Joel and Jaden worked on putting this cold frame together a couple days ago, and we made a video of how they did. It’s extra cool that they were able to use all recycled material; scrap lumber, a window from an old door. Good use of things that would otherwise be going to the dump!
Category Archives: Winter
DIY Paper Seed Starting Pots
This gallery contains 15 photos.
Gardener’s Update: After using this for my squash, I would not recommend using notebook paper. My squash is basically dying, and I believe it is because the paper kept the roots bound too long (i.e. it didn’t break down fast enough). This was sort of an experiment, but the instructions can still be used with … Continue reading
Seeding Starting – Winter 2013
Seed starting and planning
Ever since the end of December I knew it was time to start thinking about getting seeds started, especially for onions, and I never got around to it in December. But, today, I finally got my seeds started (the ones that needed to be). What a relief! Yesterday, Joel, Abby and I went to North Haven Gardens, here in Dallas, and got some onion sets and seed potatoes. We already had plenty of seeds from the past couple of years, so we didn’t really have to purchase any seeds this year. After running some errands in the afternoon, we came home, and worked on creating our own seed starting pots, out of paper. With the help of my three siblings, we made 48 paper pots – a bit time consuming, but quite easy. Using paper pots is cheaper (basically free, compared to ~$10 per flat at your local home/garden store), you can make your own, and they are biodegradable, so you can place them directly in the ground when it’s time to plant your seedlings outside.
Jaden and Johanna work at making paper pots.
A packet of onion seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds Company.
Seeds, a note pad and pots.
Taking notes
Notes on seeds starting spring 2013
Waiting…
This morning, I woke up, and there were snow pellets on the ground, cars and house roofs. It didn’t stop me from going out, and getting my newly created paper pots filled with soil. I then came inside – where it was WARM!! – and put seeds in each pot. Got them moistened (which you have to keep that way until they sprout), and put by a window. Below is a list of the seeds I started:
- Yellow Pear Cherry Tomatoes
- Speckled Roman Pole Tomatoes
- Purple Russian Tomatoes
- Sungold Select II Orange Cherry Tomatoes
- Amana Glowing Orange Beefsteak Tomatoes
- Turkish Orange Eggplant
- Udmalbet Eggplant
- Black Beauty Eggplant
- Long Thin Cayenne Peppers
- Sweet Yellow Stuffing Peppers
- California Wonder Peppers
- Sage
- Lavender Munstead
- Oregano
- Italian Flat Leaf Parsley
- Forest Green Parsley
- Celery Tendercrisp
- Red Creole Onions
- Bronze D’ Amposta Onions
- Redwing Hybrid Onions
Now, to make sure to keep them moist, and ventilated so they don’t mold, and hope and pray that they sprout and grow up to be strong plants which give us lots of produce!
If you want to know how we made our paper pots, click here. I’ve made a little tutorial about it. Enjoy!
Happy New Year!
We wanted to wish all of our readers a very happy and successful new year! As 2013 begins, we look forward to doing more gardening, do-it-yourself projects and many more exciting things. Seed starting will begin in the next couple of weeks, and then spring will be here before you know it!!
May the Lord bless you and keep you in 2013.
“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
Winter’s Here! (for now)
Winter’s here… for now. For about two days.
Here in Texas there’s a saying that goes something like this: “In Texas we have two seasons: summer and winter, and they usually alternate days within the same week.” Yep. That happened again this week. Friday and Saturday (and really all last week) it was in the 70’s and just gorgeous weather. Yesterday it was in the 60’s, and this morning it was 30 degrees when I awoke, with “snow” on the ground, and a windchill of 20. So… Thankfully we knew it was coming, and covered our plants.
Occasionally we get large snowfalls (large, as in 5-6 inches). But, normally, this is what a Texas snowfall looks like:
Our pathetic snowfall…
The poor garden. I think we need to pull those okra plants up.
So, since we don’t get much if any snow here, we create our own:
Our homemade snowflakes. They’re so much fun to make (and easy)!
I hope you’re having a fantastic December (maybe getting more snow than us?!). It’s kinda hard to get into the Christmas spirit when your out in 70-degree weather. But, I rather like it. Happy December!
The Not-So Suburban Homestead Blog 