Thursday, May 10, 2012

Mommy's Project 52:40 Natural

I'm a week late!  Ack!  Forgive me!

The kids and I planted seeds for all kinds of things a couple years ago and we were quite successful.  I compost, so we used some compost with our potting soil and we had some great things grow.

This year, after a year hiatus, we planted seeds again.  We did so rather late in the seed planting season, but, today we have some great seedlings! 

We planted the following:
Wild flowers, sun flowers, morning glory, zinnia, basil, rosemary, chives, tomato, watermelon, and pumpkin.

We didn't get any pics of the planting session, but, barely a week later, here's what we had!


The wild flowers went wild first

Who needs fancy labels?




I haven't been a good composter this year, I admit.  With this mild winter, I put lots more food scraps in the composter than in past years, but it was cold enough that I wasn't out there turning it throughout the winter.  Thus, we don't have the healthiest pile, but, it is teeming with bugs and good decomposers, so I am sure that by the end of the summer, after I've spent more time tending the compost, we'll have lots more 'black gold' in there.

That said, we didn't use any of our compost this year for our seeds.  We did, though, use regular potting soil and paper egg cartons to sow our seeds.  If I recall correctly, the watermelon and tomato were the last to appear.  The wild flowers were the first, and the pumpkin are the biggest!

The egg cartons are a great way to start seeds.  They're the perfect size, they drain well, and best of all, they can be planted directly in the dirt when you transplant your seedlings to a larger pot or or outside.  It's a completely natural way to start your seeds without unnecessary waste!

It's been only three weeks and our seedlings got so big, it was definitely time to transplant them into some larger containers.  It's too early to put them outside still, so I just found some larger pots to plant them in. 

Add caption


I am really looking forward to spending time one  weekend later this month creating space in our yard and in our outdoor pots for all these wonderful plants. 

3 comments:

  1. Those are awesome! I didn't plant a single thing yet. Guess it's going to be vegetable seeds that can be sown directly in the garden for us. Your process must have been so much for the kids--can't wait to see pics of these growing tall in the garden!

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  2. Wow! This is so cool. I always wish I had more of a green thumb!

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  3. Egg cartons! Pure brilliance!!!! I was seeking more friendly ways to start my seeds this year, and came across a folded newspaper pot idea. It was not the best success rate. Sheesh. Egg cartons would work much better!

    Also, I think your labels are so much better than mine. Why? Because I don't use any! I use my plant knowledge to sort things out as they grow, or even as they fruit, as the case sometimes is. It's just super confusing there for awhile when my dad asks me what I've brought to put in the garden and I have to shrug my shoulders and say I don't know. I mean, I always know what I put in, but no idea which is which by then, lol.

    Good luck with all your gardening endeavors! Looks like it will be a good plant this year!

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