Makin’ Newspaper Pots…

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Here’s the sequel to Newspaper Mulch… “Newspaper Pots”

1. Cut a page of newspaper in half.
2. Fold the top and bottom in to form a strip. For my pots, I used the sink tiles as a guide and made the strips 4 inches tall.
3. Roll the strip around a soda can.

4. Secure the strip with a little piece of masking tape at the top.
5. Move the can up to make room at the bottom to push the sides in. Fold the seam into the bottom of the can.
6. Repeat folding around the sides in until you have created a bottom for the pot. If you want, you can also place a little piece of tape here.

7. Here’s the finished Newspaper Pot.
8. Fill to the top with potting mix.
9. Sow some seeds in it and place in a tray.

I saw instructions to make pots out of newspaper on the web and modified it to the size I want. In my case, a soda can was the perfect size, but you can use a bigger can or a bottle.

This is the first time I’ve done this, so I’m not sure if the walls of the pot are thick enough. I may use 2 plies of newspaper in step 1 next time… I’ll just see how this first batch goes.

Once the plants are ready to transplant, place the whole thing including the newspaper in the ground. The newspaper should decompose and you won’t have to disturb the roots.

How’d I do? :)

Also posted in Gardening

Just a little bit of gardening today…

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This evening my mom and I dug up some Ranunculus that has been in a little section of the front yard. She doesn’t know how long it’s been there, but it was covered with weeds and the soil was tough like clay. The tubers weren’t very big, but looked plump, so she’s going to clean them up and pot them up until they are ready to grow again.

I’ll amend the soil in the location and plant something there. I just don’t know what yet… hmmm?

I also made 9 newspaper pots and planted Hollyhock seeds that I saved. I’m not sure where I got the seeds, but it was most likely some store that had overflowered Hollyhocks.

Tuesday’s Gardening…

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Yesterday (Tuesday) I just did a little gardening, this time in the front yard.

I checked my sunflower bed and a few didn’t make it… but I think a neighborhood cat scratched it up, since there were some cat poo in it. I added a layer of coffee ground on it to deter the cat. I also planted some sunflower seeds that I harvested from last year in the bald spots. Don’t know if it’ll grow, but we’ll see…

I also planted the last 6 packs of a white mini zinnia and some-other flower I can’t remember in the front bed. I amended the soil a bit and sprinkled some random annual flowers. I’m not sure if they will grow, since I have bad luck with sowing seed directly in the soil.

In the back, I checked the newspaper mulch I placed the day before. It turned a light brown instead of that newspaper gray color, so it doesn’t look that weird. I’ll probably add some newspaper mulch in my other beds and maybe add some coffee grounds on top to deter the cats and to also dye the paper brown so it looks a little more natural.

I also got a email reply from our local newspaper editor and he confirmed that the do in fact use soy-based ink in their paper. He gave me the name of their recycling columnist and said to call them if I wanted more info on mulching. He also added that “Wednesday Appetites section is particularly good for helping you grow food for thought” which I thought was funny. He answered my question, gave me a number to call if I wanted more information and also plugged the paper… What a good editor! :)

Oh yeah… one last thing… I learned that they will build a Super Wal-Mart in the old lot where K-Mart use to be. They will then close down the Wal-Mart that is 2 minutes away from our house and guess what will replace it… I freakin’ Home Depot!!! I’m so excited! Imagine, I’ll be 2 minutes away from a Home Depot!!! It’ll probably be in 2 years, which is prefect timing, because that’s about the time when my neighbor will sell his house, which I want to buy… (I’ll write more about the house in a later entry)…

Newspaper Mulch…

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As our weather is getting warmer, I’m getting worried about my vegetable beds drying out too much. I’ve read about using shredded newspaper as an inexpensive mulch and thought I would try it. After placing the newspaper mulch in a section of my vegetable bed, I thought to myself that it kinda looks weird, like I’m growing vegetable on some other planet.

Newspaper Mulch 1

Newspaper Mulch 2

My only worry, besides the cosmetic appearance is the pill bugs and earwigs having more places to hide, but that may be true with any mulch…

Have any of you had experience using newspaper as mulch (negative or positive)? Did it work? Were bugs a problem?

Also posted on gardening

Flashback of a Biology Project…

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I was taking a break outside and saw this leaf on the ground, that caused me to have a flashback. I was reminded of a biology project I did in high school where our assignment was to collect leaves, flatten them in a book, then paste it into paper and identify the plant.

leaf

It’s funny because I totally have forgotten about this biology project, since it was way back in 1985. I wonder if I still have it somewhere… hmm?

Thursday’s trip to Yard Birds…

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Yesterday (Thursday) after work, I stopped by Yard Birds and got the following:

– a box of all natural tomato and vegetable fertilizer
– a gallon bottle of fish emulsion
– a bag of green moss
– a russet terra cotta colored Coleus called “Sedona”

The Coleus “Sedona” had a missing limb and wasn’t very lush, but it was the only one in it’s color. I’ve never seen this color in a garden shop before… So I just had to snatch it up. I’ll take cuttings and try to make more plants.

Which reminds me… I need to do some research and see if there are people who also take unique Coleus cuttings to trade with others.

I was also entertained at Yard Birds. There had these buckets of ladybugs. Tons and tons of them… and I was just fascinated watching them in such a cluster.

A hummingbird also paid a visit at Yard Birds and buzzed around all the fuchsias. It stopped right in front of me and watched me for a little bit, then went back to its business. At one point, it perched on one of the fuchsia branches and looked like it was picking at some bugs.

I saw a plant I really liked called Helichrysum petiolare or Licorice Plant. It’s chartreuse leaves were fuzzy and felt very velvety. If I had the room, I would have bought it. For now I’ll just add it to my wish list.

Hot, then cold, then hot, then cold again…

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I’m about to go home from work… and I’m worried about my plants. It’s starting to rain again… and it’s a bit chilly. I just hope that my heat loving veggies don’t get stressed with the changes in weather from about 80°C+ a few days ago to 59°C today…

Garden Maintenance…

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The Garlic that I planted in the fall has totally failed, so I amended the soil and planted a packet of Tendergreen Bush Beans. I’ve never planted bush bean before, and I’m worried that once the emerge, the pincher bugs are gonna gobble them up.

The Sparkler Radishes that I planted earlier this year has bolted (pic) and didn’t form bulbous roots, so I just pulled them out, chopped it up and put it in the compost bin.

The Gladiolas in the front is starting to bloom. They are so red… I gotta take pictures of them.

The Plums keep dropping their fruits so my mom, placed a tarp under the tree to catch the fruit. I think we’ve harvest like 3 grocery bags full of plum. I’ve brought some to work, and have another batch for tomorrow.

The Grapefruit tree in front have TONS of fruits. Last night my mom picked 2 grocery bag fulls and we brought it to my brother’s house.

I noticed that one of the Strawberry plants sent out another running. I can’t decide if I wanna keep it or snip it of so the energy goes to the berries.