I never let a good container go to waste (much to my wife’s dismay – admittedly, I do save way too many)! These foam containers are perfect for sowing seeds just like the store bought flats. Just poke a few holes for drainage in the bottom add soil, seeds, and water and you have an instant garden. Well, maybe not instant, it does have to grow a bit.
Into these three makeshift flats I planted dianthus, Asiatic lilies, and clematis seeds that I collected back in the fall. In case you’re wondering these containers previously held mushrooms – I know that was a hard one to figure out. 😉
Those newly planted seeds are now sitting under a grow light along with the shallot seedlings I planted a couple weeks ago. So far they look pretty good. They are germinating at different times but overall the germination rate has been great.
Our last frost date here in Middle Tennessee is in mid April which means we have a little over 8 weeks until it’s safe to plant tender plants outdoors. Pretty soon it will be time to start one of my favorite vegetables — Tomatoes! But until then the cool season crops are just about ready to start. I can’t wait to taste some sugar snap peas from the garden! How about you?
To join in on Seed Sowing Saturday just link back to this post and tell us about your seed sowing experiences over the past week. Be sure to leave a link below so we can come over and visit your post! Oh, and a Tweet or a Facebook mention/like is always a good thing!
This Saturday’s Seed Sowers!
- Sarah at Green Love Grass
- Shannon at The Garden State
- Lynda at Cortina Creek Farms
- Tervy at Garden g’Imp
- Kim at Kim’s Square Foot Gardening Blog
Your seed photos are nice! So clear My camera won't focus on mine well. I love how you reuse those foam trays. I've never even thought of saving those!
Here's my seed sowing this week:
http://greenlovegrass.blogspot.com/
Glad to see you're getting a great start on the sowing! Looking nice! 🙂 Bring me some shallots to the MTPS? TTYL.
– Steve/tn_veggie_gardner
I'm addicted to saving every single container that can potentially hold dirt for starting seeds. My favorites are strawberry and blueberry containers. I had a great stash of nursery flats from plants I bought over the years, but my husband threw it out this winter. He thought it was trash!
Mind if I join the seed starting fun? You can find my post at http://shannon-thegardenstate.blogspot.com/2011/02/started-peppers.html
Happy sowing to all!
Excellent reuse of containers, Dave; happy sowing. I'm not even thinking about sowing anything any time soon. The snow just continues to pile up…
Love the matching re-purposed containers; I can never seem to get mine to match! Oh, and it looks like maybe you have recycled a broiler pan as a seedling tray? More brilliance!
Today, I had a conversation with my future self concerning starting more seeds – and labeling them.
Dear Future Me
I did a Seed Sowing Saturday post at my blog. What a neat idea.
http://www.cortinacreek.blogspot.com
You are always so good about reusing/recycling! I've planted shallots from sets but not seeds. That must take forever! Aren't shallots just the best, though? They are irreplacable to me in my cooking.
Thanks for the seed-starting tips, and thanks also for your congrats on the arrival of Clara!
I am glad to see that there are others out there that make use of all of those containers also. I probably have way too many, but it makes me feel good to know that I am not putting them in the trash. Great pics!
I LOVE the idea of Seed Sowing Saturday! Check out what I've got growing! http://squarefootbackyard.blogspot.com/