Tuesday, April 20, 2010

As Time Goes By

So another month has gone by, and where have I been? Well, we have moved! Goodbye Wiscasset, hello Whitefield! And I think it has been a good move for us. We are in a big white farmhouse on 30 acres in the middle of nowhere and it is so great. I can't believe how much I have missed living the the country. It is so great to peepers again. I didn't realize how much I missed them when I lived in the city and now that I can hear them at night, and fall asleep to them every night I just feel home again.
I have been working on unpacking and getting the gardens ready for new plants and flowers and all the wonderful things I want to grow this year. It has been interesting, some of the flower beds haven't had much done with them in a few years and they are really overgrown with grass so that is a bit of a workout.
And I got some of my seeds started this last weekend. I made paper pots out of newspaper and planted my seeds in them instead of peat pots...so we will see how they go, but the paper is completely biodegradable and will compost right in the garden when I plant my seedlings in about a month or so. So far we have Zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, and a bunch of herbs. And in about 2 weeks I'm going to add a few more things to that list, snow peas and the such.
So the Paper pots are really easy to make.
Start with a strip of newspaper 3 or 4 inches across the length of the newspaper. (I tore the folded newspaper section in about thirds and it worked out great)

Wrap your strip of paper around the end of something straight, rolling it all the way up. Make sure about half of the paper is hanging off the end. (I used a bug spray can, but you could use a straight sided drinking glass)

Fold the paper that is hanging off the end of your glass or can over so it is flat on the bottom, think wrapping a present, and press it down on a hard surface to help it keep it's shape.

Slide the paper off the end of the can carefully so you don't totally destroy the paper cup.

Fill the cup with soil and plant your seeds.

Repeat until you have enough paper seed cups for all of the plants you are going to start. It helps to have a tray or box to hold all of your seedlings to keep them contained. Put you seedlings in a sunny, warm place and water regularly until you see shoot and are ready to plant.
I put my in the greenhouse, yes folks this house has a greenhouse and it is awesome! Patrick spent an afternoon cleaning it out and it does need some repair, but it is a great spot to protect our plants from the frosty nights that we will get until mid-May.
And on one last craft-ish related note. This is my view from my sewing table.