I bought the monster soapstone sink off of Craigslist when we were in New Hampshire. I had plans of using it in our workshop as a massive pot sink. My ambition was far larger than my ability to make it happen. The sink sat in our garage. Then I moved it, with some serious help, to the barn. It sat there until we were moving back to Pennsylvania. I almost convinced my aunt to take the sink to her country house, but my charm was not as good as I thought. We moved the sink to our new house. The movers placed it on the edge of our covered porch next to the wood oven. I needed to find a use for this sink. It was now well traveled, and I was committed. Rather, I should have been committed. The sink sat on our porch for 2.5 years. I entertained the idea of hooking it up as an outdoor sink. I thought long and hard about converting the sink into some sort of outdoor grill. Both never happened. Yesterday we were getting herbs for this year’s weed patch. At one nursery, I saw plenty of re-purposed items used to plant and hold an array of green things. It finally hit me. The sink would make an amazing and beautiful planter. We bought our go-to herbs: globe basil, lovage (ours didn’t survive the winter), parsley, and an old favorite, nasturtiums. We turned the planting into a family affair, and we all took turns getting dirty and laughing. The planter is in place by our back door for easy herb access. I now look at the sink with great pleasure instead of tremendous uncertainty. It only took a few years to get there.
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