Milk jug seedlings thanks to Pinterest

I think it's safe to say that almost everyone has heard of Pinterest now. It's such a fun site to go and browse. I've gained A LOT of inspiration from some of the posts there, but sadly I usually forget to apply them to my everyday life.

But THIS is an exception. Thanks to Pinterest I've found a cheaper way to plant, maintain, and establish my vegetable seedlings for our garden.

One day I read somewhere on Pinterest to try putting your seeds in used, washed out milk jugs (the link is now gone). Up until now, I've bought those ridiculously expensive (relatively speaking) indoor greenhouse kits that come a tray with little peet rounds for you to plant your seeds. Since money is tighter this year, I thought I'd give this Pinterest milk jug idea a try.  So here's how I went about it...


First, I cut the milk jug in half.
Filled it with 1/3 garden soil mix.
Added my seeds according to their package instructions,
then duct taped the top of the milk jug's top back to its bottom.
On the outside I taped the seed packet as a label. (These also held extra seeds.)

 

 

 Now I didn't say they were pretty, but here they are all lined up just outside the bed where they'd 

eventually be planted. What's also nice about the jugs is that they're portable. When the nights got a little cooler, we'd bring them in. Otherwise they received the same sunlight that they would in the garden.

 

The way you water them and check on their progress is through the opening at the top. This was perfect

for the kids to help or to use the hose to give them a little sprinkle.

 Eventually the seedlings grew. A lot. I opened up their top so they'd grow taller. I also thinned the ones that were weaker so that the stronger ones could grow even bigger.  Now I have extras with no place to put them in the garden. That's a first.

The tomatoes needed thinning.

They did really well.

And finally, some have already been planted in their raised bed. Usually with those peat pot/greenhouse

kits, this is the stage where my seedlings would grow weak stems and ultimately become unsuccessful. Though I've tried every year to grow my plants from seed, I've always ended up going to my home improvement store to buy mature plants instead. But so far these guys have hung in there and done really well. I'm excited! Yes, it's the little things in life that bring me joy. These are my squash, zucchini, anda few okra plants.

So right now I'm a big fan of the "milk jug" seedling project. It's much more cost efficient AND my seedlings are doing well. Knock on wood. I can't wait to see if they'll come to full fruition! 

Thank you, Pinterest.  Because of you I may have a full garden this year at a much cheaper expense! hip hip hooray!