My sister and I were ages 6 and 8. Eager to witness the magic of food production, we would visit our carrot plot in the garden every day, select a carrot and pull it up to examine it’s size. More times than not, it was still too small and went straight back into the ground.
I don’t remember if our daily checking harmed the carrots but you can’t fault us for our enthusiasm.
Like many foodies and home cooks, starting a vegie garden seems like a logical, noble and wholesome thing to do. After 5 years renting the same property, we’ve finally started digging around the garden. Of course I wish we had started this garden 5 years ago, but it’s better late than never. I have a bunch of seeds sown directly and some in peat.
In the meantime, I’ve been on the look out for pretty garden markers to sort our tidy our new garden. I’ve seen beautiful ones online for up to $20NZ per garden marker. When you consider it costs a few dollars for a packet of 50 seeds, $20NZ for the marker is ridiculous.
I loved the idea of chalkboard markers – they look great and being able to reuse them each season is a bonus. I spied sturdy chalkboard place cards at a local store and I was sold. Two giant popsicle sticks and three staples to the back and these were ready to chalk up.
Chalkboard place cards can be bought at Looksharpe Store for $20NZ for a pack of 12. Giant popsicle sticks are $2NZ for a pack of 26. I’m sure you can find these at your local craft store.
Easy Chalkboard Garden Markers
What you will need
A gun stapler and staples
Chalkboard place cards (the wooden kind, not the card kind)
Giant popsicle sticks
Oil pastel, liquid chalk marker, white grease pencil or weatherproof chalk.
Instructions
- Take 2 popsicle sticks and align to back of a place cards. Use 3 staples to secure and write name of plant in on the front.
- Repeat with remaining pieces.
Note: I found oil pastels the best. If you have any sort of art supply collection, you will probably already have a pack of oil pastels and they’re compulsory for school students here. They come in bright colours that look great against black and wash off easily with a cloth when you want to re-use them.
Bunny Eats Design 
Nice one
Thanks foodisthebestshitever!
I’m totally going to keep an eye out for chalk board thingies… These are cute as and I think I need some!!
Could be a craft time activity for you and D Man? You may need an adult 😀
Those ate really lovely, I wonder how they will stand up to rain.
Hi Eva, regular chalk won’t stand the rain. I know this because we had rain for 2 days. I think oil pastels are great though. They’re like oily crayons and just as colourful.
Great idea Genie, I have a set too!
Thankyou for the like on my post and thus introducing me to your blog. I love your chalkboard garden markers. I often find myself rummaging around the LookSharp store as I love crafts but never noticed the mini chalk boards. Now I have an excuse to give my husband as to why I need to go there again. We are also renting and alas no garden, but I am building up a nice little collection of pots along the verandah. My Dad is a keen gardener too and keeps supplying me with what he calls ‘orphan plants’. The almost dead ones the Warehouse sells for next to nothing. He always does an amazing job saving and looking after his little orphans and presents me with lovely potted plants so the markers will be a lovely addition.
After I filled all the pots on our deck, I started eye up our backyard. I like the idea of orphan plants. I don’t see any reason to spend too much money on plants. Many can be made from cuttings. If I visit LookSharp, I always come home with more than I expected. If you do go, the chalkboards are in the wedding section (not the chalkboard section or the dining section). It took me a while to figure that out!
That’s clever! I hope you don’t use Tofu to clean the chalk boards though!
Ha. No, not yet.
Oh these are too cute. I must search for some mini wooden chalk boards here in the States! :3 Thanks for the brilliant idea!
As mentioned, you might find them craft shops or even wedding decoration places as place cards. Good luck!
These look fab! I’m going to try growing more things on our terrace this spring/summer…not sure I have enough room to plant so many things that I need these, but I can just use them for the look, right?!
I think the typography/lettering geek in me can’t stand unlabeled plants. There could be a little OCD in me. Not that I need the markers to tell me what plant it is, I have this unusual knack for identifying plants. It’s amazing how quickly plantings can snowball. I didn’t think I’d use up all 12 but I’ve got more varieties of seeds than I have markers so the moment I run out, I’m running back to the shop for more mini chalkboards.
Super idea!! Beautiful website!
Thank you Mrs Deer. I love your website too!
These are ADORABLE!! I just saw something like this the other day and when I get my garden going again this year, I am SO making these!! Great job!
Good luck Britt!
How cute! I’m going to keep these in mind for our potted plants this spring. 🙂
This is neat. I hope to actually make these when I have a garden but it’s hard in an apartment :).
Apartment dwellers can always start with a couple of herbs on a windowsill 🙂 Funnily enough, we don’t have plants in the house.