Seed Starting

     I  started some seeds this week.  I was planning to do it anyway when I received the surprise of a week of unseasonably consistent warm weather.  I am posting pictures today of how the project started. 

     I use a moisture control potting mix for my project today.  It is a light airy mixture that does    not require daily watering.  I can soak it thoroughly and set the seeds and not have to water them for a week to ten days.  I can let Mother Nature and the seeds do what they do.   

     In this photo the starter mix is placed in the trays of all the chocolate covered cherries I received at Christmas.  I poked a hole in each of the ‘cherry’ cups to allow for some drainage.  I then soaked the soil mix well.

     

Here in this photo, I have placed the seeds in the cups, covered them with a sprinkling of soil and using my thumb, made a slight indent to set the seed and to soak up the water from the soil below. 

     After I labeled the seeds I covered them to make a greenhouse.  I used zip ties that were given to me that allow the wires to be labeled, but as I used them for seeds here, I cut them into little labeled stakes.

     If you look in the photo at the middle right you will see a box of plastic cover-ups.  I bought these at the Dollar Tree store.  They are caps for bowls.  They are very handy.  I sometimes use serving bowls to store leftovers.  They have no matching cover and these plastic caps stretch over the bowls.  They come three sizes to the box for bowls, plates, the largest one could even be a shower cap!  They are plastic circles with elastic on the edge.  They are 20 in the box for $1.  I will use them in the home for food covers that go from fridge to microwave.  I rinse them and use them in the yard for tender plants.

     From the time I gathered all the materials, planted three trays, labeled and covered them and took pictures for the blog I spent less than twenty minutes on the task.  Two more twenty minute tasks like this and I have a bed of seed started, a blog post, and pictures to prove it! 

     This reinforces my theory that you can have a lush garden in only twenty minutes a day.  This last week, I started the three trays you see here, four more trays, pulled weeds, cleaned out two beds for transplanting in the cold frame stage and only worked twenty minutes a day on four days.  Twenty minutes seven days a week and I could change the landscape forever!  So, too, can you!