Seed Starting in the recyclers garden

Winter is the time of year where all green gardeners spend a lot of time spent pouring over seed catalogs and day dreaming about how perfect next years garden can be.  New and interesting varieties of our favorite vegetables tempt us from the glossy pages.  As spring approaches, alot of us northern gardeners begin to calculate when to start our seedlings indoors to get some extra grow time in the garden.

I'm no exception.  I've been dreaming of rainbow colored swiss chard and white carrots along with purple tomatoes and basil (wouldn't that make an interesting pasta dish), but I may just go back to my tried, true and delicious varieties from years past.  Either way, I'm planning how to get some of these plants started early while still being friendly to the environment and my wallet.

Yesterday I was surfing around the internet and I found a great how to video to make your own seed starting pots from recycled newspaper.  Just be sure to use only the black and white section because the color printed papers can have heavy metals in the inks and you won't want that leaching into your food. 


You'll also want to use either a comercial organic potting soil, or your own mix.  I like to add some finished compost in just to give them a little kick start of nutrients.


Then once the first frost date has passed, harden off your little potted starts and just score the paper pot with a sharp knife to give the roots room to expand then plant pot and all into your organic garden.