This is an idea we tried when we first planted our "recycled garden". This method works best for taller crops, such as corn or okra in your 4 x 4 square garden beds, but we also used it for bush bean plants. .
Plant seeds in bottomless paper cups. The unwaxed paper cups being used to sprout the seedlings in the beds are some we couldn’t use due to their being too small for the cup dispenser we already had…so they have been put to seed-sprouting use by cutting out the bottom.
We also planted some Rubeckia daisy seeds in the corners for color and to sort of act as a buffer at each corner of the beds.
The bottomless little paper cups are placed in pockets in the mulch to which some of the planting soil mixtures has been added. Fill the cup 3/4 with soil, add the seeds and cover with 1/4 of soil.
The purpose for using the paper cups (not waxed so they will eventually decompose into the soil) is to discourage birds from digging into the ground for seeds and also slugs and cut worms from getting to the seedlings when they start sprouting.
After the seeds sprouted, we added more soil and covered the tops of the cups so they could decompose faster.
Empty toilet tissue cardboard rolls cut in half can be used for the same purpose In areas where cold weather lingers into the late spring months, you can set the bottomless paper cups or the toilet tissue rolls inside empty ice cream cartons fill partially with growing media and plant individual seeds in each. By the time the weather warms up enough to plant outside, you can dig holes small enough and plant the cups or paper roll cores with your sprouted seedlings into your growing bed.
It also saves on how much of your potting or planting soil mix is needed when you use it just where you need it while your mulch is making more soil.
To read the previous posts on this same topic, please click on the following links:
The Home Farming Project - Edible Landscapes
The Home Farming Project - Victory Gardens
The Home Farming Project - The Recycled Garden
The Home Farming Project - Lasagna Gardening
The Home Farming Project - Growing your own small garden bounty
The Home Farming Project - Share the Harvest
The Home Farming Project - Growing Herbs in Your Garden
The Home Farming Project - Straw Bale Gardening
