Day 266: we cheated

So, I think if you can cheat at gardening I have found a way to do it!

We went to a local garden center yesterday in a downpour to try and find a tray-type potting system. I just don't have room anywhere in our house to have a whole bunch of little pots sitting in the sunlight. Plus a bunch of little pots are much more likely to get knocked or pulled over causing a huge mess.

When I asked the clerk what kind of tray they had for starting seeds indoors she said they hadn't gotten their new ones out yet and they ordered something a little bit different, would I be interested in taking a look. I said sure (really I didn't have a clue what could be so different). Then she showed me these.

They are just like those little grow pots that are now being sold everywhere. You add some water, push the seed down in the middle and then watch the soil magically GROW! AMAZING!!

They didn't grow very fast after we added the first amount of water. Sam just loved pushing the seeds into the middle and I was thrilled that she was able to do this all by herself.

I actually pulled out half of the little rod soil discs so that in another week or so we could plant more.

So the toothpicks...I wasn't sure how in the world I was going to remember what plants were which when they started growing and we needed to transplant them into the garden. Toothpick were my solution! Green for peppers. Red for tomatoes. I am pretty impressed with this idea! We put them in before the soil had really softened enough which is why they are all leaning over but now they are each standing up straight and easy to see which is which!

I did let the girls go outside for just a little while today to do some "real" planting and playing with the new garden tools. Again, I let Sam do all of this work on her own. She filled the pots, pushed in the seeds and then watered the pots. Yes, there was a HUGE mess, seeds were dropped and lost, more than one seed went into some pots and they were probably all over watered. But if you could have seen how proud she was when all the pots were filled, it was TOTALLY worth it.

In this last photo Avery started "throwing" the soil at Sam with the little rake! So messy but also so funny!

This is what our growing station looks like right now.

No I am not planning on transplanting the African Violet outside! It just also happens to sit on this table. And no that is not a nice, real silver serving tray that they are sitting on. It is plastic!! We will have much more to add to this table in the next couple of weeks. Glad it has sides that fold up!

How is your spring gardening going? Any tips, tricks or ways to cheat?!

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The Nitty Gritty!

I have no idea if this grow kit, tray thing will work to actually produce transplantable plants but it just seemed to easy and perfect for gardening with little ones. I loved it and Sam is loving it too. Win-win so far.

The little pots that I am using are those biodegradable ones that they say you can plant straight into the ground. I also don't know if that really works if it stunts the plants growth for a while. We will see. I suppose you could just take the plant out of it like you do with a normal pot but I am not sure how wet/partially decayed the inside of the pot will also be.

Our outdoor garden is still not even close to being ready for plants. We are struggling right now to even find time to work on it. Packed weekends and a husband that is working late every night to study for his last (keep your fingers crossed) actuarial exam (if you don't know what that is don't ask, they SUCK and are worse than any exam you could possibly imagine but are required, all NINE of them, in order to have a career as an actuary) means that we don't have much time to put down landscaping ties and set up the garden. But it is freezing cold and snowing outside this week anyway. So its not like the plants could be going into the ground even if the garden was ready! We will get it done.

Even if all you are going to do is container garden I absolutely would suggest trying out one of these grow kit things. Sam LOVED watching the soil grow and so did I. It is just too cool.

Comments

[Amy A]

We used those trays last year or the year before. I found that when we had to transplant them, you had to tear the edges a little bit to help the plant along. I can't say much about the other pots yet, as we are trying them this year. Some of our plants have roots starting to bust through the sides though... so I would imagine that they will transplant quite well. We started some plants in February, so we will probably need another transplant before we move them outdoors :).
It looks like the girls had a lot of fun planting!

[rae]

we have used these little jiffy soil discs for a few years in our classroom. they are virtually mess free and so fun to watch them expand! LOVE your toothpick idea. brilliant!!

[Nature Trails and Nature Tales]

I always have wonderful luck with those! they are great at getting your garden started inside for transplanting. :) This year we are using the peat pots since I have a huge bag of potting soil already. I need to get on that this weekend.

can't wait to hear more about your garden.

Good luck to your hubby on his exam.

[Jen]

Following you from the Green blog hop!

Looks like you guys had a lot of fun planting those!

[Debi]

I've had my eye on something like what you have here for a while, but didn't manage to get it together this year. They look fun & definitely help the kiddos learn the impact of watering on plant growth (try NOT watering one as a comparison). As for how well they'll transfer - isn't gardening all about experimentation?

And don't feel bad about not having planted your garden yet. The weather here is far from snowy & we still haven't gotten it together. Life with a busy hubby & two little ones just zooms by, doesn't it?

[Cheryl]

I've seen these little expanding soil discs popping up all over the place. Fun idea. I can't justify getting any, as I have a potting shed full of previous years' plastic pots. I'll watch your progress with interest.

I have used the the other type and found that they need extra watering in the ground otherwise they go really hard and the plant roots are confined. Same as planting with egg boxes. (I know I should be watering them, but sometimes things get missed. Hey that's life!)

Soon as something comes up from those pots, you will have two girls with the gardening bug!

[Gwen]

So fun! My little one is planting bean this week at school so I'm sure I'll have a growing station soon. Have a great weekend!