Friday, February 6, 2009

Seed Inventory/Planting Part II

In my last post I showed you my collection of seeds and my list of what I was going to plant. Today I want to show you what I will be planting them in.I love to recycle and this is a great way to do it. Introducing my seed trays. Ingenuous? Not hardly. Economical? You betcha! This is a nice, easy and inexpensive way to grow seeds(or at least I think so). All you have to do is cut the lid off the carton and that becomes your tray. Punch some holes in each section, sit the carton in the lid and wal-la! You have your seed tray.The next thing I did was turn the lid over and line off 12 squares. Then I wrote on each square what seed I would plant. Pretty easy so far. Now one last word of caution. The last time I planted seeds in an egg carton I had some mold that started appearing in the soil. I figured out there wasn't enough drainage. So to prevent this from happening this time I decided to do this.Hopefully the rocks will keep the seed tray from sitting in too much water. So, there's phase two of my planting. My next post will show(hopefully) the completed process.

Now I have to show you what I stumbled upon yesterday. I had to run into Dollar General(love that store) and look what I found!I thought they were the cutest little planters. I could easily see them hanging on my drab looking fence. And guess what? They only cost 2.00 each! They said, "Susie, take us home!" So what else could I do? They also came in a pale blue color too. They look so springy and cheerful! I couldn't refuse. Now I'll just have to figure out what to plant in them.

28 comments:

Unknown said...

Egg cartons? Yep, that's what I'll do from now on. Save those dollars for more seeds. Love the little buckets with the handles, my friend bought some at the dollar store last year and I am still eye balling them!!

Anonymous said...

I love using egg cartons for seeds. Your spring planters are cute and bright and I hope you'll share what you put in them later. Hope you have a great weekend.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Good Morning Susie, Gee--you sure are very creative, and you are saving money while doing it... WOW--I'm impressed.

I love Dollar General also!!!! I send alot of birthday and anniversary cards, so I buy all of them at DG.. Great prices there.

Hugs,
Betsy

Jacquie said...

Great idea! I love those little planters. It sure is hard to say "no" when something is begging to go home with you, isn't it??

flydragon said...

I've used egg cartons too but never thought to use the top for the tray. Thanks for the great tip.
Love those planters, too. I better be getting to the dollar store before they're all gone:)

Susie said...

Darla-Last year I bought the little peat pots and trays which worked good but I just wanted to try this again. Go get some of these little buckets. They are so cute!

Mildred-I will definitely share what I put in these planters.

Betsy-Girl, I buy all cards at the Dollar General. Talk about economical!!!

Jacquie-Unfortunately it's really hard to say no. But I think I got a good deal.

flydragon-If you can go to the Dollar General I hope that means your car is finally able to move!

Unknown said...

Egg cartons....great idea! Now I've got to go dig in my trash because I threw one away this morning!

George said...

I love your seed trays. I think they're very practical and, as you said, inexpensive.

Becky said...

Those planters are waaaaay too cute!!! Look at my sissy the recycle girl.....always lookin out for our planet earth Thanks sis!

Unknown said...

Last year I bought peat pots and herb seeds for my son. The egg carton idea will save us some money this spring. Thanks.

beckie said...

Susie, I hadn't seen this for a long time. Wish I'd thought of it sooner and been saving egg cartons too.

Don't you just love Dollar General?! I have found several cute things there over the years. The buckets will make great little planters-just dont forget to punch some drain holes in them as well.

Unknown said...

Hey Susie, what kind of seedlings do you have up?

Jen said...

Can't wait to see the little sprouts!! :D
Love the little planter buckets-very cheery; just like you.

Terri said...

Oh, how cute! Love the buckets! You're already planting babies? I'm jealous, but I started too early last year so I'm trying to hold out a little longer!

Dorothy said...

Love your use of the egg cartons, the cute planters (and Dollar General)! You are going to have to work hard to keep up with
Darla ☺

Meadowview Thymes said...

Love, love ,love the planters!! They ARE springy looking. Hum..what to plant...marigolds, asparagus fern, creeping jenny...how much fun you are going to have with these!

Lanny said...

Marigolds! They look about the size of a normal pot, you could pop things in and out of them all spring and summer!

Love them dollar stores!

marmee said...

good luck with your new seedlings. and hopefully those rocks will help with the mold.
love your finds at the dollar store you might need to put drain holes in the bottom before you plant in them.

raccoonlover1963/Lisa Myers said...

Hi Susie.
I have tried several times to start seeds by planting them in egg cartons, but I have never had any luck.
Have a great weekend
Lisa

JP said...

Nice...let me try

Susie said...

Milah-Girl, you better not throw those things away.

George-I also like the idea that I'm recycling something.

Beckie-I do love Dollar General. You never know what you might find. Regarding the buckets, they already have holes in them. How great is that!?!?

Darla-I have no seedlings up. It's been too early to start them. Frankly its probably still too early to start these. I just couldn't help myself.

Thanks Jen you're sweet! Let's just hope something comes up.

Dorothy-Oh girl I'm not even going to try to keep up with Darla. She's down there in that perfect growing area. I'm glad you like my little planters.

Terri-I know it's probably too early but I needed to feel like I was doing something to get ready for spring.

Linda-After talking to my mom about them I'm thinking(maybe) planting strawberries in one or two. That would look cute trailing out of them(I think)!

Lanny-Girl, you can't wrong with those dollar stores. I love Big Lots too!

Marmee-Yes, I need to keep my fingers crossed that no mold sets up home in them again. Luckily, they came with drainage holes. I'm so glad.

Lisa-I hope I have good luck with these. If not, oh well I had a good time trying.

Hi Jarlin-thanks for the visit to my blog. Good luck if you decide to try this.

Unknown said...

Very innovative Susie, the use of egg cartons especially. Your planters look so cheerful. I know how hard it is when they beg like that!:)
Good luck with the seeds and I'd love to the progress later.

Anonymous said...

Great idea Susie. It's like those egg cartons were designed perfectly for that with the lid becoming the tray. :) I love your little buckets, they will really add a nice punch of color to your fence this summer.

Susie said...

Kanak-Sometimes I think I need to go into a store with ear-plugs so I can't heard those cute things hollaring at me! hehe!!

Thanks Racquel-I just hope I can keep the mold/fungus from forming like it did before.

Rose said...

Darn, Susie; I wish I had read this post before I bought some seed trays yesterday! Actually, I've heard of using egg cartons before, but I had forgotten about it.
Love those hanging planters; they will certainly brighten up your garden.

Susie said...

Rose-Oh well, maybe next time you can use the egg cartons. I think the planters will definitely bring out some "happiness" in my garden.

Sandy said...

Ok, I covered all three posts and even I could do this! I love the idea of using the egg cartons as starter trays!

I have been put on shrub duty by the man of the place. We are creating a turn around and the center will be a playground area for our little grandson. Yesterday afternoon we had unseasonably warm temps and so we moved boulders to outline the area. We plan to plant some type of shrub between each leaving an opening between two trees. Heaven help the poor shrubs that come to die here ;c)

Happy planting!

Dirt Princess said...

I have 5 of these hanging on my fence, and I love them...it adds so much to the garden