I've found that salad containers make wonderful micro-greenhouses! The little 'Jiffy' pellets fit in their flat bottom so nicely and they hold moisture amazingly well. (As we all with three-day-old soggy spinach already knew.) On the lid, I was able to write what seeds were planted in each pellet-pot. No popsicle stick markers this year!
Planting seeds is one of the most satisfying tasks of spring - much, MUCH nicer than cleaning out closets or washing windows. This year, it turned into a homeschool project, with My Youngest having his own container for seeds of his choosing. (Since that's lots better than being stuck inside with a math book when mom has wandered out to the greenhouse.) Lots of good conversations ensued: "Should I crack the seedcoats or not?" "Why are some seeds so big and other so small?" "What happens if the pots get too wet?" Seed packet reading, germination calculations, and experimental methods --- now that's what I call Home Education. Too bad it doesn't happen like that every day at our 'academy'!
that's a great idea, but where do you get the Jiffy pellets?
ReplyDelete(Why is it close to impossible to eat all of the spinich before it starts to get slimy?
They come in smallish square packs, I think 30 or so in a box. I got mine at Walmart for around $3.
ReplyDeleteAmen. I would take seed planting over closets any day of the week... and twice on Saturday.
ReplyDeleteNice idea. I had just used some aluminum foil containers with plastic lids that I had stashed in my pantry for food gifts...goodness, if only I'd thought of this, I go through spinach twice a week!
ReplyDeleteI've never seen the pellets in the UK. They look like a real time-saver. As for why are some seeds larger than others - I've often wondered the same thing. Especially since the size of the seed seems to bear little relationship to the size of the plant! Sounds like a great hone-school project!
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