Getting by on a Technicality

It's gardening time in Texas, and I've been preparing for a few weeks. First I ordered my heirloom seeds. They always come in paper packets, so I wasn't concerned about messing up my New Year's No-Plastic Resolution.

But I ordered them online, and nobody wants seeds to get broken in transit, right? So I have plenty of healthy, dry, whole seeds ready to plant. And some bubble wrap at-the-ready for my future shipping needs. That makes the packaging re-usable, so let's just call this an unbroken resolution on a technicality.


Seeds packed for mailing


Freshly tilled garden

This dirt is ready! But my tomatoes have to start their little lives inside, in pots. I wonder how many million of these little pots are produced every year in the US.

According to the BBC, the UK goes through about 500 million plastic pots each year. "The plastic plant pot is the gardener's equivalent to the shopper's plastic carrier bag…" -BBC Gardening Guides

The ones I'm using are last year's pots (or the year before, or the year before that -- no telling -- I keep them until they break). They're being re-used for this project which, I just noticed, would explain why the tomato has a label that says "Jal-A-Penos." Oops. Somebody's confused. Anyway, I hope these little guys make it, because finding tomato plants that aren't potted or wrapped in plastic at the nursery is a challenge I'd rather avoid this year.



Tomato seedlings

Joan Wells