Plant an Egg Carton Garden
Try this egg-ceptionally easy gardening project!
Submitted by
Kayla Chong
Kayla Chong
Minimal dirt, no shovels, no weeding, and no crawling around in the yard on your hands and knees. (Hmmm ... maybe you'll never want a full-on, outdoor garden.)
- Gardeners:You and your children.
- Biodegradable paper egg carton:A great excuse to get your partner to make omelets for breakfast.
- Seeds:Ask an expert at your local nursery for some flowers or herbs that grow quickly.
- Potting soil:Pick it up at the nursery or have the kids dig it up from the yard.
- Scissors
- Markers or crayons
- A sunny window
Take the kids to a nursery (one with plants, not babies!) and have them pick out what flowers or herbs they'd like to grow. We suggest choosing herbs you like to eat—you know, on the off chance it'll inspire you to cook. You can also pick up the soil while you're there.
When you get home, have your child help you cut the lid off of an empty egg carton.
If you want snazzy cells, have your kids color on the outside of them with non-toxic markers or crayons. You're going to plant them later but there's no reason they can't look fabulous right now.
After it's all dry, have your kids pack each egg cell ¾ full of moist soil.
Then have them add a sprinkle of quick growing seeds to each cell. See the "DO Note" below for more information.
Have them cover up the seeds with more soil.
Place the egg carton in a sunny window. Some plants will only take a few days to pop through the soil!
Don't forget to water the plants! (And by that, we of course mean, "Don't forget to remind the kids to water the plants!" They might as well learn a little something about responsibility while they're at it.) Follow the watering instructions on the seed package or get the expert at the nursery to clue you in.
When the seeds have become hearty seedlings and the weather is warm, invite the children to bury the biodegradable egg carton in the yard so that the blooms can grow and grow. Don't have a yard? No problem. Invest in a large flower pot, fill it with soil, and have the kids bury the egg carton there.
The kids can watch in wonder all season long as their little seeds become full-blown plants.
- Need to remember what you planted? Print out some Print-n-Fold Garden Tags to keep track.
- Beware of dangerous poisonous plants when selecting your blooms.
Thanks to Cynthia Hochswender
Submit!
