planters I

In all of my recent cactus-planting and other endeavors, I've found that I prefer planters that drain well and have an attached plate, like the pot the cacti are in. They can sit on the carpet and not endanger it with mud spills. If I felt that I could spend extra money on a second planter for the orange mint (in the blue pot), I would have done it. But these planters with attached water-catching plates are usually expensive because they're made of ceramic. Plus, I really dislike most of the styles I find in stores. 

So I decided to make my own! That way, if I dislike the style I come up with (or fail altogether), I can only blame myself for failing and not the local garden center. :) I researched online to find what a few others folks have done. These "city planters" are a great idea, but not what I had in mind at all. I love the style of these little guys from PottedStore.com, even though they don't have plates underneath. This is more the idea, and it's really fun, even though I don't want to make this style. And I love this style. I think making something like this (but with a plate) would be fairly simple; if I wanted to copy it exactly, the glaze job might be the most difficult part. 

And of course I don't want to copy it exactly. But I do want to do something of my own. So I signed up for the Lifespan Ceramics class available to the public at Utah State University. 

I have taken a few ceramics classes in the past. I'm not great. I have never taken the time to refine my technique. I went to the first class a few days ago intending to just practice making cylinders. If I was able to make any at all, that would be great. If I didn't make anything, I would have tried, and that would still be great! 

Whatever skill I had developed must have simmered in my brain for the last few months since I'd been at a potter's wheel, because it came back easily and then some. Within the first evening, I had made five cups and kept two! I went back two days later and made three more cups, a partly-closed bowl, and a plate. The next day I made four more little plates. Here they all are together. 

I left them to dry a little for a few hours. Then I came back and trimmed feet into the bottoms of all of the plates and one of the cups. I attached the bowl and the other four cups to their respective plates, sprayed them, covered them, and left them. I forgot to take a picture of them attached; but I'll do it soon. When I go back next time, I need to cut the drainage holes into the bases of each cylinder. Then I will let them dry, then fire them, then glaze them, and fire them again. 

I like the cylinders I made, especially the simple elegance of their slight angle outward. It's a pretty darn good shape for a small planter. I'm very pleased with—and proud of—this first start!

(Someday I would like to be able to do this!)

the beginning

I never thought of myself as a plant person. Maybe I got it from my grandparents and it took a few years for the genes to become active. But five years ago, I bought a cactus and tomato seeds and planted them. All plants stayed in my basement college apartment bedroom. My seeds eventually produced three tiny tomatoes (which I ate) and nineteen mini cacti. 

Today, one cacti is still alive and growing after surviving freezing and sun-baking, which killed all of its brothers. It's the tall skinny guy in the picture. I've had various degrees of luck with tomatoes, peppers, squash, potatoes, and peas. With no formal instruction or prior knowledge, every planting has been an experiment. Some seeds are sold here but don't want to grow in my dry, high altitude, Northern Utah climate. Some do well and some don't. At any rate, I keep experimenting and loving every second of it. Perhaps it's time to start tracking my adventures.