Using a Soil Blocker: Start Your Fall Garden

A Soil Blocker is a great gadget for setting up your seedlings in flats

When August arrives it's time to get our cool season veggies started for fall. This year I'm getting a head start on planting seeds by using a soil blocker. The soil blocker is an easy to use and eco-friendly way to set up seedlings for your garden projects, any time of year.

August typically sneaks up too soon while I'm still distracted watching my tomatoes and peppers ripen, but this year I'm determined to give my fall garden crops a head start before the first frost hits. I was jolted into action after reading Becky Striepe's blog Eat Drink Better, on starting her seeds for fall planting.

Newspaper is a gardener' best friend!

 Luckily, I'm prepared to be a seed-sowing-machine thanks to my niece and awesome food blogger, Janina Larenas. She gave me a soil blocker, a clever device that will extrude blocks of moist potting soil ready for planting seeds; make as many as you need, when you need them. My soil blocker forms four blocks at a time, with small dimples on the top for placing the seed.

There is no need for plastic six-packs or other individual containers. I used some old flats I got free from my local nursery to set up the soil blocks and used damp newspaper to line the flats and help keep the soil moist.

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Soil Magic with Sandwich Composting

It might seem highly improbable that just a pile of cardboard, newspaper and grass clippings will magically turn into beautiful rich soil, but that is indeed what actually happens. I saw it with my very own eyes. In our quest to find more space to plant vegetables in our ever expanding garden, we did a trial sandwich composting project on the sunny, but weedy side of our house last October.
Now in spring, our simple compost sandwich has really turned out beautifully. This low-labor compost making method appealed to me instantly. I used  Chris McLaughlin's system as a guide:

• You don't have to pull up the weeds or other foliage first or dig the soil in anyway, just knock down any plants and leave them in place.
• Next you will add layers of flattened cardboard (about 2 inches thick), then
• Sheets of newspaper printed with soy-based ink (about 10 sheets thick)
• Add green materials such as grass clippings, plant material, or kitchen vegetable waste (about 4 inches worth, 2 inches if using grass clippings)
• Finish by covering with topsoil or compost

It is very important to sprinkle everything with water between layers, and adding topsoil or compost between layers helps speed up the process. Then leave it alone for a few months and let the de-composers go to work.

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