Starting Seeds for Transplanting

Recycled plant pots

Well, it's that time again. We are starting seeds for spring planting indoors. We'll be transplanting them in the garden when it warms up a bit around May 1st.

Now, we grow organically, saving seeds from one year to the next. The only vegetable seeds we need to purchase is maybe some red seed potatoes in the fall, but for spring planting, done this week in old tires, we're good. I had enough eyes on the potatoes from fall harvest to plant for spring. The other thing we usually buy is red or white clover and orchard grass seeds. Last year's growing to seed was cut short by fall freezes. But those are hand broadcasted sowing.

assorted plastic ware (unwashed)

How do we start seeds indoors? I imagine it's no different than any other gardener out there. We've been saving plant pots for a while now. Each year we wash them with detergent and bleach to kill any bacteria that may live in them. But that's not the only thing we start plants in. We have a collection of assorted plastic ware from berry baskets to old yogurt cups that we start seeds in too. I imagine you can find oodles of these types of things in your kitchen cabinets too.

Who needs those expensive seed starting kits, we sure don't. Just cover container with plastic wrap with a couple of holes in the bottom for drainage. Every other month I'll splurge and buy a rotisserie cooked
chicken from the deli department at the grocery store. They flame roast these antibiotic free birds and put them on sale for $3.99. I can't cook one for less so it's a good deal for three meals for us. Throw away the container it comes in? Not on your life! Start seeds in it. You can start a lot of lettuce seeds in one container to name just one vegetable.

But we start more than vegetable seeds in these containers. Since we garden organically with no chemicals, we start flowers and herbs indoors also. Flowers such as marigolds, zinnias, and nasturtiums go a long way in deterring a wide array of pests.  Herbs like oregano, basil, parsley,and dill when planted with vegetables can deter critters large and small and actually help your vegetables thrive. Don't take my word for it, do your own research on companion planting. By the time the vegetables are ready to transplant, these herbs and flowers are ready too. it all works together.

Now that our seed potting containers are ready to grow, next is the soil. Starting mix is different than growing mix. Our seed starting mix is 3 parts. The first part is commercially prepared organic seed starting mix. 😀The second part is our nutrient rich compost (finely sifted). The last part is sand or perlite to add extra drainage. Everybody likes a drink, but don't want to drown in the water. All in equal proportions. This will hold enough water for germination and growth, plenty of food to grow healthy roots and plants, and enough drainage to prevent rot.

Sure, I could just use the commercial seed starting mix, but I believe a lot of transplanting shock stems from a different bunch of nutrients introduced during transplanting. By adding my own compost, the plants become accustomed to my plant food that's in my soil. My transplants continue to grow in similar soil.

Next after seeding the containers and covering the tops, we'll place them on a thickly paper towel lined old baking pans. This will do double duty as a liquid draining and self waterer. You just water the bottom of the pan as needed. This way the germinating seeds aren't disturbed and it waters from the bottom up..

I've even made soil block makers out of old prescription pill bottles which would otherwise go into the landfill. To make it faster, I even taped four bottles together.

There are tons of DIY videos on YouTube. They are easy enough to make. I think I've tried them all over the years. I've upcycled toilet and paper towel center cores, newspaper and a host of other things back when I had a full acre to plant. When I run out of reused containers, I'll use some. The possibilities are endless for making seed starting pots with a little creativity and forethought.

How do you mark your seed trays when planting multiple types? We've tried several different things. Tape on pots doesn't last too long. popsicle sticks bleed the writing and the ones that you pick up from the store are expensive. We use cut up mini blinds slats. You can buy them or find them in a second store.cheap enough, but we didn't have to a couple were left in the house when Mel moved here.We upcycled them. One slat will make 4 to 6 labels.  After 4 years we've might have used half of one blind. Another thing we do is save the plant labels that come on plants that you buy for when we move our seedlings outdoors. Most seedlings look alike.

They'll sit and grow happily in our plastic covered screened back porch until transplant time. That's how we do it.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Jo

Starting Seeds and Preparing for Spring

 

This week on our homestead we planted English peas, carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic and leeks in the garden. Now our last frost date isn't until the end of April. In the greenhouse, I started my herbs, peppers and tomatoes. Am I nuts to think the cold won't kill them? Not really. I far too aware I'm farther north than my previous gardening experience.

Now I could have gone out and spent a small fortune on those seed pots but the Cockeyed Homestead is a shoe string operation. My seed starting pots are made out of toilet paper and paper towel rolls. If more are needed, there are plenty of free newspapers available. FYI (for your information) we also use toilet paper rolls stuffed with dryer lint and dipped in paraffin for fire starter in the wood stove, and also use them for rabbit treat toys. We recycle as much as we can. In fact, it takes us two months to fill three 32-gallon trash cans. Even my empty one liter bottles of tonic water are saved. But I digress.

For frost protection

It's almost the end of February. It will take a few weeks to grow the seeds big enough to transplant from the greenhouse.The plants outside can be covered with sheets to protect them from an overnight frost. Our daytime temperatures are in the 50s and 60s. We even hit the 70 this week. Or for really tender plants, my empty tonic water bottles protect them. We simply cut the bottoms off and place them over the plant in the afternoon before a frost. During the summer, a small hole is drilled into the top and they are inverted as a slow drip watering system for the plants. The water goes where it is needed most...the roots. As an alternative, I can replace the water with either worm, compost, or rabbit poo tea for a slow release fertilizer. If slower release is

For summer drip waterers

needed, a quick trip to my local dollar store for a supply of sponges. Two sponges pack will net twenty sponge inserts in the caps to slow the dispersal down. For a buck and some change for tax, it's a good deal.

Two liter bottles work better, but we don't buy two liter sodas opting for aluminum cans instead. Recycle centers actually pay you to recycle these. Everyone can use a few extra bucks back, right?

I take tonic water for the quinine to help with my nocturnal leg cramps. There is nothing like waking from a deep sleep by Charlie horses. Before the tonic water, I was awakened a couple times a night with these.

Planting, setting seeds, grooming angora and Jersey Woolies has dominated the week. Fifty English peas, ten pounds of russet and red potatoes, forty leeks, onions, and garlic cloves all in the ground. Ten bell peppers, cayenne, turmeric, ginger, ten types of lettuces and spinach, fifteen assorted herbs, and thirty tomato seeds are snug in their pots in the greenhouse just germinating and growing for spring.

How has your week been?

"Y'all have a blessed day."