Starting Seeds on the Cheap

I know I’m a few weeks behind starting my tomato seeds (sorry, Liisa!), but I finally got around to doing so today.  The problem I was running into was the lack of a starter tray.  My tray met with an untimely demise last year and I never replaced it.  As I ranted in my last post, I didn’t really like it anyway.  So instead, I got a little creative.  Let me introduce you to my $1 seed setup.

The seed trays are recycled egg cartons, tops removed, on a $1 lipped cookie sheet from the Dollar Store.  The tags are from a box in the recycling bin that I cut up and made into spikes, labeled with Sharpie.  I used a chopstick to make the seed holes and the soil bin is a dish washing bin I already had.  Not too bad, eh?  I had some old pony packs running around in the shed, but this seemed like a more compact solution.  They have been settled into a cat-free room under a slightly transparent dishpan I found in the shed.  I’m letting the egg cartons soak up the water from the bottom so as not to drown the new seeds.

What is in the trays, you ask?  Well, thanks to my labels, I can tell you (and I’ll be able to remember in a week).  All of my seeds are from Territorial.  I like buying from a local-ish company because they tend to carry seeds that grow really well in this area.

The back tray is all tomatoes, all the time.  Three different kinds, four pods of each.  From left to right are Brandywine, Gold Nugget, and Nova.  In the front tray are four pods of Parel Cabbage (I found the seeds in the shed and figured, why not?) and 8 pods of Marigolds (Brocade Mix).  I love Marigolds and they’re always so expensive to buy as plants.  I figured I’d give starting the flowers from seed a shot.

My total seed cost so far this year is around the $12 mark.  I have 4 pony packs of starts sitting outside that cost me around $10.  The cabbage and Nova tomatoes were leftover from last year.  I also have cucumber, carrot, and bean seeds from last year that will be planted at some point.  Since I tend to be an extremely negligent gardener, I’m trying not to invest a ton into this year’s garden.

What are you planting?

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Chickens, Seeds, and a Jar

Today you get a random assortment of (slightly terrible) cellphone pictures.  I went to a few different places today, looking for worms and a new seed starting tray (mine has met with an untimely demise).  Sadly, the Grange didn’t have the red wigglers I needed.  But they did have Territorial Seeds.  Having found some of my seeds to be consumed by the adorable mice who live in my shed, I picked up two kinds of tomatoes (Brandywine and Gold Nugget) and some Marigolds.  I also found a hummingbird bottle converter.  Now I just need a pretty wine bottle to put it on…

And while I was there, I couldn’t resist taking pictures of the chicks.  Could you?

After looking at the seed starting trays, I realized I really don’t want the traditional tray because it is too long.  I really just need an old baking sheet with a lip around it.  Sadly, the thrift stores failed me in that aspect today.  But I did find this awesome Spice of Life jar!

It’s the smallest version of one I got around a year or so ago (also thrifted).  The big one holds the coffee beans and this one should hold the decaf beans as a nice companion.

And, while I didn’t get it, I couldn’t resist taking a picture of this funky chicken canister set at the Goodwill.

 

What kind of adventure did you have today?

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Worm Bin

Continuing the spring gardening saga around here… Hubby helped me put together a worm bin!

Made entirely of materials we had on hand, this zero cost composter is my first go at vermicomposting.  I followed the instructions here, subbing in a different size box and a recycled boot tray.  The tray had a bit of a crack, so I used some good old duct tape to fix it up.

Hubby drilled the holes so it has plenty of air circulation.  It will be set up on something (like recycled pots) so that there is plenty of airflow and the worm juices can drip out.  Now I just need some newspaper and worms and we’re good to go!

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Lettuce Begin Spring Gardening

I shouldn’t be allowed to go to the Grange Co-Op by myself…

That box contains new gardening clogs (SQUEE!), mixed lettuce, spinach, and sugar snap peas.  And, true to form, as I walked out of the Grange, it began to sprinkle.  I think I’ll make cookies and wait for the sun to show up.

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Cinnamon + Raisin + Bread = Awesome

I was browsing TasteSpotting in my Google Reader today and happened across this amazing recipe for Cinnamon-Raisin Swirl Bread.  With my several week craving for cinnamon rolls, I figured this bread would do the trick.  (For some reason, I didn’t want to actually make cinnamon rolls.  I’m not exactly sure why…)

It not only looks cool, but it tastes amazing!  I made three very slight modifications to the recipe because of ingredients on hand.  I used half & half instead of milk (we’d just run out), used half wheat flour, and raw sugar instead of white sugar.  Otherwise, I followed the recipe as written.

Don’t let the length of the recipe instructions scare you.  It’s really written out for someone who is newer to bread baking.  For the most part, it’s a very basic bread recipe with a twist at the end where you roll it out and put the filling in.  I hate rolling dough out and even for me this was easy.

It’s worth the effort.  Trust me.

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