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Want an alternative to giving Mom a hanging floral arrangement this year? I have one for you: an edible arrangement!

Of course, you’ll want to start with a trip to your local Fred Meyer.

I found several long planters that were as low as $9.99. I opted for this shape over the smaller round ones. But there are truly so many options depending on your preferences and budget.

I found a pretty nice selection of vegetable and herb plants last week, being sold as a 6-pack for $3. That sale is over, but I’m seeing different garden items on sale every week now. You can always view Fred Meyer’s ad online (and sign up for their emails for special alerts) and follow Fred Meyer on Facebook to see what’s on sale. If you end up using shallow planters as I did, opt for plants with shallow root systems such as lettuces, strawberries, or herbs.

To give my planters a special touch, I picked up a couple of these sweet gnome planter stakes. They were $4 each, after 20% discount. Aren’t they adorable?

Start by filling your planter with good quality potting soil.

Space your plants out, making sure to leave some space – they will grow! For this planter, I mixed greens and purples for visual interest.

Add any stakes or decorative elements to tie it all together! You could also create your own stakes using spoons and mod podge. I left the plant care tabs in my box for future reference.

Here is my first planter: it contains roquette, purple mustard, and arugula. I had a few herb seeds handy, so I tucked in some cilantro and parsely in the bare spots. I bet in a month or so this planter will be bursting! All told, I spent about $25 for one planter. Consider too, that these plants may actually be incorporated into salads, smoothies, and sandwiches throughout the summer (and possibly, beyond!).

To keep it going, just snip the outside edges when you wish to eat them. This will encourage the plant to continue to grow. Because lettuces love shade, I’d probably move this out of the sun on hotter days. You could also possibly move it indoors and enjoy your own lettuces year-round!

Here’s another option:

Strawberries! I planted this in a zig-zag fashion in the same sized planter I used for the lettuce. Fred Meyer also carries strawberry pots which are basically taller containers with holes in the side that you can “pocket” the plants in.

Of course, you could also save some money by starting your plants from seed. I planted some red lettuce in this planter about three weeks ago now:

Here’s how our little deck garden looks right now:

We have the two planters from Fred Meyer, some boot planters I created for marigolds, and then I grabbed an assortment of containers I already had laying around, filled them with potting soil and seeds. One will be just flowers (for my daughter), the others have lettuce, herbs, spinach, and radishes just starting to sprout.

On these sunny days we’ve been getting, the kids and I will lay out a big picnic blanket on the deck and lunch by our little container garden.

I hope I’ve given you some ideas for how you could create a living salad/edible arrangement for your mom….or maybe just yourself.

Enter the Giveaway

Fred Meyer is graciously offering up a $25 Gift Card for one lucky Coupon Project reader. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post. For fun, I’d love to know how you use (or would consider using!) Fred Meyer for your gardening needs or to buy something special for your mom for Mother’s Day.

This contest will run through Monday, May 14th at 12 noon PM.

Limit one entry per person. Contest winner will be selected randomly and will be notified by email.

Disclosure: Fred Meyer supplied me with a gift card to conduct my review along with a gift card for the winner. No other compensation was provided. All opinions and concepts expressed are my own. For more information on how this site makes money, please visit the Disclosure Policy.