{"id":500,"date":"2012-02-24T11:00:16","date_gmt":"2012-02-24T16:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=500"},"modified":"2014-09-03T22:17:06","modified_gmt":"2014-09-04T02:17:06","slug":"planting-your-seeds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=500","title":{"rendered":"Planting your seeds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ok we are on a roll! \u00a0We have seeds! \u00a0We have pots! \u00a0(No, not pot mom, pots<\/strong>) \u00a0Now we are ready to plant these little babies.<\/p>\n

To start, get a big bowl or bucket and put some soil in and add a bit of water, just so it’s damp. \u00a0It’s easier to start with damp soil then to water later and wash the seed away. \u00a0I use a big serving spoon to scoop since it’s easier to fit it inside the pot than my hand shovel \/ trowel. \u00a0It’s just organic dirt and washes off so you can use the spoon again.<\/p>\n

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Take one of your newspaper pots and add some damp soil. \u00a0This pic is from when I was building the pots so there is only a bit of soil. \u00a0When I put the seeds in there was a bit more. \u00a0You want to put enough dirt so there is enough room for roots to grow and toward the top of the pot so sun can reach the seedling.<\/p>\n

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I started 4 pots of each type of seed and only put one seed in each. \u00a0You can also put a few seeds in one pot and then pull out or thin and only leave the strongest seedlings. \u00a0Be careful not to put too many though since they will fight each other and be weaklings. \u00a0My parsley last year was so sad because of this. \u00a0Read the back of the seed packet which will tell you what to do. \u00a0Mine said to plant 1\/4 inch deep. \u00a0I picked one of the biggest seeds out of the pack and dropped it into the center, tamped it down a little and move a tiny bit of soil over just to cover. \u00a0Go with the depth on the package. \u00a0It’s important.<\/p>\n

It’s important to mark your pots so you know what you are growing and where it will get planted. Seedlings all look alike to the untrained eye. \u00a0Don’t guess. \u00a0Since these are newspaper, you can just write on the side.<\/p>\n

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To act as my tiny greenhouse I have tried to be creative and also cheap. \u00a0After a party I had some left over a sterno rack – you know the ones that keep the ziti warm – and it gave me a brillant idea. \u00a0I then went to the dollar store to for two more and found these aluminum trays with little ridges on the bottom. \u00a0I have no idea why the racks come in a plastic bag but they were just what I needed.<\/p>\n

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The tray will hold our newspaper pots and the ridges will give us a bit of drainage so they aren’t sitting in the water all the time. \u00a0Then flip the sterno tray over and have it serve as a frame over the tray. \u00a0Then lay the plastic bag over the whole thing and you will have a tiny greenhouse. The sterno rack frame keeps the plastic from falling on the fragile seedlings. \u00a0The plastic bag will keep both warmth and moisture in so the seedlings don’t dry out.<\/p>\n

Here we are all assembled. \u00a0You can also tuck the bag into the tray so any condensation can drain back inside.<\/p>\n

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Seeds need warmth and no sun until they sprout so the top of the fridge is a good place. \u00a0After they pop out they need light and lots of it. \u00a0I am going to use a south facing window with a lot of light due to space issues but a grow light hung low to the seedlings is a better idea.<\/p>\n

Total cost on our garden so far<\/p>\n

-newspapers $0 – they can be planted with the seedlings or torn off and composted<\/p>\n

– soil $4<\/p>\n

– 13 seed packets $27 – they averaged $1.88 so starting with only a few would be really cheap<\/p>\n

– sterno & trays $6 – these can be washed and used again next year<\/p>\n

Now we wait for the little seedlings to emerge. \u00a0I will keep you posted.<\/p>\n

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Ok we are on a roll! \u00a0We have seeds! \u00a0We have pots! \u00a0(No, not pot mom, pots) \u00a0Now we are ready to plant these little babies. To start, get a big bowl or bucket and put some soil in and…
Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19,20],"tags":[78,75,79],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/ridiculous-redhead-ss-4.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1J4KT-84","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1084,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=1084","url_meta":{"origin":500,"position":0},"title":"Seeds!","date":"February 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"What is the best thing about February? \u00a0Noooo it's not the cheap chocolate or the expensive dinners. It is time to start some seeds for the garden!!! Seed starting is such a time of hope. February is where we turn the corner and start to feel like we are heading\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Garden"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Ridiculous-Redhead-new-seeds-2013.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":494,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=494","url_meta":{"origin":500,"position":1},"title":"Newspaper Seed Pots","date":"February 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Now that we have chosen our seeds we will need pots to plant them in. \u00a0There are so many different options there is no one right way. You can buy peat pots and pellets but they cost money and it's being argued aren't eco-friendly. \u00a0(They use peat moss which takes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Garden"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/ridiculous-redhead-npc-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1116,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=1116","url_meta":{"origin":500,"position":2},"title":"A little seed update","date":"March 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I have been so excited to see something start growing from the seeds I have planted. \u00a0As I speak it is snowing outside but the seeds are marching on to becoming plants in spite of it! Let's start with the inside seeds. \u00a0As you might recall, they were planted on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Garden"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Ridiculous-Redhead-seeds-030813.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":670,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=670","url_meta":{"origin":500,"position":3},"title":"Starting with the leafy stuff","date":"April 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Even though our last frost date is April 12th, it's been a moot point since there was barely a frost even in January. \u00a0And since it's been shorts weather a few days already I figured it was safe to start planting things outside. I decided to start first with the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Garden"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/IMG_1048.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":601,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=601","url_meta":{"origin":500,"position":4},"title":"Seed update – One month","date":"March 22, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"So today we are going to check in with our seeds and see how everyone is doing after about a month. \u00a0I say about a month because Saturday would have been a month but I was too busy on a St. Patrick's Day bar crawl to talk to my parsley.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Garden"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/IMG_0916.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":496,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=496","url_meta":{"origin":500,"position":5},"title":"It’s time to start seeds in NJ","date":"February 21, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Starting seeds for the veggie garden means exactly one thing to me: \u00a0it is almost spring!!! Last year was the first time I had a vegetable garden. \u00a0We built two raised beds out of spare lumber and added organic compost. \u00a0The whole process made me feel like a little kid\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Garden"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/ridiculous-redhead-ss-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=500"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":537,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500\/revisions\/537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}