I’ve spoken a few times about newspaper pots, and I thought I’d share a video on how to make them.
It’s a great thing because reusing something is better than recycling it, and definitely better than throwing it away. Not only that, but newspaper decomposes and worms eat it!
I’d love to know if anyone uses this technique and one question I have is, can you plant the plants into your garden in the newspaper pot? Will it decompose fast enough to allow the roots to grow?
Thanks for reading
Caleb
This video shows demonstrations of a really cool technique of virtical gardening using a product called the garden stick.
I can’t stand buying something that I can easily make myself, so I’m planning on making one this year. It’s a great idea.
I’m pretty stoked right now because my seeds are sprouting! I know these plants might not make it because I planted them too early, but I’m very happy to see green in my house!
I’m two weeks away from starting seeds using phase two which will be newspaper pots. I’m really looking forward to that.
I thought I’d give a rundown of what I’m going to be planting, and I would love your comments and ideas on where I should plant the different plants. I don’t know nearly enough about guilds so I guess this year is going to be a watch and learn year so I see what does well beside one another. I will also be staggering where the plants are and what they’re next to.
I would also love your tips on when to plant them (or if I just plant them all together) if you have any experience with that.
the list of plants (all organic)
I would have to say I’m most looking forward to the tomatoes, beans, peas and herbs. I’m also going to try and talk my dad into letting me build a herb spiral too!
Please leave me any questions, comments and ideas.
Thanks for reading.
Caleb
So I’ll be the first to admit that I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m fully shooting from the hip on most of my endeavors as far as gardening is concerned and because of that, I fully expect to make lots of mistakes. To try and minimize my losses though, I’m hitching my bets as much as possible. I’ll be using at least three different techniques to start my seeds this season with hopes that at least one will work well.
seed starting tray
I purchased a coconut husk seed starting tray from Plantation Garden Centre (very nice people, please support them if you need anything) in the NW of Calgary, and yesterday I used the whole thing to plant basil, thyme, lavender, 4 types of tomatoes, parsley and cilantro. I’d love to hear comments from you on whether this was a good move or not.
I also purchased a grow light from a local hydroponics store called Quick Grow (also very nice people and really helpful), and I figured out that under my desk is the perfect spot to start seeds. The light will sits just above the tray because it’s mounted under the drawers. I loved this idea because it’s not in the way at all!
Picture below: Planting seeds
After mounting the light, I put the seed tray under there.
Picture below: Mounting brackets
Picture below: Under my desk where it’s completely out of the way.
Picture below: Under the light
pots and soil
My second technique to starting seeds will be to use old fashioned organic potting soil. I purchased some soil from Plantation Garden Centre, and I’ll probably be using old yogurt containers and whatnot to house the soil and seeds. I’ve also heard of using newspaper folded into a cup, egg shells (which seems like an awesome idea), toilet paper rolls, etc. I don’t really care, but I’ll be starting some seeds in soil also.
hydroponic media
My third technique will be to start seeds in this weird seed starting media I got at Quick Grow. It’s fluffy and I have no idea how it works. These seeds will not be going into the garden. Instead they’ll be going into a window farm that I’m building.
feedback
As always, I would love to hear from you. I’m new to this, so if you have questions or comments, please let me know.
Thanks for reading
Caleb
I thought I’d start off the day with what a food forrest should look like.
This is a video by PRI (the Permaculture Research Institute) which from where I’m sitting seems to be the leading permaculture educational institute which is lead by Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton.
I wont be able to do anything close to this magnitude as I only have 2 very small gardens to work with. One is about 150-200 sq/ft at my father’s place, and the other is two strips with about 30 ft in total of planting area at a small seniors condo. I still find this video very inspiring for what I would like to grow in the future.
Enjoy…Caleb