The Incredible Eco-Friendly Egg

I took advantage of the unseasonably cool and breezy weather this afternoon and took some kitchen waste out to the compost bin. As I was stirring the pot with some broken egg shells, it suddenly struck me that the egg carton (which is also compostable if you get the paperboard cartons instead of the styrofoam ones) would make a fantastic seed starter!

This year I started my vegetable garden from seed (not that it has fared well in this summer's drought conditions) in some plantable coco fiber seed trays. They worked just fine, and began to slowly disintegrate once I planted them in the garden plot. And for the most part they were fairly inexpensive--around $3 for a set of four 6-pot trays. But with the egg carton, we're making productive use of a biodegradable, rigid container which would otherwise be taking up space in a landfill. And let's not discount the fact that it's FREE!

So here's my plan for egg carton seed trays:
Cut the lid off the tray and place it underneath the bottom portion to keep your work surface a bit cleaner and help soak up any excess water.  Fill each of the carton's egg indentations with potting mix.  With the eraser end of a pencil, create a divot in the potting mix and sprinkle in a couple of seeds. (Make sure to read the instructions for the type of flowers or vegetables you'll be planting. Different seeds have different soil depth and spacing needs.) Cover the seeds with the appropriate amount of potting mix, and water gently.  Once the seedlings are tall enough to plant, simply cut the egg carton into 12 small cups and plant them directly in the ground.  The remainder of the carton will decompose into your garden soil and become a little boost of compost for your seedlings!