How It Works
Now for the fun part: Planting!
1. Plant Your Paper
You can put your plantable paper directly on the ground in an area that gets good sun*, or you can start your paper in a little greenhouse. (I love converting old milk gallon jugs into greenhouses for my paper.) Either way, make sure you're starting out your plantable paper with good soil below the paper and about 1/8" of good soil above the paper.
2. Water Your Paper
Once your paper is in good soil with a bit more soil on top of it, give it plenty of water to start the germination process. If you're growing your paper in a greenhouse outside, the greenhouse should retain moisture on its own. If you're growing paper in your garden, just make sure it stays moist either via rain every few days or you helping the plants out with a bit of water.
3. Love Your Plants
That's it! You can carefully transfer your seedings to new homes if they're growing too closely together. If you grew your paper in a greenhouse, once your seedlings have two sets of leaves and are running out of room, carefully tear your paper and plant your seedling in its home for the season. Enjoy watching bees, butterflies and birds loving the little habitat you grew for them by converting used paper into beneficial biodiversity and nutrients for the soil.
*If you plant your paper directly outside, keep in mind your local weather conditions. For example in Ohio, you can put your paper outside in the winter with the hope that the seeds begin to germinate in the spring. But, as seasons shift and we swing wildly between 60 degrees F and below freezing in the same day sometimes, you may want to either start your plantable seed paper in a greenhouse or wait until the danger of frost has passed for the year.
