Every year I plant a garden and have these grand ideas of everything that I will grow.Corn, Tomatoes, watermelon, grapes, zucchini, cucumbers, strawberries, herbs, onions...I could go on forever. And every year I wait until the last minute and end up planting the seeds in the garden and pray that something comes up. Last year was a good year. I had zucchini (Which I actually ended up having to pull a whole row out since I planted them to close to each other) Spaghetti squash, cucumber, beans and basil. The cantaloupe didn't work, the watermelon never ripened before it started rotting, the spinach never came up and the tomatoes were a wash. Corn didn't have a chance, and the bell peppers grew but never turned red like they should have.
This year I am on a mission. I am in the process of planting starter seeds in old egg cartons. Of course after reading this great book "The backyard Homestead" by Carleen Madigan, I now know that the containers should be 3" deep and egg cartons aren't. But hey, I can always transfer them into old milk cartons or hopefully when the rains stops, into the ground!
Here is what I did. i cut the tops off of the egg cartons and punched a drainage hole in the bottom of each egg holder section type thing.
Then simply place the lid of the egg carton underneath to catch the draining water.
I then filled with dirt, (I mixed starter seed soil mix with the dirt from my garden) then placed a seed in each "compartment", watered and let them grow.
My beans, cherry tomatoes, and cilantro are already starting to come up. (I will take pictures to prove it to you.) I still have the squash, zucchini, cucumber, bell pepper, and pumpkin to plant as starter seeds. Although we will see what actually survives being transplanted in the garden. I am not the best gardener and don't always have edible food turn out. I have seen huge green worms eat my tomato plants, rolled over watermelons to see the whole underside had become black, and corn that grew, but didn't actually grow the corn. I have had rain come and go and left my garden weed free to come back to it looking like I planted it in the middle of a field without tilling the ground. It is always fun, and always exciting to see it grow, now let's hope this year it is exciting to sit down and eat a meal that comes from my own yard.
This year I am on a mission. I am in the process of planting starter seeds in old egg cartons. Of course after reading this great book "The backyard Homestead" by Carleen Madigan, I now know that the containers should be 3" deep and egg cartons aren't. But hey, I can always transfer them into old milk cartons or hopefully when the rains stops, into the ground!
Here is what I did. i cut the tops off of the egg cartons and punched a drainage hole in the bottom of each egg holder section type thing.
Then simply place the lid of the egg carton underneath to catch the draining water.
I then filled with dirt, (I mixed starter seed soil mix with the dirt from my garden) then placed a seed in each "compartment", watered and let them grow.
My beans, cherry tomatoes, and cilantro are already starting to come up. (I will take pictures to prove it to you.) I still have the squash, zucchini, cucumber, bell pepper, and pumpkin to plant as starter seeds. Although we will see what actually survives being transplanted in the garden. I am not the best gardener and don't always have edible food turn out. I have seen huge green worms eat my tomato plants, rolled over watermelons to see the whole underside had become black, and corn that grew, but didn't actually grow the corn. I have had rain come and go and left my garden weed free to come back to it looking like I planted it in the middle of a field without tilling the ground. It is always fun, and always exciting to see it grow, now let's hope this year it is exciting to sit down and eat a meal that comes from my own yard.
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