Planting Seed Paper Cards: What I learned From My First try

Planting the Seed Paper

When you make cards for a living, you end up with scraps. Bits that miss the print, edges that get trimmed away. For years that used to bother me — it felt like such a waste of paper.

That frustration is gone now. When the scraps are seed paper, a misprint isn't waste anymore. It's just something else waiting to be planted. That little shift changed how I feel about the whole process.

This year we had a rainy spring — longer and wetter than forecast. My pots don't have drainage holes, so I had to keep them covered until the soil was dry enough to plant in. That pushed my planting later than I wanted. But the day finally came, and I got the paper in — a bit of soil on top, then a good soak to make sure the paper itself gets wet. There's something about that part I love. You plant it and then you wait, and the waiting is half the excitement.

The first morning after planting, I went out to check and found a peanut sitting in one of the pots. Paper pulled out, scattered across the yard. Squirrels. Or magpies — hard to say who the culprit was. For a couple of days it kept happening, a little more paper dragged out each time. I politely asked one of the local magpies to stay out of my pots. I really do enjoy the company of animals, and I like to think we came to an understanding — whether that's actually why it stopped, I can't prove it. But it stopped.

Around day ten, a few pots started sprouting. I nearly ran outside with my phone — that one made it straight to my Instagram stories. And then, like clockwork, I got a little too relaxed about it. Skipped a watering, then another. The sprouts stalled.

So I got vigilant. Water one day, skip a day, water again. Turns out letting the soil dry out fully between waterings is what got things sprouting again — which tracks, since wildflowers actually prefer it a bit dry. I'm keeping track of everything as I go. Slowly building up what I know about this paper, one pot at a time.

Right now I'm also digging out a section of my front yard for a wildflower oasis — something for the bees and butterflies next year. It's slow going. I'm only able to do a little bit each day while I recover from a frozen shoulder, on top of some thoracic outlet syndrome that's been its own battle. That's a story for another post.

For now, the pots are sprouting and I genuinely can't wait to see what comes up. The seed paper is a mix of six different wildflowers, and I know exactly which ones — I just don't know what any of them look like as seedlings yet. I could easily take a photo and look it up. I'm choosing not to. I'd rather wait and let the surprise happen the slow way.🌱
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— Anita