This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.

Well, I have some bad news. It was my intention to show you how full and lush my wave petunias were looking in my new Home Depot planters.

However, since I planted my new flowers, we’ve had snow here twice. Twice. Seriously, I’ve lived in Kansas my whole life, and I’ve never experienced weather like this in April and May.  Fortunately, The Home Depot still has plenty of pentunias and other pretty annuals left.

In fact, I was so excited after completing my original planter project, that I decided I wanted to fill up some other pots as well. And, since cooking is my true passion, I decided to plant some herbs.

Years ago when I moved into my very first little house, I thought it would be a great idea to plant a “little” herb garden.  I was in love with the idea of having fresh herbs on hand: chives, oregano, rosemary, and mint, just to name a few.  Now, if you’ve ever planted mint of your own, you’ll know what I’m talking about here:

Do not ever plant it directly in your garden area.

Always, always use a pot.  Unless, of course, you’re ready for the mint to take over your entire yard.

This time, I decided to plant just a few herbs (in pots!), and I chose some that I use most often in my kitchen in the spring and summer: basil, oregano and rosemary.  By using pots, I can ensure that my herbs don’t totally invade the rest of my garden area, and I can easily bring them inside if I need to.

How cute would a row of fresh herbs in small pots look as a centerpiece for your entertaining table in the summer?

I decided to use some of my fresh basil to make a strawberry lemonade.  If you’re making this later in the season, add significantly more basil to your pitcher than what you see in my photograph – 30 degree temperatures aren’t conducive for rapidly growing plants.

🙂

If you’re not sure what type of container to choose for your own planting, ask an associate!  They’ll be glad to help answer all of your gardening questions.  And after you finish planting all of your garden items from The Home Depot, you can sit back, relax, and admire all of your hard work with one of these Strawberry Basil Lemonades in hand.

Strawberry Basil Lemonade

 

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Ingredients

• 1 cup strawberries, destemmed and hulled
• 1 cup (8 ounces) fresh squeezed juice (I used 4 very large lemons)
• ½ cup simple syrup (see note below)
• 3 cups cold water
• 1 lemon, washed and sliced into ¼-inch slices
• 1 cup loosely packed basil leaves

Method

1. Purée the strawberries with about ¼ cup of the lemon juice in a blender on high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Strain the purée through a fine mesh strainer into a pitcher.
2. Add the rest of your lemon juice, the simple syrup, water, lemon slices and basil leaves. Stir to incorporate. Chill for at least one hour before serving.

Notes

recipe from Serious Eats

* to make simple syrup, combine 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Allow to cool before using.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: serves 4

3.5.3251

I had so much fun working on this project along with The Home Depot. I hope you enjoyed following along with me, and that seeing a few projects started by a brown-thumb gardener (that’s me!) has encouraged you to dig in to spring in your own yard.

I’m leaving you with this short video of Doodle, who isn’t nearly as camera shy as I am. He loved helping me with this project, and for me that was the best part – sharing some quality time together as a family!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiAxZ1qGGvM

It’s home improvement time, and The Home Depot has everything you need to #DigIn for Spring. No matter what projects you want to tackle, they have great values on all you need. They’re ready to help you with renovation ideas and expert advice, too.

Get over $300 in email exclusive savings each year, sneak peeks on new products, monthly lawn & garden ideas for your region and access to The Home Depot’s gardening experts. Click here  to join the world’s largest garden community today! Or go to https://gardenclub.homedepot.com/ to see some of the many benefits of membership.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.