10 Creative Seed Starting Ideas

If you are looking for an inexpensive way to start your seeds this spring then we have a great post sharing creative ways in which you can use old and used items to do just that.

You can use lemon peels, eggshells, newspaper, toilet paper rolls, milk jugs and much more!

Take a look at these creative seed starter ideas and get growing!

A Citrus Peel Starter Pot For Seedlings – Half a lemon can provide a perfect first home for any seedling. Robust yet decomposable, there is no need to even take the seedling out when re-planting outside.

Egg Shell Pots – Instead of throwing old egg shells into the compost, rescue them by giving them another job – a great home for chive seeds.

K-Cup Recycling – If you are fan of those little K-Cup coffees then you will probably realise that they are perfect for starting little seeds off in.

Newspaper Pots – Are you not a fan of transporting matured seedlings into a planter or your garden? Then this is the ideal solution for you! These are biodegradable and require no transferring!

Plastic Bottle Pots – Another brilliant way to use old items and recycle them with another use. These can be used time and time again!

Toilet Paper Rolls – Who knew that these were so versatile? This particular way of starting seeds is a great one for kids on the weekend – simple and effective!

Paper Pulp Seed Starters – These require a little effort, but once made will make a great seed starter! Again you are using old items that are destined for the recycling pile!

Milk Jug Seed Starters – If you want your seeds to have a little more room then this is the diy for you. Old milk jugs create a perfect greenhouse effect to keep your seeds moist. 

Ice Cube Tray Seed Starter – If your ice cube tray breaks or develops a crack – don’t throw it out, turn it into a mini-seed starter tray instead! 

Seedling Starter Tray – What happens if you take coffee filters, a garbage bag and old cardboard box? Well follow this tutorial and you will end up with a fantastic seed starting tray!

source by : http://www.naturallivingideas.com/10-creative-seed-starting-ideas/

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7 tips for growing an organic garden

1. Prepare Soil

    Image source: Smiling Gardener

Get off to a good start and test your soil with a kit you can buy online. Ideally you should mix in compost and garden wastes such as hedge and grass clippings to enrich the soil with nutrients. This will get you off to a good start. If you are working with a patio or small yard, a good quality heap of compost and topsoil in a few reusable growbags will work just as well.


2. Start Composting

    Image source: How to Compost

Add raw food waste to dry materials like straw and leaves, and turn regularly with a garden fork or by using a rotating compost bin. Once the heap is a substantial size, top it off with half a foot of soil and it should be ready to use within a couple of months’ settling. If you don’t have the room to compost find your nearest community garden and see if there is a compost exchange scheme you can join: old kitchen peels for tasty plant meals...


3. Seeds or seedlings?

    Images source: Chicago Now

Look at the conditions in your garden over a 24 hour period. Note sunny spots and shady areas and chose your crops based on this - it’s best to work with what you’ve got! A trip to any garden centre will help you select seeds - just check the packets for optimal growth. Germinating from seed is easy with progator trays and a warm windowsill but if you do want to get a jump start you can buy seedling plants from garden centres and farmers markets, just ensure they haven’t be treated with chemicals and that their roots aren’t overcrowded.

4. Planting

    Image source: Gardenista

To reduce on waste water and your own waste energy by grouping your plants together. Grow bags and raised beds are good for this, preventing your organic garden becoming part of the garden that gets trampled and played on! Keep your rows thin when planting out seedlings, this prevents some plants overshadowing others and thinning rows over the first weeks keeps the strongest plants developing at a healthy rate.

5. Watering

    Image source: Gardenista

Water your plants once or twice a week, in the morning with air temperature water. Morning watering prevents moisture loss as the soil is at its coolest after the dark hours. Air temperature water - collected rainwater if possible - is advised for young plants and it is important to water as close the base of the plant as possible - the leaves will get the goods once the roots have been tended to! 

6. Weeding—everyone's favourite!

    Image source: Gardener's Blog

It can be a pain and is certainly an obstacle to gardening if you are less able bodied than a landscape gardener, but avoiding the use of chemicals in the garden should be your main priority when organically growing crops and plants. Mulching the garden is the best way to  protect the soil from weeds and degradation of nutrients. Mulch can be bought in various forms (some more processed and biodegradable than others) from garden centres and community gardens - and it is possible to make your own from mixed combinations of straw, wood chips and garden waste. 

7. Natural Pest Control

    Image source: Young Urban Farmers

Prevention is better than cure, and humane deaths are better than chemical ones. Potting small sweet blooms near the organic garden will habour helpful insects to prey on greenfly and other little pests. Try dill, coriander or sweet alyssum to bring in ladybirds, wasps and syrphid flies. For slugs, again, water the soil in the morning. Ever woken to complete munched-down failure? That’s because slugs wreak havoc best in the moist dark. And you can also catch them knowing this: a nearby damp board or propped-up flagstone makes for a welcome hidey-hole for slugs and snails in the day time. There are also a number of gardeners tricks for greedy little pests: coffee grounds or seaweed (if available) around the base of plants, caffeine and garlic sprays for plants are also on the market and a good old saucer of beer will attract a greedy slug and send him off with a toast! 

source by : http://www.readersdigest.co.uk/home-garden/gardening-tips/7-tips-growing-organic-garden

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Organic Seeds

Seeds

Buying organic seed is important because it guarantees that your seeds not only will be untreated with fungicides, but it also means that you are supporting and encouraging seed farmers to stop using toxic chemicals. Certified Organic Seeds are harvested from certified organic crops. They may be a hybrid or heirloom variety. In order to qualify for the USDA Organic certification, farmers must seek out organic seed. If they cannot find organic seed, they are allowed to use conventional, untreated seed.

Three reasons to plant organic seeds:

Keep on building the organic seed supply: Simple logic—the more organic seeds we buy, the more encouragement we give organic seed farmers to maintain and expand the genetic diversity of the seeds they grow. That way we’re all contributing to more diversity of plants that thrive in organic farms and gardens.

Best suited to growing in your organic garden: Organic farming methods are different from conventional farming, and the plants that do best in organic conditions produce seeds that will also succeed in your organic garden.

Keep on building the organic seed supply: Simple logic—the more organic seeds we buy, the more encouragement we give organic seed farmers to maintain and expand the genetic diversity of the seeds they grow. That way we’re all contributing to more diversity of plants that thrive in organic farms and gardens.

source by: https://www.groworganic.com/seeds/organic-seeds.html

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