I’m making my own pots this year. I treated myself this spring and am now the proud owner of a Pot Maker. Do I like this odd little wooden tool because it represents the brilliant step I’ve taken toward being a more green and self sufficient gardener? Can I, the owner of this wonder, allow myself a bit of a trendy swagger as I saunter through the garden? Or am I pleased with this thing because it gives me a little more Control Over Seeds, those mysterious packages of life I’m supposed to trust to the vagaries of the garden?
A pot-making garden wonder
I use this two-piece wooden implement (the thingy-ma-bobber) to make little pots out of strips of newspaper. I’ve known for some time that such a marvel of garden technology existed, and have wanted one ever since. Until I finally purchased this sleek bit of seed starting equipment, however, I had no idea how it worked. Do the paper pots need to be glued or taped to hold together, I wondered? What a clever idea, I thought, impressed that with this low-tech piece of ingenious wizardry I can recycle newspaper (albeit little bits at a time) and make garden pots almost for free.
I discovered that they hold together from the force of rolling the paper around the main part of the Pot Maker, and then folding the flaps over and pressing them firmly together into the base. So simple, so neat. I also think the Maker looks good since it is made of nicely smoothed and polished wood. I have used it this planting season to make pots for transplanting seedlings from their childhood home in small cells under lights to a pre-garden place where they can learn to toddle about before I set them loose in the big, scary world of the garden.
Watermelon seeds lie here
Last year, I planted Scarlet Runner bean seeds in pots made from peat designed to disintegrate in the soil. The problem with those is that they cost money. This year, I’m going to plant several kinds of seeds, such as okra and flowers, directly into these pots. That will give me better control over the transplanting process. The soil in both of my garden spaces is heavy and crusts over after I’ve watered it. That can make it hard, sometimes impossible for seeds to push their way out. Planting them in biodegradable paper pots helps me get around that problem, plus allows me to cheaply and easily set plants directly into the ground.
