Fall Porch DIY Decor – How To Make Planter Box Pumpkin Obelisk Towers

I love decorating for fall and today I’m sharing my Fall Porch Decor – How to Make Planter Box Pumpkin Obelisk Towers. These little pumpkins towers make a huge statement and can be a little difficult to make, but I’m sharing the steps here to save you the trial and error when doing it for the first time.

Tools and Supplies

Here are all the things you’ll need to create these Pumpkin Obelisk Towers for you planter boxes. I’ve linked as many of these items I could find below at the bottom of the post. If you want your obelisks white or ivory you can spray paint them as I couldn’t find many that were an exact match to mine. (See sources below)

Planter Box and Gardening Soil

Obelisks (mine are from Sun River Gardens in Orem, Utah)

Rod Iron Pumpkins

Variety of Metal Containers

Hearty Fall Plants for the Planter (mums, pansies, green leafy perennials)

Variety of Pumpkins and Gourds of Varying Sizes

Garden Snips

Small Hand Gardening Shovel

Wire

Wire Cutters

Stakes

Hammer

Gardening Gloves

Steps for How to make the Pumpkin Obelisk Towers for Fall Porch DIY Decor

Turn your obelisk upside down and lay out your pumpkins close by. Lean the obelisk up against something or if you have an extra person have them hold it upright.

Start by placing the smallest pumpkins or gourds in the bottom which when flipped over will become the top.

Keep adding the pumpkins and gourds smallest to largest. Keep in mind what it will look like when you flip it over. It’s okay to lay them sideways and you will have to try different sizes to fill up the space. It’s a little bit like a puzzle. Don’t be surprised when you turn it over, some will fall out. You can add wire around the obelisk to help keep them in, but I didn’t have to on this particular obelisk. I’ll share some photos of other ones I’ve done before that I’ve had to wire. I will go into detail on that later in the post.

When you’ve finished filling the obelisk, wire up the bottom. Wrap the wire (or you can use some heavy duty twine) around one of the legs multiple times and then take the wire diagonally to the opposite side, do this back and forth 3-4 times on both sides.

When you’re all done filling the obelisks, carefully flip it over and place it in your planter.

Before I did this, I removed all the summer flowers and left the perennial plants in the planter. This is where some of the pumpkins and gourds may fall out the side. You can tuck them back and make adjustments. I had to add in a few more small pumpkins to fill it up. This is where your patience may be tried so just keep adding and adjusting until it looks filled up. It does not have to be perfect!

Once you have the obelisk in the pot, use some large stakes to hold it in place. I used four, one on each side of the obelisk. They have little hooks on the underside that go right over the bar to hold it down.

Add the Plants to the Planter Box

Next, add in your fall plants. I used some fall colored pansies and perennial type greenery that was already in the planer from the summer flowers.

After I added in the flowers, I added some more potting soil and some compost bark material on top to help retain moisture and fortify the new plants.

The Rest of the Porch Decor

After the planters and pumpkin towers were done, I put the mums I bought into some metal containers. This saves so much time and you don’t have to plant them or re-pot them and it looks so much nicer. You can use baskets or any type of container to place the fall potted plants in.

I then added more mums in containers and pumpkins and gourds on the upper part of the front porch.

I trimmed up the middle of the summer planters next to the upper part of the porch to make room for the rod iron pumpkins. I then added in the the larger rod iron pumpkin to the middle of the planter and then set the smaller pumpkin down on the ground to mix things up. I found these rod iron pumpkins in Oklahoma at a co-op and brought them back on the airplane in a box! (The things I do for a pretty porch!)

Lastly, add some colorful fall wreaths to your front door/s. I used command strip hooks to hang these as they don’t ruin your paint or finish on your door. I also added a new rug to the porch.

I hope you enjoyed seeing how I decorated my porch for Fall. Here are some of the other garden obelisk pumpkin towers I’ve done in the past few years. This other obelisk I used below was a lot more difficult and required a lot more patience, time, and wire to keep the pumpkins in. I’ll explain more under each photo.

