This Spring, Sprout Your Own Seedling Stand

Create Your Own Earth Day Tradition with Homemade Newspaper Pots and a Pop-up Plant Stand

If your spring planters are popping or you’re simply inspired to start some seeds, this activity is for you. Starting seeds is an all-time winner for ease, joy and community-building for kids and grown-ups alike. A neighborhood seedling share quickly became one of our family’s favorite homegrown Earth Day traditions, as the smiles and conversations it inspired continued to bloom weeks afterward.

The impetus for our first seedling stand was completely, well, organic. Our perennial basil plant had dropped a bunch of seeds, and volunteer sprouts were crowding around Mama plant in the big old pot. Seeing that the sprouts needed either to be eaten or to find a new home, we rolled a bunch of fresh newspaper pots, filled them with soil, then wheeled them (in old pizza boxes) in a wagon to share with neighbors at the end of our block.

Here’s what you’ll need to start

• Some seedlings. You can either plant your seedlings from seed and tend them, or transplant seedlings from last year’s volunteers.
• 3-inch pots—instructions for easy newspaper pots are given below
• Organic potting soil
• A homemade sign
• A table or cart

Tip: We love sharing kitchen herbs. They smell great, are easy to grow in small spaces and are yummy to eat. Hearty herbs like rosemary, mint, thyme, oregano and African basil are some favorites and can be enjoyed in different types of cuisine.

What to do

• If you need to transplant seedlings from another container, gently dig into the soil around the base of each seedling using a finger, twig or a blunt chopstick to lift out the roots. Use your tool to dig a hole as deep as the dangling roots, lower the plant in—roots first—and gently press the soil around the stem to stand the seedling straight in its new pot.
• Once seedlings are in individual pots, pack them in a wagon (or a pizza box) and take them to a neighborhood gathering spot. Or you can pop-up in front of your house like a lemonade stand and spread the Earth Day love!
• Put up a sign to invite folks to take one.
• We went an extra step and made a little handout with some info about our basil seedlings, including how to care for and cook with it, in hopes that this would encourage even garden-shy neighbors to take one home.

To complete the cycle, you can make your own pots. Here are instructions to make your own plantable newspaper pots for your seedling share.

Photos: Anna Elledge

Make Your Own Newspaper Pots

With these recycled newspaper pots, you can start your own seeds for food, flowers or herbs using materials you have at home. You can plant these pots right in the ground when the seedling is ready, since newspaper is biodegradable and it feeds our friends, the worms! Here’s what you need to get started:

MATERIALS

• A cardboard roll from paper towels, toilet paper or holiday wrapping paper.
• A sheet of newspaper, cut horizontally into 5-inch strips; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
• Organic potting soil
• A spoon
• Scissors
• A pack of seeds (Now’s the warm season; try tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, beans, eggplants, melons, or your favorite garden flower) or volunteer seedlings from your garden.
• A thick stick, blender tamper or the handle of your shovel
• Optional: an empty berry basket

DIRECTIONS

1. Place your cardboard roll on the newspaper with a couple inches of the cardboard roll sticking out from one end.
2. Roll the newspaper around the roll tightly. There should be a couple inches of newspaper sticking out from the other end.
3. With one hand holding the seam of the newspaper around the cardboard roll, use your fingers to push and mash the open end of newspaper down around the bottom of the roll.
4. Use a thick wooden stick or blender tamper to tamp down the bottom of the newspaper through the roll to “lock” the newspaper pot bottom.
5. Pull the newspaper pot gently off the cardboard roll.
6. Plant seeds in pots:
   • Use a spoon to fill newspaper pot with soil up to about ½ inch below the top of the pot.
   • Gently press a dent into the soil about twice the length of the seed (deeper for larger seeds), or according to seed packet instructions.
   • Place seed in the dent, then cover with soil.
   • Water gently with a few squirts of a spray bottle on mist setting.

Tip: Sometimes newspaper pots can be a bit tippy. We like to nestle a few at a time inside a used strawberry basket to keep them steady during watering and care.

CARE

To grow your seedling into an adult plant, put your plant in a sunny window. Give it a little water every day. Watch it grow. When it is a couple inches tall, you can plant your seedling outside in its newspaper pot directly in a garden bed or planter.