Ideal Bite

Seeding Pots
3 minutes per pot

What You Need:

•    Newspaper (standard broadsheets are best)
•    Small straight-edged jar like a half-pint canning jar, but a small drinking glass works well too

Directions:

1. Grab a whole sheet of newspaper. Fold it in half along the natural seam. Then fold it into thirds, lengthwise. You'll have a long strip of newspaper, six layers thick.

2. Lay your glass on its side on top of the paper, widthwise. Leave a 1-inch-long strip of paper extending beyond the open end of the glass.

3. Roll the glass along the length of the newspaper, tightly rolling the newspaper up around it as you go.

4. Fold the 1-inch overhang into the opening of your glass, pressing hard. When the overhang is folded in, give the new seam extra reinforcement by turning the glass upside down on the counter and pressing hard on the seam. You should now have what looks like a little paper pot.

5. Remove the glass by sliding it out of the nonfolded end (sometimes you need to wiggle it out of there, so be careful to not unfold your paper pot).

6. On the inside of your paper pot, unfold the overhang from step 4 into the center, creating a bottom for your pot. For extra reinforcement, use the bottom of your glass to press down firmly on the inside and secure the pot bottom.

7. Line up pots in a planting tray or a stainless steel sheet pan, and fill with seedling mix or potting soil.

8. Plant your seeds in the paper pots.

Note: You can plant the entire pot into your garden bed once the seeds have sprouted, but it does take some time for newspaper to break down; so you may end up pulling it out for your compost pile on your next crop rotation.