This photo above is from the first year I tried this on my front porch. I used these taller obelisks and larger pumpkins in the bottom and smaller ones on top. You can see more of this post here:

This next photo is from last year. I used the same obelisks but I only used small pumpkins and gourds. The upside is that it looked a little different but the down side was that it required A LOT of pumpkins and gourds and it was really difficult to keep them inside. I had to add a lot of wire around the outside of the obelisk. If you add wire to yours, go up and down vertically as that works better than wrapping it around horizontally. To see more of last years fall porch decor click here:

I hope you enjoyed seeing how I created these obelisk pumpkin towers and my fall porch decor ideas. If you have any questions, please comment below! I’ve linked all the things below that I used and what I could source online for you below.

Many home and garden stores carry the garden obelisks.

Here are all the sources and other options I could link for you:

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FALL PORCH DIY DECOR

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Laughing Goat Flower Farm

Welcome to my Flower Farms of the Pacific Northwest Series – Part One! I am so thrilled to be featuring one of my very favorite farms, Laughing Goat Flower farm. This beautiful farm is located in the quaint farming town of Enumclaw, Washington, at the base of the Cascade Mountains. Majestic Mount Rainier stands tall in the background and makes for an incredible view from the farm.

The farm is owned and operated by Amy and Steve Brown. Amy and I met at a flower arranging workshop a few years ago and I was delighted to learn that the farm was only about fifteen miles from my home in Washington. Amy and I became fast friends after meeting at the workshop and I am so grateful we met! We share a love of flowers, gardening, cooking, and entertaining. I love that a friendship grew out of this and I feel so blessed to have such a beautiful farm near me and a blossoming friendship.

I have learned so much from Amy about growing flowers and gardening. She is so knowledgeable and generously shares that knowledge with me.

What Does the Farm Grow?

Laughing Goat grows many varieties of flowers including peonies, dahlias, hydrangeas, and so much more. I have enjoyed watching the farm grow and change over the past two years. Amy and Steve have transformed it into a beautiful and bountiful farm.

The farm also grows organic produce and sells it to local restaurants and customers in their farm stand. My recipes always turn out amazing when I get to use these heirloom vegetables. One of my favorite’s are the san marzano tomatoes that Amy grows each summer. My Lasagna Recipe has never tasted better than when I used these delicious tomatoes!

I loved making my Simple Tomato Cucumber Salad with produce from Amy’s farm. She grows so many varieties of tomatoes and I love coming up with new ways to use the produce she has in season.

Amy and I have loved sharing recipes and cooking together. We both love hosting and entertaining and I’m so glad we met and that we’ve been able to do these things together.

Flowers, Bulbs, Seeds, and More

Amy’s flowers are absolutely amazing. Some of my favorites are her dahlias. I was so thrilled to be able to purchase some of her dahlia bulbs this year and plant them in my garden. They are almost ready to bloom and I can’t wait!

Here’s a tablescape we created together using flowers and apple branches from Laughing Goat! Amy grew everything in this arrangement! So incredible!

Amy and I created this beautiful Farm to Table Dinner and Tablescape in my backyard. Most of the flowers and produce came from Amy’s farm and her home garden.

You can purchase bulbs, seeds, and other items on Laughing Goat Flower Farms website.

Because this is a working farm, they are unable to allow tours and wandering on the property, but watch their social channels for special farm days and you can visit the farm stand when open.

The Farm Stand is open on Saturdays from 10:00am to 2:00 pm. You can get the freshest produce of the season, cut flowers of the moment, gifts, goodies or make your own bouquet at the flower bar!

Private Events and Workshops

You can host a private event or workshop at the farm. Contact Amy Brown for more info on this. Can you imagine hosting a special dinner at this beautiful farm? We created some beautiful tablescape at the farm. Here is a sampling of some we’ve created in collaboration with Shane Meehan of Oak and Fig Floral and Dawn Severin of All My Thyme Rose Farm.

Some of the Tablescapes and Photos from the Farm

I hope you’ve enjoyed the part one of my Flower Farms of the Pacific Northwest Series featuring Laughing Goat Flower Farm. I truly love this farm and the hardworking farmers that make this a possibility. Please support local farms when you can! 

