Newspaper Pots

I saw this video tutorial on eHow teaching how to make seed-starting pots from newspaper earlier today and decided to give it a try!




Instead of a drinking glass, I used an old empty prescription pill bottle - about 1.5 inches diameter. Accordingly, I only used half a sheet of newspaper instead of a whole one. Here are my results! Although making as many pots as I wanted proved to be a bit tedious, I was surprised at how well they stayed together. They were quite wobbly while empty, though.

Once they were filled with soil and watered in, I was able to straighten them up nicely, and they seem to be sturdy enough to do the trick! I'll let you know how they turn out. Here's a close-up:

Are your tools ready for spring?

Here on the farm, we are all anxious to get out into the sunshine. Winter is about to shed her mantle of cold and wind and change into the warm breezes of spring. Now is the time to get back in touch with our shovels, trowels and hoes. We're making sure the handles are stong and the ends are sharp and ready for use. Hope y'all will be ready for that first warm and sunny afternoon back in our gardens!

Is your ground starting to thaw?

Ours finally is. Now is the time to go through your beds and find any plants that have been pushed above ground level by the winter process of heaving. Re-set those plants at a proper planting depth when your soil is workable to give them their best chance to perform at bloom season. After all, no matter how much we like to dig in the dirt, it’s the blooms that make it all worthwhile!