Mastodawn

Dee Lux Fiat Apr 27, 2025

Garden and greenhouse work this afternoon. Some Paul Robeson tomatoes are sprouting and more of the Matt’s (Elena’s) WildCherry tomatoes. Even the little water melons (Chou chieh reds). A relief after after having to restart them from scratch after wind knocked over the shelves dumping the prior starts in soil blocks into a mess the week before.
#garden #gardening #soilblocks #greenhouse #grow4comunity

Pollinators Mar 16, 2025

@Broadfork Thank you and Ernie. We are going to make soil blocks for the first time after seeing them in action on Mastodon. The peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes starts will be our test vegetables. We have the ingredients. Though the leaf mould is not well aged. And the compost was frozen wedges. We are looking forward to the less stress potting up. #soilblocks, #gardening, #growyourow, #compost.

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Pollinators Mar 15, 2025

@Broadfork Congratulation on the 2025 spring gardening milestone of soil blocks! Can you share your starter mix recipe? Ernie is happy. This is his happy face. #gardening, #growyourown, #soilblocks.

Broadfork Mar 15, 2025

The greenhouse full of soil blocks. It’s sow time. #GrowYourOwn #SeedStarting #SoilBlocks #GreenManures #Gardening #Allotment

donkey herder, fowl friend Mar 22, 2024

Hello #gardening friends, I have a product review (I guess two reviews) for y’all!
I decided to try #soilBlocks this year, and I got the nice metal 3/4” and 1.5” blockers from Johnnys. They’ve worked very well for me.
But the largest size, the one you transplant your 1.5” blocks into, was three times the cost of the medium one!
So when I saw this Fiskars soil blocker for less than $20, I decided to try it out. Verdict: it sucks, especially for up-potting seedlings. I was able to make decent blocks, but there’s only a tiny seed hole at the top. I had to scoop each block out like a pumpkin to wedge the square transplants in, and by that point it was just a mound of nice mud. This tray is mostly flowers which can go out any time they’re big enough, but there’s no way I’m going to put my tomatoes in communal dirt blobs 😅
TLDR: Just keep using your 4” pots.
Link to Johnnys: https://www.johnnyseeds.com/tools-supplies/seed-starting-supplies/soil-blocking/
Link to Fiskars: https://www.fiskars.com/en-us/gardening-and-yard-care/products/food-gardening/soil-block-maker-340120-1001

Soil Block Makers | Soil Blocking Supplies | Johnny's Selected Seeds

Try soil blocking for more vigorous seedlings and to reduce the waste and expense associated with plastic pots. Our soil blocking supplies are 100% guaranteed.

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donkey herder, fowl friend Mar 9, 2024

Alright, round two of indoor babies is cooking! Round one was all flowers, and I learned two lessons already. Fill up the tray with tightly packed soil blocks - the one I made with just a few sets of blocks dried out way too fast. And the popsicle sticks are gonna fall over, so this time I wrote grid positions on the labels too!
And I don’t mean to cheat anyone of the fun of peeping at others’ tomato choices - I’m going with these six, names and retailers in alt text.
#gardening #soilBlocks #seedStarting