Photo Credit:

Steve Brown, Owner Laughing Goat Flower Farm

Missy Palacol

Holly Jolley (me!)

Flowers/Florists

Amy Brown, Laughing Goat Flower Farm

Shane Meehan, Oak and Fig Floral

Dawn Severin, All My Thyme Rose Farm

For more info on Laughing Goat Flower Farm, click here:

Thank you Amy and Steve Brown for sharing your lovely farm with me and so many others. It’s truly a joy to be you friend and to share your beautiful farm!

xoxo,

The post Flower Farms of the Pacific Northwest Series Part One – Laughing Goat Flower Farm appeared first on Home With Holly J.

This simple veggie salad is light and so easy to make! I came up with this recipe after visiting my friend Amy Brown’s Laughing Goat Flower Farm.  Amy has a beautiful flower farm and grows vegetables that she sells to local restaurants. When I saw how many beautiful varieties of cherry tomatoes she had in her massive garden, I knew I had to make something with them.  I also grew some of my own vegetables and wanted to use what I had in my garden as well! Using what is fresh and in season is something I really enjoy. There is nothing better than picking something you have grown, as you know exactly where it came from. I have always enjoyed growing and cultivating my own food.

When my husband and I first met, he took me to Idaho to meet his grandparents.  They lived on a farm in Kuna, Idaho. The farm had been in his family since the early 1900’s.  My husband’s grandpa had the most amazing garden. I remember walking through row after row of every vegetable you can imagine and all sorts of berries, melons, grapes, and fruit trees.  Grandpa and Grandma Fuhriman would make delicious jams, grape juice from different varieties of grapes, the best pickles you’ve ever had, and so many other things. They canned everything they grew.  I ate so many good things that weekend and decided that one day when I had a home and property of my own, I would have a garden.

My husbands mom, Kathy, also has an amazing garden and her garden is also beautiful.  She has a knack for growing things, just like her father, Grandpa Furhiman did, but she also makes it look pretty at the same time.  I have enjoyed canning with her when I go to visit her in Idaho in the summer.

There is something magical about being able to go into your own garden, pick fresh produce and make recipes with what’s in season.

Print

Simple Tomato and Cucumber Salad

Course Salad, Side Dish, Snack

Keyword fresh, salad, Tomato

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Chill 30 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 4 Pints Various Cherry or Small Tomatoes
• 1 Cucumber Large
• 1 Shallot Medium Sized
• 2 TBSP Olive Oil
• 1 TBSP Lemon Juice
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Pepper

Instructions

• Slice 4 Pints Various Cherry or Small Tomatoes into halves and put in a mixing bowl.
•  Then dice 1 Cucumber into small pieces.
• Peel and chop 1 Shallot up into small pieces as well.
• Drizzle approximately 2 TBSP Olive Oil and then add 1 TBSP Lemon Juice. 
• Add 1 tsp Salt and 1/2 tsp Pepper to taste and toss to coat everything in the Olive Oil and Lemon Juice.
• Chill until serving.

I paired this light and fresh salad with my homemade lasagna to balance out the heaviness of the pasta. It goes well with anything though.  So, if you have a lot of cherry tomatoes on hand or see some nice varieties at the market, this is a great accompaniment to any main dish. Let me know what you think! Enjoy!

[holly_healthful_tips]  

Holly’s Helpful Tips:

*Some of the varieties Amy grew in her garden and that I used in the salad (in case you’d like to grow your own) were: Jaune Flamme (bigger orange) Lemon Drop (round yellow) Yellow Pear Cherry Bomb Chadwick Cherry Black Cherry *You can make this salad with any tomatoes you’d like! Fresh is always best! This dish has so much color, making it the perfect salad or side for any meal. Beautiful and delicious! [/holly_healthful_tips]

Simple Veggie Salad

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One of my favorite recipes to make is my delicious homemade lasagna recipe. I make it with homemade meat sauce or what they call bolognese. This recipe is also what I use when I’m making a marinara or bolognese sauce for spaghetti! You can make it vegetarian by leaving out the meat and it then becomes a simple marinara. This recipe has evolved over the years as I’ve learned more about authentic Italian cooking.  When I went to Italy years ago, I had the most amazing pasta! I asked the little Italian grandmas who hosted us how they made their sauce. I came back from my trip and tried to replicate what they told me to do. It’s taken a few years, but this is the recipe I’ve come up with that I think is pretty close.

