3.23.2010

Tuesdays in the Garden: Newspaper Pots

I have been busy making newspaper pots for starting my seeds. (later today I hope to have another little garden update showing you the greenhouse and what I have planted so far. I haven't planted a ton probably about 40-50 little pots because I stepped on a nail and haven't made it back into the greenhouse since Saturday.) In my effort to make my garden as "green" as I can, my dad found a little newspaper potmaker on craiglist and got it for me. It took some practice and a few that are ending up in the recycling, but I have been able to conquer rolling of the newspaper pots. I have found them fairly relaxing especially if you are watching some awesome reality tv like the real housewives of NYC and extremely messy to make- messy in the since that you and your work surface end up covered in ink.
I started by cutting my newspaper to 5" in width - this worked pretty well and I only ended up with about 1" of waste that went into the recycle bin (our newspaper is 11" wide; I cut the inch off where the paper is folded)
 Then you take the sheet and fold 1" down the long way. I found it easier to work in assembly line style and fold about 10-20 of these at a time and then roll them, but hey whatever works is great.
 Now you start rolling it around the newspaper pot maker (my friend is using a glass) I made a little space while I was rolling by sticking a crochet hook in there as I was rolling it up. I left about 1" to 1 1/2" excess on the bottom and when you come to the end you need to fold the top edge in at a 90ยบ angle. (to me it looks better in the end since the edge isn't sticking up and I personally think it makes the newspaper pot a little stronger.) Now fold the ends in and you but it on the base of the newspaper pot maker and twist- this molds the bottom nicely. 
 A final newspaper pot! (yes it may be a little time consuming put these can be planted directly into the ground)
 A few of the newspaper pots that I made and are ready to be filled with potting soil. 

This week is going to be pretty active on the blog, I hope. I have a few sewing projects planned, some gardening, the swatchboard and sketchboard, and other goodies, what are you working on this week? 

2 comments:

  1. It's a great idea! I will try them for my tomato seeds! Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Glad you like them, how is your garden doing?

    ReplyDelete