Took the cell phone out to the garden this afternoon…
The peas are finally taking off – I just hope it’s not too late in the season. They got such a slow start.
The lettuce in front of the peas were supposed to be reserved for microgreens, but they were doing so well, I decided to let them keep on growing. They taste great. We’ve already been harvesting this for salads. Continue reading
The seedlings (or sproutlings, as my son calls them) have grown quite a bit even since these pics were taken, but here is a little gallery of how things were looking in the garden a week or so ago.
When last I posted on the new garden enclosure, it was still just a base, sitting in our garage. Well, I’m happy to report that the garden enclosure construction is now complete, and so far I’ve planted some onions, peas and mesculin lettuce blend in their new home.
I was kind of in a quandary over how to best describe the building process, since it was sweet Hubberman that did all the planning and work on this project. Soooo…I asked him to do more work and write up a guest post on the topic! What a guy I’ve got! Take it away…Hubberman! Continue reading
I recently “potted up” all my seedlings, and this year I tried something new – newspaper pots!
The little wood tool I used to form the pots is available at many garden centers, and it’s also available at Amazon and Gardener’s Supply.
After a little experimenting, I discovered it’s best to cut the newspaper just a tiny bit (half an inch) wider than what is indicated on the directions. This way, I could fold down the newspaper about a half an inch at the top to help reinforce the pot.
As I wrapped the newspaper around the form, I tucked the one end of the pot top into the fold on the other end so it fit nice and snug.
Next, I folded in the newspaper on the bottom. I found the more little folds I made as I worked my way around, the better. If I just did three or four folds, it flopped open really easily.
Lastly, I fit my pot into the base of the mold. This helps shape those folds so they stay put.
And that’s it! I churned out about 20 of these bad boys and put them to good use with my seedlings last weekend. So far, they are holding up well. They seem to retain just enough moisture to keep my “sproutlings” (as my son calls them) happy, without the container breaking down, yet. The plan is to pop these guys right into the next container, be it another pot, or the garden itself, where this container will eventually break down.
Here’s one of my Cherry Lizzanos one week after potting up.
What’s your favorite seedling container?
My seed packets desperately needed a home, so I decided to repurpose a small fruit crate for the job. Here’s all I used:
Small Fruit Crate (mine was a mandarin orange crate)
Alphabet Stamps (foam or rubber stamps will work – mine are a throwback from my scrapbooking days)
Acrylic Craft Paint
Applicator Sponge
That’s all you need! It’s super easy…carefully apply your paint to the surface of the stamp using the foam applicator. Next, apply the stamp with even pressure to the side of your crate. If the impression is uneven, you can always use a small paint brush for touch ups. But the idea is to have it look kind of shabby and rustic anyway, so imperfections are good!
Since this type of crate has raised corners, you could stamp several crates and stack them. I plan to make another one for my other seed starting supplies and stack that on top.
How do you store your seeds? Share your ideas in the comments!