The most important thing is the quality of the ingredients.  If you can get fresh San Marzano tomatoes, that is your best option.  If you can’t find them (they are hard to find sadly) you can use Roma tomatoes.  They also have canned San Marzano tomatoes and I use them when I don’t have real tomatoes.  Use fresh garlic and a quality olive oil. Fresh herbs also make it even better!

This sauce can be frozen and used in other pasta dishes.  I will often make a giant batch of it for spaghetti, then I freeze the rest and use it when I want to make lasagna. This can be a time-consuming recipe so having the sauce already made is a time saver.  Sometimes I will make the sauce without the meat and mix in cream or alfredo sauce and serve it with some kind of ravioli or tortellini. So many options with this basic Italian red sauce!

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this lasagna recipe using this amazing sauce!

[holly_healthful_tips]  

Holly’s Helpful Tips:

*When boiling water for pasta, always add salt to the water.  It should be like seawater and helps flavor the pasta while it’s cooking.

*You do not have to use zucchini in the recipe, but if I can add some vegetables to the sauce and hide it from the kids, then it’s a win-win!  I use a hand blender right in the pot as it’s still cooking. Be careful not to splatter the sauce on yourself!

*The best tomatoes for any authentic Italian tomato sauce are San Marzanos.  They are a Roma type of tomato. I have only found them a few times and in the summer so if you can’t find them, don’t fret. You can use regular Roma tomatoes.  You can actually use any tomato you have but these are the best options. If you can’t find fresh or either, you can buy canned San Marzano tomatoes!

*If you don’t have fresh basil, you can use dried basil.  2-3 teaspoons will do.

*I prefer to grate my own cheese but you can always use pre-shredded cheeses.

*I don’t like large clumps of ground beef in my sauce so when I am cooking the meat I use a metal potato masher to break up the meat into a uniform size.  The hand blender will take care of blending it more. If you have kids and they don’t like big chunks of tomatoes, this trick and the blender helps hide the vegetables!

[/holly_healthful_tips]

Print

Homemade Lasagna

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword Lasagna

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Ingredients

• 1 Box Lasagna Noodles
• 3 TBSP Salt
• 12 San Marzano or Roma Tomatoes Washed and Quartered
• 2 Cloves Garlic Finely Chopped
• 3/4 cup Onion Finely Diced
• 1 cup Carrots Shredded
• 1 cup Zucchini Shredded (optional)
• 1 cup Celery Finely Chopped
• 3 Basil Leaves Finely Chopped
• 3 TBSP Olive Oil
• 1 1/2 lbs Lean Ground Beef
• 1 tsp Pepper
• 2 tsp Garlic Salt
• 2 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 1 TBSP Sugar
• 1 can Tomato Paste
• 6 cup Mozzarella Cheese Shredded
• 2 cup Asiago Cheese Shredded
• 1 cup Romano Cheese Shredded
• 3 cup Parmesan Cheese Shredded

