Frugal Recycled Seed Starting Trays

The first year I started seeds, I used those fun little jiffy pots. I found, however, that when I was digging up the garden that fall to plant cool weather crops, all of the netting was still around the rootball of my plants. Now, for annuals, this might not be a problem, but then again, I didn’t really want all those little pieces of netting floating around in the soil in my garden. So I started using trays. Well, actually, I started using egg carton tops with drainage holes punched into them. Don’t get me wrong, I love to use the cardboard egg cartons for buying eggs because they biodegrade in my compost pile. But I found that starting seeds in the Styrofoam egg cartons actually helps the soil retain moisture for longer, cuts down on fungus (because they can be washed in hot soapy water to help kill bacteria… hot soapy water tends to destroy the cardboard kind of cartons) and helps give me something to do with all those egg cartons!

So here's how to make your own cheap seed starting trays.

• Take a styrofoam egg carton and cut the top off using scissors.
  
• Wash the egg carton top (that is now separated from the bottom) in hot soapy water. Allow to dry.
  
• Take a knife and make holes in the bottom of your tray for drainage. I find that simply inserting the knife and rotating it 45 degrees to each side gives a nice size hole.
• Fill your tray with sterile potting soil or some other seed starting medium.
• Plant your seeds.
• Place your seed tray on a cookie sheet or some other tray that will hold water so that you can water from the bottom. This will help protect your seedlings from damping off and will also make your watering chores SO much easier.
  
• Congratulate yourself on reusing an egg carton and keeping your garden inexpensive!
  

Recession Garden?

I always perk up a little bit when I see mainstream media covering gardening news. I think in my heart, I still want to fit in on the playground, so it makes me feel better when I see that other folks are also starting to get back into gardening. So when I saw CNN covering the savings that a new gardener can expect from a new plot, I was heartened, and then disheartened. Disheartened because the article mentioned that not all new gardeners are going to save money because they simply don't know what to plant and when and how to do it for the cheapest possible.

So I thought I'd help with that a little. My favorite online places for gardening info and how to tips are rather varied, but there are a few that stand out.

GardenWeb Forums are fabulous for asking questions, searching for other questions, and generally gaining knowledge from a huge community of avid gardeners. It's like having a whole virtual neighborhood of gardeners at your fingertips.

National Gardening Association has tons of how to, getting started, find your zone, figure out what to plant when information. Not just food information either, there's lots of good info for the other parts of your yard here.

Vegetable Gardener is a new favorite for me. Timely posts, lots of how to tips, and all from people who have used all of those techniques in their own yards and gardens.

So are you planting your own Recession Garden this year? (Victory Garden? Vegetable Garden? Kitchen Garden? Just plain Garden?)