Why not start your seeds in eggshells this year? I know, it's a little bit of a hassle, but I'm having great results and I cant believe how mess free the process has been compared to starting seeds in yogurt containers, toilet papper rolls, or tin cans. Drainage was always a messy problem, but with the shells you poke a hole or two in the bottom with a thumb tack and it seems to work.
I cracked the top off a few eggs and had my partner make some scrambled eggs. This was a little difficult to do without dropping tiny shell pieces into the eggs I wanted to eat, but it was worth it. Stick with me here.
Dig through your recycling or deface a cereal box, get yourself a nice little rectangle of cardboard and some tape. Turn that into a funnel. Trust me this is going to save you so much cleaning.
Pour a little dirt into a bowl and crumble any lumps you may find in the soil. The finer and drier the stuff is, the easier it will slide through your funnel. I use potting soil, it gives me predictably good results.
Now spoon or pour the soil into your eggs one at a time through you little homemade funnel. I filled my eggs three quarters of the way, added my seeds, labeled the eggshells, then topped them up with enough soil to just about fill the shell.
There will be clumps, don't panic. Use your spoon to gently tease the soil through the hole.
Dig through your recycling or deface a cereal box, get yourself a nice little rectangle of cardboard and some tape. Turn that into a funnel. Trust me this is going to save you so much cleaning. |
| If the nose of your funnel is too small, snip it with a scissors to get your hole the right size. |
Pour a little dirt into a bowl and crumble any lumps you may find in the soil. The finer and drier the stuff is, the easier it will slide through your funnel. I use potting soil, it gives me predictably good results.
I watered my seeds well, set the carton on a plate and placed them on top of my refrigerator. Tomatoes prefer to sprout in the dark, as near 80 F as possible (Bubel). I check them every few days, watered them once more, and five days later I had beautiful little sprouts. I immediately moved them to the windowsill, because as soon as the plant puts up green it needs sunlight more than anything.
If you would like to watch an instructional video on preparing the eggshells for this process you can find great demonstrations on youtube.
What's growing in your garden this year? Anything fun? Don't be afraid to leave a comment in the section below.
Bubel, Nancy. "Encyclopedia of Plants to Grow from Seed." The New Seed-starters Handbook. Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 1988. 284-86. Print.
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