Favorite Thing - Soil Blocks

I'm glad to say that my love/hate relationship with soil blocks has now grown into being one of just love.  (Exciting, I know.)  I think the "hate" part of it was the result of having to source and combine the ingredients to create the soil block mix each year.  One benefit of living in Vermont is that many of local garden centers carry Vermont Compost Company's Fort Vee potting mix, which is designed for soil blocks.  Having used it now for the past couple of months, I have to say that I'm a HUGE fan.  Hopefully I'll never have to go back to making my own mix ever again.


This year, I decided to buy a 1 1/2 inch soil blocker to accompany my 2 inch and 3/4 inch mini blockers.  I start most of my melons, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, peppers and larger brassicas like broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower each year using the 2 inch blocker.  However, this size block is a generally too large for greens like spinach and lettuce and most Asian greens like bok choy, tatsoi, mizuna, choy sum, etc.  The 1 1/2 inch blocks are good for onions and beets as well.  If you're on a tight gardening budget, I'd recommend getting the 2 inch blocker to start, but now that I have both, I couldn't imagine doing without either.  Admittedly, I haven't found much use for the 3/4 inch mini blocker and doubt that I ever will.


I generally sow 2 to 3 seeds per block and then thin the seedlings down to 1 (with the exception of scallions, which I don't thin, and large seeds, which I sow 1 or 2 per block).  Most of the time, I get pretty good germination rates this way. 


For tomatoes and peppers, I generally pot-up to a 3 or 4 inch pot once they've outgrown their blocks and bury as much of the stem as I can.  I'd consider buying a 4 inch blocker but don't think it's really worth it.

Anyway, if you've never tried soil blocks, I hope you give them a try.  The blockers run about 25 to 30 dollars each but are well worth the investment in my opinion.

Making Soil Blocks

Ahhh...the first soil blocks of the season (and of my gardening career). All in all, I think they turned out well and were relatively easy to make. There's always room for improvement I'm sure. The consistency of these blocks were a bit unlike what I was expecting, but then again, it's hard to tell if I got it right since I've never made them before. I had to improvise a bit with the ingredients since a couple of them were impossible to source this time of year. I guess I won't know for sure until I'm able to follow Eliot Coleman's recipe exactly.


Making soil blocks isn't as messy as it might look. I'm realizing that the trick to making nice looking soil blocks (apart from the recipe) is in the amount of pressure you exert when pushing down on the soil block maker. As you squeeze, water oozes from the blocks. I guess the sponginess of this soil block mix is partly what differentiates it from ordinary potting mix.

Sowing artichoke seeds.

Last night, I sowed some Imperial Star artichokes, Tuscan kale, celery, yellow wild strawberry, red wild strawberry and some Red of Florence scallions. The strawberry seeds were kept in the freezer for the past couple of weeks in order to mimic winter conditions and hopefully increase overall germination rates. Wild strawberry seeds are notoriously difficult to get started.

The Imperial star artichokes I'm growing this year were specifically bred to be grown as annuals. The seeds are really interesting looking - somewhat resembling a hulled misshapen sunflower seed. They will be left to grow indoors for the next 6 to 7 weeks, and then moved to one of my mini-hoop houses for an additional 6-8 weeks before being transplanted out. Exposing young artichoke plants to low temperatures of between 50 to 32 degrees for a period of at least 6 weeks is supposed to increase the chances of them producing edible buds the first year.


Since I only had one heating mat, the scallions and strawberries were left to germinate at normal basement temperatures (anywhere between 60 and 70 degrees). I figured that since these plants are accustomed to being winter sown, additional heat is not crucial. Hopefully, I'm right!

Make Your Own 4-Inch Soil Block Maker

Gardeness, Renee and Caffeinated Mom, welcome to the blog!


I've been intrigued by the idea of soil blocks ever since I read Eliot Coleman's New Organic Grower a few years ago. Last month, I finally got around to purchasing 3/4-inch and 2-inch soil block makers from Johnny's Selected Seeds. I also wanted, but did not purchase, the 4-inch blocker simply because it was too expensive for my gardening budget. The 4-inch block is great for larger starts like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, melons, and eggplant and for late transplanting. But I couldn't justify spending the $119 its costs. As a result, I thought I'd try to come up with a homemade solution.

I have to thank my son for this bit of inspiration. I came across his old set of nesting boxes in the basement a few months ago. They were made of sturdy wood and coincidentally enough, held boxes that measured 2 and 4-inches on each side. I also grabbed the 3.6-inch box that fits snugly inside the 4-inch box.


I started by breaking the 3.6-box into its 5 sides. I took 2 of the squares and drilled at the center of each a hole big enough to fit around the diameter of a 4-inch bolt. I then drilled the same-size hole at the center of the bottom of the 2-inch box.


To create the 2-inch soil block insert (which is used to pot-on transplants started in 2-inch soil blocks), I slid the 2-inch box bottom-side down onto a 4-inch bolt. Then I slid one of the squares on top of the box and secured the pieces firmly with a nut. To create the direct-seeding dibble insert, I slid a couple of nuts onto the bolt, followed by the other square and then secured with another nut.


Finally, I cut a hole into the center of the bottom of the 4-inch box big enough to fit around the nut.


To make the soil block, you slide an insert into the 4-inch box and fill firmly with the soil mix.

To release the soil block, push down on the bolt to compress the block and lift the box.

I will probably apply a non-toxic water sealant to the inside of the box and inserts to keep them from warping. Hopefully, I will be able to test my homemade 4-inch soil block maker soon. So what do you think? Will it work?

Happy New Year - Goodies for the Garden

This was my Christmas present to myself this year- a few goodies from Johnny's Selected Seeds. I purchased some seeds, reusable garden clips, two soil block makers, and some pest control (Sluggo and Dipel Dust). It may seem a bit premature to buy pest control now but since I expect that temperatures underneath my hoops will warm up faster during the coming months than the rest of the garden, I wanted to be prepared in case some garden pests decide to wake up early from hibernation. Speaking of my garden hoops, I'd love to get a early jump on the spring growing season by sowing peas, carrots, beets, lettuce, some asian greens and spinach under cover sometime later this winter. Exactly when will depend on how quickly the soil thaws- I'm shooting for late February. Even if this turns out to be a bit too early, the seeds will be left to germinate when the conditions suit them.


I'm most excited about experimenting with my soil block makers. They even came with Eliot Coleman's recipe for the appropriate soil mix to use. Hopefully, the ingredients won't be too difficult to track down locally during this time of year. Also, I was lucky to find that Daphne had posted some great advice on this very subject today. Right off the bat, I have a question for all of you soil block experts out there - After you drop a seed down on top of the soil block (inside the dimple created), do you then cover it with a bit of soil mix or just leave it bare? (Dumb question, I know.)


Finally, this is a bit off topic but I decided to make use of the netting that came with our Christmas tree this year. Can you say, "instant pea trellis"? (Reduce, reuse, recycle!)

OH, and Happy New Year everyone! My resolution is pretty simple this time around- focus on where I am in my life right now (not where I think I "should" be) and embrace it!