric, the top and bottom won’t matter, and hem the top edge of the pocket.  Using a glass, cut rounded corner on the bottom corners of both the back fabric and the pocket fabric.

2.  Lay the larger pocket cut of fabric on the back fabric, and pin 3 pleats along the bottom edge so that the pocket fabric now is the same width as the back.  Sew pleats with a double stitch about 1 ½” up from the bottom.

3.  Place the back fabric with hem facing upward, and then lay the pocket fabric facing downward on top.  Pin and sew along the side and bottom edges.  Turn right side out and make a decorative stitch along the sides and bottom of the apron.  Sew two straight lines to create the pocket dividers.

4. To make the sashes, fold the fabric strips in half lengthwise and inside out.  Sew the two long ends together making a long tube.  Turn tube right side out with a chopstick and some patience.  Fold the ends of the sashes inward and stitch to finish the ends.

5.  Sew each sash to the top sides of the waistband.  Iron the waistband in half, and then fold over each end by ¼”.  Fold waist band over the top edge of the back fabric and covering the two sides where the sashes are attached. Sew along the bottom and sides to secure and along the top edge for continuity.

6.  Make a loop to hold pruners or other tools by folding a 2” x 5” long cut of fabric lengthwise and folding the edges in.  Sew top bottom and sides to secure the “ribbon”.  Attach to apron back by sewing the right end to the apron back, then sewing the same end 1” to the right.  Loop the ribbon around to the other side, sew the left end near the right end, and then again sew 1” to the left of the third line.

Thanks for visiting for the weekend project!