Being a “keen as mustard” type of Oily Ragger I decided to build a large raised garden in the paddock next to the house with enough room, I thought, to grow enough veges to feed an army, to lower the food bill and generate some nature time and of course a great excuse to get a bit grubby! – which I in later months had to double in size and am at present thinking about a bit more room!
After hours of begging, borrowing etc a certain gardening magazine, and armed with my rather tatty Yates guide, I was prepared to sow my first seed and did so in the egg cartons I had ferreted away for my project of the year. After the third seed sowing expedition I ran out! “Help a world wide egg carton shortage” I thought – then remembered that these are sold in the millions at shops so someone should have some.
Promptly putting on my thinking cap I begged and bribed, with fresh veges, my friends and family to get more but alas this was not meant to be by the fifth sowing that is – I had cleaned everyone out!Given that we have our own chocks things were looking rather grim on the egg carton front!
When all else fails “google it” and that was when I found that I could fold up and make paper pots in a number of ways. Ah-ha! A good way to use up newspaper, non-shiny pamphlets, photocopying paper, invoices, statements, phone bills, electricity bills etc – you name it I have a seed sown in it. Once the seedling has formed it’s first set of real leaves these can be hardened off and planted into the garden with – like the egg cartons and toilet rolls – no disruption to the precious root system and the pot will disappear very quickly so the plant can grow through and establish it’s self to help me pay for the egg cartons that I traded for veges!So I now look forward to getting my junk mail and bills as all I can see is the food that they will start. All I need now is a gardening guru on tap – seen as I am a relatively beginner gardener and wished I had listened more to Nana and granddad when it came to what is what and why this and that happens!
But as always any help is gratefully received and recycled! Also a seedling in a paper pot is great to give as a living gift ready to go into your recipients garden – no waste and if you save seed from the previous year very, very cheap. I put together a “house warming” pack for a young family which had paper pots folded, home made seed raising mix in a couple of ice cream containers, 5 packets of self collected seed complete with growing instructions and some hand made row labels to finish it off.