Today I have a guest writer – my 15-year-old niece. I know if Emilie and I were neighbours we’d get along fine. She loves animals and gardening. A while ago her family lived on some property where she was able to have ducks and geese. It was fun to see all the pictures.

Now my sister and her family are living in a house where Emilie can have a full garden, and she’s enjoying it. She came up with a way of starting seedlings that also uses recycled materials so I asked her to share it here.

I’ve been gardening for a few years now, but with moving so much each place is different to grow in and unfamiliar. Lately we’ve had so many rainstorms it’s practically drowned half my garden. So to catch up after these storms pass, I wanted to plant some already partly grown plants. I love finding new ways to reuse things, so when I saw these empty coffee creamer cups I thought I could at least start some sprouts growing. Hope this helps you with your garden and good luck!

For this you will need:

• Dirt
• Scissors/knife
• Seeds
• Coffee creamer cups or K cups cleaned out

Step 1: Carefully poke a hole in the bottom of each cup

Step 2: Fill the cups half way with dirt and place in a few seeds. (Write the name of the seeds on the side)

Step 3: Fill with dirt and gently pat in.

Water lightly every few days and set on a napkin or towel.

Something the children would enjoy doing too. Do you have any gardening tips for Emilie?