The garden is finally ready!!! After weeks of cleaning I finally sow the seeds I had. I moved the lettuce from its planned location (thanks Alice!) to the most shaded area in the garden.
The strawberries and cilantro are still going strong :)
Outline of the new and improved garden. I’ve cleaned out the weeds and have let the soil get some rest :)
Progress? Me thinks so. I’ve tried to spare a few plants for the next round. I’m hoping to complete my spring (probably considered summer) cleaning this weekend to start some new vegetables soon. Can’t wait :)
5 fun DIY seed starters
5 biodegradable seed-starting planter-pots to DIY
Like many of us, the gardening plans of Michele Pacey (mentioned previously here and here) include growing plants from seed.
In a recent blog post, Michele describes her seed-starting setup: seeds planted in biodegradable newspaper “pots,” which are placed indoors on foam meat trays while the seeds germinate.
After seedlings have sprouted, the plants — pots and all — can be planted in soil.
To make your own biodegradable seed-starters:
- Roll newspaper pieces around a jar and close the ends, as Michele shows in this short video, or roll pieces of newspaper around something like this.
- Fold newspaper pages, origami-like, into pots. For folding tutorial, see the For Greenies blog.
- Cut pieces of paper towel or toilet paper tubes, adding four slits on one end, then fold end pieces together to form a closed bottom. (Photo via girlgearstudio.) Ends also could be left open, as pictured in this earlier Unconsumption post.
- Use eggshells, as mentioned here (with description for blowing out eggs).
- Use citrus peels. (Found here.)
Another idea: Create mini-greenhouses from cut plastic bottles. Simply place bottle tops over plants. (Found on Poppytalk.)
What household waste do you use for starting seeds?
Growing your own food lowers your carbon footprint, but can be expensive to get started. Crops in Pots has some suggestions to make it easier on your wallet
Cooking up some compost
Two weeks ago, I started attempting to make my own compost for the garden using the following materials: weeds from the yard and garden, grass clippings, fruit & vegetable clippings, eggshells, coffee grounds, and fallen fruits (luckily, I have an orange tree, a lemon tree, and a banana tree for that). So far so good because my backyard doesn’t smell like garbage yet!
Before beginning the compost, I had to make my own compost bin. Once again, the internet has been a great resource. I had some older trash bins lying around, so with the help of my younger sister, we built a compost bin. The only major thing we had to do was drill some holes in the bin (to allow enough oxygen for better decomposition).
Now on to updates from the garden:
The strawberries have been growing like madness, even though it is taking longer for them to ripen. They are not as sweet as the ones from summer but they’re still yummy.
Because it has been warm lately, I decided to plant some onions and more pepper. We will see how they grow. My experience with gardening is still limited, so it is all about trial and error at this point. But that’s the fun part of gardening isn’t it?
Also, if you have any ideas of what I can add to my compost bin, please let me know.