Instructions

• Begin by making the sauce in a 5-7 quart Dutch oven or large saucepan. Saute the 3 TBSP Olive Oil, 2 Cloves Garlic, 3/4 cup Onion, 1 cup Celery, 1 cup Carrots, and 1 cup Zucchini on medium-high for about 5 minutes.
•  Add the 1 1/2 lbs Lean Ground Beef, 2 tsp Garlic Salt, 1 tsp Pepper, and 2 tsp Italian Seasoning and cook until the ground beef is fully cooked.
• Then add the chopped 12 San Marzano or Roma Tomatoes, 1 TBSP Sugar, 3 Basil Leaves, and 1 can Tomato Paste. Simmer on medium-low for about 30-40 minutes stirring often.  
• Bring the water for the lasagna noodles to a boil and add the 3 TBSP Salt to the water. Once it’s boiling, add the 1 Box Lasagna Noodles and stir often to help keep the noodles from sticking together. Take the noodles out just before they are fully cooked and drain them in a colander. 
• While the sauce and noodles are cooking, grate the different cheeses (6 cup Mozzarella Cheese, 2 cup Asiago Cheese, 1 cup Romano Cheese, 3 cup Parmesan Cheese), setting aside 1 cup of the parmesan cheese for the top layer, and dump it all into a bowl, and toss gently to mix it up.
• When the sauce is done simmering, take an immersion blender and blend the sauce up right in the pan. Add in the finely chopped fresh basil. If you don’t have fresh basil you can use dried basil.
• Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Set your sauce, noodles, and cheese next to your baking dish.
• Use a ladle and start by putting a little bit of sauce on the bottom then layer the noodles, more sauce, and then cheese. Continue until you get almost to the top and finish with a layer of sauce and the remaining cheese on top. 
• Take the parmesan that was set aside earlier and put that on the very top.
• Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes. When the cheese starts to turn golden brown and the sides of the pan are bubbling, it’s done.

This recipe is best served hot with some nice french bread and if you want a yummy salad to go with it, try this Cherry Tomato Salad as the perfect compliment to this rich pasta dish.  

Delicious homemade lasagna recipe

The post Homemade Lasagna appeared first on Home With Holly J.

A few months back I had the opportunity to attend a floral arranging workshop at a beautiful rose farm in Washington. It was a wonderful day and I met some very lovely and talented ladies.  After the workshop, we stayed in touch and soon we were talking about doing a collaboration. We brainstormed our ideas and thought it would be so much fun to utilize all our different skills to create a farm to table meal and outdoor tablescape.  We wanted to create the perfect outdoor entertaining environment where friends could gather and enjoy the last bit of summer and transition into fall.  Part of what was so amazing about this collaboration was that one of the ladies owns a farm where she grows fresh flowers and produce.  This was a dream come true!  Creating a beautiful tablescape with locally grown flowers and cooking farm-fresh food from a local farm was something I’ve always dreamed about doing. A gorgeous farm to fable entertainment. I plant a garden each year as well, but my garden has become the local buffet for the deer that have discovered I grow everything they like to eat! They didn’t leave much for us to eat.

I really enjoy cooking and creating a beautiful table.  I was excited to create some recipes after finding out what was available from the farm. I went out to Enumclaw, a town not far from my home in Ravensdale, Washington, and met up with Amy Brown at her beautiful farm. The farm is fittingly called Laughing Goat Flower Farm and rightfully named because she has the cutest goats ever. The views from the farm are incredible and there is a perfect view of Mount Rainier. Amy grows many varieties of flowers for the Seattle flower market and for local floral designers. She is also a great gardener and I loved walking through her garden.  She sells her produce to local restaurants where I’ve had the pleasure of eating.  Amy is so knowledgable about growing flowers and food.  She is planting 1200 peony plants this fall and has begun adding roses and hydrangeas.  I could get lost in her acres of flowers!  Amy and I have become friends since meeting and I have visited her frequently at her farm.  The farm is a work in process and Amy and her husband Steve, are planning to have floral arranging workshops, weddings, and other events at the farm in the near future.  I can’t wait to see the farms progression and gorgeous farm to table entertainment!

Tammy Myers is the owner of First and Bloom, a floral design company in Fall City, Washington.  She is a talented floral designer and finds creative ways to use native plants and greenery in her floral designs. At the workshop, I watched Tammy make her arrangement and she is a true professional.  She used items that could be cut right from her yard along with all the beautiful flowers from the rose farm. Tammy uses locally grown flowers whenever possible as it helps support the local farming communities.  Her floral designs are so unique and beautiful.  When I told what I envisioned for the tablescape and the color palette, she brought it to life in the most beautiful way.  I wanted white flowers mixed with greenery.  It was absolutely perfect. 

Through Tammy, I later met Missy Palacol.  She is a talented photographer in the greater Seattle area. She has worked with other bloggers and is so good at capturing the details of what you’re photographing. I had seen her work on other instagram accounts and was excited to work on this project with her.  I do a lot of the photography myself so it was nice to be able to focus on cooking the food and decorating the table and let Missy do her magic. Her beautiful photos brought to life this amazing collaboration.  

