Best way to plant seedlings - love this trick !! Recycle and Re-use
Learnt a really great way of doing seedlings at my first hands on permaculture course with the wonderful Andrew Mugford.
Need to share with you all, just because.
Plant seeds out into anything really an old box, seed trays, anything you can find.
The soil can be simple soil taken from the garden for this phase (the seeds have most of what they need for the first 3 weeks of growth so won't need too much fancy stuff for this part) - (a note - please check my facts, they are most likely not too accurate as I tend to remember things in a visual way and play around with what I have until it works for me, never remembering ingredients or time frames but rather just how things look and feel.
Anyone who has been with me in the kitchen when I'm cooking will confirm that.. ahhaaha).
At about 3 weeks (3 or so leaf phase) - transplant into their final resting place.
Make little cups from rolled up newspaper (we used a recycled cardboard tube (bigger then a toilet roll inner). Wrap the newspaper around and fold in the bottom and slide off the tube.
Pack closely together and fill with delicious soil mix.
This is a perfect job for kids to do when they are tired of digging or just feel like sitting in the sun and chatting while working. When friends visit we rope them in to help too, so if you are coming for tea get ready to make some newspaper cups. hehe.
This is a perfect job for kids to do when they are tired of digging or just feel like sitting in the sun and chatting while working. When friends visit we rope them in to help too, so if you are coming for tea get ready to make some newspaper cups. hehe.
The soil for this phase needs to be the good stuff as the plants need lots of nourishment so that they can get a good start.
We mixed - volcanic rock dust (some people use bone meal) , soil from the garden , Vermicompost, (beautiful stuff that red worms make, we have a worm farm made form old tyres) and some ground up horse or donkey manure. If you don't have all of the above, get what you can and play around.
Fill cups and gently put seedlings in. They stay in these cups and after about 2 more weeks go straight into the ground. The newspaper disintegrates and the roots don't need to be disturbed again.
This is our first batch this way - I've seen how beautifully it works for other people and am very excited to compare this method to the one we were using of planting straight from the first seed tray into the ground.
Will keep you updated.
