While we don’t home school in the way most think of, we believe in adding in as many side projects to widen what our children learn. Gardening is a great homeschooling project, for all ages. It teaches science, biology and most of all….patience, while they wait for the seeds to germinate, sprout and grow. And it helps tame the cabin fever when it is snowy outside (they haven’t gone to school at all this week, and missed multiple days last week). This easy project uses paper egg cartons to make seedling trays. We decided to start lettuce seeds, of which I found one packet buried in the seed pile that was from 2016. Since older seeds have usually a lower rate of germination, so much the better for us to use it here. We simply just added in more seeds per ‘pot’. If your seeds are fresh, then use the normal amount of seeds.
Egg Carton Seedling Trays
- 2 paper egg cartons
- seed starter potting soil
- seeds
- plastic wrap
Using a serrated knife, cut the lids off of the cartons, and trim the flap off the side. Put the lids under the egg carton bottom, forming a tray. We placed ours on a sheet of parchment paper, on top of a rimmed baking sheet, so we can move them around.
Gently fill with a seed starting potting mix, and push down a bit with fingers.
Carefully wet soil.
Sprinkle seeds on top, lightly push in and cover seeds. Depending on your seeds, you will need 1 to 2 seeds per spot. If your seeds are quite old you may want to plant 3 to 5.
Cover with a sheet of plastic wrap.
Place in a warm and sunny area in the house. Check on moisture daily, and spritz with a water bottle as needed. Once the seeds have germinated, remove the plastic.
When the seeds have put on multiple leaves, and the weather is right outside for planting, transplant outside.
You can knock out the seedlings and plant, or cut the pots off into sections and plant directly.
Makes about 24 seedlings if all germinate.
~Sarah