Gearing up to Garden 2
Many of you have a gardening season that starts much earlier than ours. For that reason, I'm going to re-visit some posts from the past about starting seedlings, preparing the soil and more. I hope you find them to be useful!
Newspaper Seedling Pots - Part 2
Originally published April 1, 2010
Some time in the past year, I picked up one of those wooden forms they sell in the seed catalogs for $15. I got mine at Goodwill for about 80 cents. It came with instructions too!
According to the instructions, I just needed a single strip of paper, about four inches long. (When I made them with a soup can, I folded an entire sheet into thirds and used that.)
After folding the ends down, you simply press the form into the wooden base.
The next day we labeled the pots with a Sharpie, filled them with potting soil and planted seeds. We have some simple, inexpensive kitty litter pans (that we bought new several years ago - they were never used for kitty litter) that we use as trays. Covering the top with plastic wrap makes a simple, affordable seedling-starting greenhouse.
Bottom line, the wooden pot maker works the same as a soup can, so you can save your money if you like. I only got it because it was so inexpensive and I thought maybe it would somehow be 'better'. And it did help me - following the instructions showed me that I didn't need so many layers of paper for each pot. The single strip makes a perfectly serviceable seedling pot, and I can get more of them from a single section of newspaper. Also, because they are less bulky, stapling them is not necessary.
We planted seeds for several varieties of tomatoes and peppers, along with some ground cherries (hope springs eternal!). Everything else in our garden will be seeded directly.
Have you started your garden yet? What are you planting? What's your favorite fresh-from-the-garden treat? (I think mine is...all of them!)
Linked to Farm Friend Friday
Newspaper Seedling Pots - Part 2
Originally published April 1, 2010
Some time in the past year, I picked up one of those wooden forms they sell in the seed catalogs for $15. I got mine at Goodwill for about 80 cents. It came with instructions too!
According to the instructions, I just needed a single strip of paper, about four inches long. (When I made them with a soup can, I folded an entire sheet into thirds and used that.)
After folding the ends down, you simply press the form into the wooden base.
The next day we labeled the pots with a Sharpie, filled them with potting soil and planted seeds. We have some simple, inexpensive kitty litter pans (that we bought new several years ago - they were never used for kitty litter) that we use as trays. Covering the top with plastic wrap makes a simple, affordable seedling-starting greenhouse.
Bottom line, the wooden pot maker works the same as a soup can, so you can save your money if you like. I only got it because it was so inexpensive and I thought maybe it would somehow be 'better'. And it did help me - following the instructions showed me that I didn't need so many layers of paper for each pot. The single strip makes a perfectly serviceable seedling pot, and I can get more of them from a single section of newspaper. Also, because they are less bulky, stapling them is not necessary.
We planted seeds for several varieties of tomatoes and peppers, along with some ground cherries (hope springs eternal!). Everything else in our garden will be seeded directly.
Have you started your garden yet? What are you planting? What's your favorite fresh-from-the-garden treat? (I think mine is...all of them!)
Linked to Farm Friend Friday
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