Planting Spring Seeds Indoors

How do you start your seeds in spring? I've used some interesting options in the past. Here are a few to try for fun.

I've started seeds between sheets of paper towels. Check it out: Starting Seeds Between the Sheets

Small peat coins can be a useful starting medium for seeds, but I like using potting soil with egg shells too. I think of it as being environmentally responsible. I save egg shells and cardboard egg cartons, wash and dry the shells, poke a hole in the bottom, fill them with potting soil and place them in the egg cartons. Once I add the seeds, I water them carefully and moisten the top of the soil twice daily with a mister bottle. When it's time to plant the seedlings outdoors, I crack the shells and partially remove them with shears.

Vegetables often grow larger and faster and are better suited for peat pots that can be placed right into the ground.

Using eggshells is a little more work, but I find it satisfying. Maybe you will too. It's also a neat solution for providing extra nutrients to acid-loving seedlings.

Every year I look around the house to find more ways to use the things I would otherwise discard. I also try to find more natural alternatives to the products I use. In cleaning, for example, I make up batches of four thieves vinegar. I also use undiluted vinegar as a disinfectant and antibacterial around the kitchen and potting area.

I recycle bottles to use as gifts. I fill them with homemade bath salts, herb blends, herb sugars, scented water, dried herbs, and as containers for homemade aromatherapy candles. These activities give an individual stamp to my gifts, and I feel a sense of accomplishment when I use what I grow. This blog offers instructions and recipes for doing all of these activities.

This spring, give herbs a try. They give so much back for the effort you expend.

Starting Seeds in Spring