Starting Seeds using K cups, egg cartons and other UPCYCLED TRASH!!

If you are amazing enough to follow my blog then first of all THANK YOU!!! You're fantastic!  Also you'll know that over the next 22 weeks I plan to plant 25 veggies and fruits and 10 herbs. That's 35 plants in 22 weeks.  or about 6 plants a month.  I'm doing it this way because it's budget friendlier and it's less time consuming than trying to spend an entire 3 day weekend breaking your back and digging up your yard. 

If you're like me, then the environment and it's preservation means a great deal to you.  This day and age we all make trash.  People use plastics, disposable everything, paper packaging, and styrofoam convenience plates/cups.  I was offered a K cup of coffee the other day.  As I was driving home I was tired and thinking about getting the seeds ready and I was kinda wishing I had consumed a second cup when it came to me.  I can use K Cups for starting Seeds!

The plastic cups that contain the K Cup materials are the perfect size for starting seeds.  Plus when the Keurig brewer makes the coffee it places a tiny hole in the bottom of the cup which is suitable for drainage in case you over water.  I was elated and couldn't wait to try it.

You start with a used K Cup.  You Peel the foil off of the top to expose the inside.

Usually the coffee can be mixed in with the potting soil.  However be careful if you are saving up K cups for a while.  Older ones can grow mold which you DO NOT want to mix in with your potting soil.  (see photo below)

Once you get your old coffee scooped out, you will be left with a plastic cup that has a thin coffee filter like material.  There is no need to remove this.

If you flip the K cup over then you will see a small hole.  When the Keurig brewer makes the coffee it pokes a hole for the water to go through.  If you put too much water on your seed it will go through the filter and drain out of the hole in the bottom of the cup.  

Once your seed starter is completed, go ahead and write on the cup with a permanent marker what's in it.  In this case Zucchini

A simple yet effective watering tool can be purchased for $1 at most dollar stores.  A condiment bottle! keep it next to your seeds and douse with a small amount of water if the soil starts to dry.  A condiment bottle will allow you to add a few drops, or a generous squeeze of water.  This tool will also work to water seeds started using other methods.

Once completed, they sit nicely on a windowsill until they are germinated and ready to plant.

K Cups are great and all, but this blog is about prepping on a budget.  Maybe you don't have a Keurig brewer and none of your friends or family have them either.  The next way I have found to start seeds is with a simple egg crate.  You water it in the same method.

So, are you such an awesome homesteader that you have your own chicken coop and don't have the egg cartons as an option.  Use your imagination.  You can start a seed in an eggshell, a cut up paper towel insert, I'll bet you could even fold a small cube out of newspaper or magazine.  Use your imagination... and your trash bin!  :)

Happy Prepping.