One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
What's soil blocking? This seeding method helps gardeners use less plastic and peat
Grace Wertanen, the "seedling intern" at Growing Hope Urban Farm in Ypsilanti, Mich. carries a tray of soil blocked plants
(
Neda Ulaby
/
NPR
)
Listen
2:42
What's soil blocking? This seeding method helps gardeners use less plastic and peat
Spring means it's time for gardeners to think about seedlings, those little baby plants all ready to get plunked into the ground. And a hands-on technique for growing them, called "soil blocking," is capturing the attention of serious gardeners.
Among them is Christopher Hallett. He's a farm manager at Growing Hope Urban Farm, a community garden center in Ypsilanti, Mich. Hallett started soil blocking a few years ago, and taught a class last week to six aspiring soil blockers in one of the facility's outdoor greenhouses.
"Take your fingers and go, boom boom boom boom," he says, demonstrating how to pack a mixture of peat moss, dirt, lime, perlite and other components into galvanized metal boxes equipped with a lever. The tool pushes out the packed soil blocks into neat rows, like an old-fashioned ice cube tray.
Many in the class were drawn to soil blocking because it's an environmentally friendly method to prep seedlings.
-
People monitoring air quality say levels of particulate matter, methane, hydrogen sulfide and ammonia are safe. At least one scientist has concerns. -
The city plans to have boats back on the lake before fall 2027 as part of a broader effort to bring more families and activity to the park. -
The levels didn’t cross California’s short-term health standards, but one expert said they show the toxic gas was present at a higher concentration.
"You don't have to use as much plastic," Donna Kolojeskie says. A retiree, she's gardened her whole life. ("And I'm getting seedier by the day!" she jokes.)
Kolojeskie says she's enjoyed learning a new skill that can cut down on her purchases of disposable containers of seedlings at big box stores.
Sponsored message
Even peat pots, Hallett points out, are not a sustainable resource.
"Those little fabric things around the peat pots are even worse," he adds. "You can't get rid of 'em. They say 'biodegradable' but they're woven plastic."
Soil blocking tools, he says, are economical as well as green. They cost less than $20 each, and should last for 20 years. The tools come in different sizes: small ones for herbs, big ones for squash. Another member of the class, Osprey Elliott, says she plans to start soil blocking this spring, even though she lives in an apartment.
A few soil blocking tools from a class at Growing Hope Urban Farm
(
NPR
)
"I have a shelf set up in my room with a light, like a mini greenhouse," she says. Enough to start a few seedlings she hopes to give to friends.
Meanwhile, Amorita Oliver tells her Growing Hope classmates she wants to improve her gardening game in order to become more self-sufficient.
"I'm not trusting food anymore that I'm getting, so I just want to grow my own," Oliver says. "I want to learn how to do all kinds of stuff. We live in a crazy world." She paused, laughed and shrugged. "I need to grow my own food. That's where my head is."
Sponsored message
Meanwhile her hands are in the soil, busy blocking.
Carrot seedlings flourish in soil blocks at Growing Hope Urban Farm
(
Neda Ulaby
/
NPR
)
This story was edited for radio and the web by Meghan Sullivan, produced for radio by Chloee Weiner, and produced for the web by Beth Novey.
Copyright 2025 NPR
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
