Remember how excited I was about Gayla Trail writing a new book? Well, Grow Great Grub is now available and I've got a copy to give away! Leave a comment about your absolute favorite edible to grow (or if you haven't tried to grow anything then what you're fantasizing about growing). Next Friday I'll pick a winner at random from the comments. Thank you for all the wonderful comments from last week, the lucky winner picked by Random NumberGenerator was Commenter # 14: Jessica McCoskey who has a strong kinship to air plants herself!
With all these freebies have I bribed you to keep reading? Well, it's finally time; 'tis the season to get dirty, fa la la la la, la la la la. . .and dirty I did! This past week there were a few afternoons of warm-enough weather, so with baby in tow, I spent a total of an hour making my seed starting mixture and blocking up some dirt. Blocking up some dirt, you say? Yep, soil blocking. Martha does it, the Dervaes do it, even the New Organic Gardener does it.
In the past I've started seeds in toilet paper rolls, peat pots, peat pellets, dixie cups, reused plant pots with good seed starting mix, and more. This year I'm trying a new approach: soil blocking. I hadn't heard of soil blocking until I stumbled across Anarchy in the Garden, then I was instantly smitten! {Both with the blog and the seed starting method.} Off to Path of Freedom I went, bought my very own soil blocker (after looking at DIY versions online and deciding gardening with a baby on the hip meant a get-out-of-jail-free card for a DIY-able purchase), and soon it was in my grubby little hands.
Rather than go into all the details that are posted in numerous places all over the internet, I'll summarize my experience so you can skip a few of the stumbling {soil} blocks. You'll get a recipe with your blocker and it calls for buckets of ingredients. BUCKETS. One bucket of dirt is usually enough for my seed starts so the idea of many buckets was scary, but I was in for the experience of it all. Here are my thoughts on that: unless you want to start a farm, a nursery, or no less than 278,349 seeds, get a bag of organic seed starter mix and, only if it needs it, dress it up with some fertilizer and trace nutrients. Otherwise you'll spend a small fortune on enough dirt to start way too many seedlings to reasonably care for. The recipe ends up heavy and awkward for one person and takes a lot to get it all mixed well. You can see how much dirt I have for blocking: a big ol' storage tote full.
On the upside, once the soil was mixed, moistened and made into what looks like it could be the next Lego phenomenon, I made a whole lot of blocks really quickly. Soil blocking is crazily satisfying, like making mud pies. As far as I can tell it's also totally worth the effort, though that will be determined later on as the seeds come up and there is watering to do.Will they hold up to watering, will they collapse without a cup or outer structure? Will my seeds like my mix of ingredients?
I really like the idea of not using plastic pots or peat cups to start my seeds, so the block maker is right up my alley. And once all the soil is mixed you'll want to block until you can't block no mo', then you get to plant your seeds. Give 'em a light blanket of dirt, warmth, light, love, and maybe a little Otis Redding, then the good stuff happens.
Resources: Watch Martha block
You can also get soil blockers from Johnny's Seeds
If you want to see the way I made my dirt, I've got a post over here.
Renee Garner has a passion to make things grow, although her brownish
thumb wants her to believe otherwise. When mud pies aren't on the menu,
you can find her doodling the days away at Wolfie and the Sneak.
