Spring has finally sprung in upstate NY! For the first time since we moved, I think I got my snowpeas in the ground early enough to really take advantage of their proclivity for growing in the cooler weather.
So in honor of that, I thought I’d repost a quick but good tip:
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Need a way to label your plants or rows in the garden? Next time that you are at a garage sale or thrift shop and see a white (or any pale color) vinyl venetian blind, snap it up.
A single standard venetian blind will give you hundreds of labels. Just cut the string holding the slats apart, then cut each slat in half with a pair of scissors (the vinyl cuts very easily). I store the slats in these half pieces, then when I need them in the garden I just take each half and cut into two pieces in a diagonal.
There, now you have a perfect plant marker with a pointy end all ready to stick into the soil. Simply write the information on the slat with a permanent marker.
I bought a single blind two years ago and have tons left. The labels stayed outside all summer and winter in the elements and were still perfectly legible this spring (although I made all new-I put the planting dates on the labels last year)
How funny! I was just going to blog this. We took down some old blinds last week, and I remember reading about this tip a long time ago somewhere.
Great tip!