I was drinking my lunchtime latte in the office canteen when a thought hit me: the flat little wooden stick that you stir the foam with makes a perfect plant label. Just wide enough to write a name and date on in pencil, and just the right length for sticking in the corner of the seed tray. Now I am peeved that I didn't think of this earlier. All those wasted sticks.
If you prefer ice lollies to coffee, those sticks work would just as well ...
I have been secretly chosing my meat at the supermarket by which styrofoam tray it comes in. They are great as seed trays.
So drink up ! and when you start choosing your oranges by the number of seeds they have to be planted later you'll know you're doing just fine.
Posted by: jp | February 04, 2006 at 09:29 PM
Just a word of warning about lolly sticks from personal experience.
I have used various ice lolly sticks, and choc ice sticks, and have had lots of them growing mini fungi - mushroom like - on them.
They look very nice - but not good when growing seeds!
Also I have tried various pens - and markers to use on the wooden sticks and the wood seems to absorb the water from the seed compost and eventually the ink names become illegible!
Posted by: Allotment Lady | February 06, 2006 at 11:42 PM
Thanks for that - very interesting. I always use pencil for writing on wooden and plastic labels and it always seems to work fine: much more durable than any pen.
I haven't actually tried the lolly sticks but I see what you mean about the mould problem. Would it help to scrub them in eco-friendly disinfectant eg diluted tea tree oil first?
Posted by: jane perrone | February 07, 2006 at 02:31 PM