I asked Missy if she had any tips on photographing a party or entertaining event so you can remember what you did. I always take photos so I can remember what I did in case I want to recreate it and it’s also nice to take some photos when your guests arrive.  I’m a big fan of making memories and documenting it.  Here are some tips Missy shared with me.

*Don’t think you have to take just one photo and be done with it.

*Always shoot from multiple angles and play around with the light at each angle. Not only does this allow you to find the perfect shot, but you will get multiple pics of the same subject.

*Get up high

*Get down low

*Straight on

*To the left

*To the right

*Shoot through something so you have a foreground which can really add another level to the depth of field to your image.

For the tablescape, I had this vision of an outdoor french country theme. I had these beautiful blue and white dishes that I hadn’t used before that gave me the inspiration for the color palette.  I didn’t want to do traditional fall colors as the colors hadn’t changed yet in my yard. I also had this beautiful custom farm table that I keep outdoors and some french bistro chairs that completed to french vibe.

We all met at Amy’s flower farm the night before to pick out what we wanted for the flowers and greenery.  Amy and Tammy loved the color palette I had chosen and what I was envisioning.  We then set about to find the perfect flowers to go with the dishes and linens I had selected and then cut the flowers we had selected.  Amy and I then went to her garden and picked the vegetables for the recipes. We picked san marzano tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, shallots, garlic, basil, carrots!  I was in heaven and couldn’t wait to start cooking with these perfect vegetables that were so fresh! We love this gorgeous farm to table entertainment.

The next morning, Amy and Tammy brought all the flowers we cut the night before and brought them to my home. When they arrived, they wandered around my eleven acres of wooded property and found many more items to use in the floral arrangements we planned to make. One plant we are lucky to have in the Pacific Northwest is salal.  It’s a native plant that grows wild. I had a lot of it in my yard so Tammy snipped a bunch of it to make the simple garland. I really enjoyed having Tammy show me how she made the garland. It is so simple and creates a lovely effect on any table. It also holds up well outside of water for awhile.

For the centerpiece, I envisioned a garland running down the middle on top of a blue table runner with a centerpiece in the middle.  I wanted a mix of white flowers and greenery and I wanted to keep it simple and elegant at the same time. Tammy created a centerpiece that had a rustic feel to it and used the beautiful dahlias and other white and cream colored flowers from Amy’s farm.  

We then set the table with the beautiful blue and white dishes, blue napkins, silver flatware, and stemware.  I then added in some rustic candlesticks, votive candleholders, and some velvet pumpkins.

In between all this, I cooked the food with Amy’s help and we had such a great time talking about all the fresh vegetables from her farm. I shared some cooking tips with Missy and Amy while we gathered in the kitchen.  

I chose to make my Homemade Lasagna when I discovered that Amy had san marzano tomatoes in her garden. They are the best tomato for a red pasta sauce.  She had an abundance of small cherry tomatoes which inspired the Simple Tomato and Cucumber Salad.  Yakima peaches were also in season and local so I decided to make my Fresh Peach Dessert.

When it was finally time to sit down and eat and enjoy the beautiful table, we all reflected on how much fun we had getting to know each other through this entire experience.  We all share a love of flowers and farm to table cooking. I truly enjoyed creating this inspirational tablescape and having the abundance of Amy’s fresh produce to make our meal with.

I think it’s safe to say they LOVED the food and I think that it was the best lasagna I’ve ever made.  I credit that to Amy’s San Marzano tomatoes. What a treat to get to cook straight from her garden and to have the beautiful flowers surrounding us.  Tammy made my vision come to life and Missy captured this whole experience perfectly. An amazing and gorgeous farm to table entertainment vision came to life!

I hope you will find inspiration in what we created and that you can see the true joy we had doing this. I seriously adore and admire these darling friends I’ve made.  I truly hope you find as much joy reading this as we did creating it.

Sources linked here:

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GORGEOUS FARM TO TABLE ENTERTAINMENT

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