Growing Together: Open Forum

Just discovered this tool and it makes starting seeds so much faster and save precious classroom space. I like how due to the size, you can still get several, allowing each child to plant a seed without taking up large amounts of space. Anyone else using these blocks to make your own "potted seed"?

This is very interesting - can you explain more about how the soil stays together over time or share a link for it?  

Yes, this is all we use at the farm here! We have a variety of sizes of soil blocking tools for different seeds. I was also lucky enough to see Maisie Anrod show how they have used soil blocking with students in the classroom at Hunt Middle School in Burlington, VT. 

The tool we use here at the farm looks more like this:

yes! The blocker tools come in two sizes depending on the size of the seed you need to sow.  I love how many you can get done in a short period of time.

Also, it stays moist by adding a little bit of water to the tray @sarah pounders

Original Message:
Sent: 01-14-2026 12:40:29 PM
From: Amity Freiman (They/Them)
Subject: Soil Blocking

Yes, this is all we use at the farm here! We have a variety of sizes of soil blocking tools for different seeds. I was also lucky enough to see Maisie Anrod show how they have used soil blocking with students in the classroom at Hunt Middle School in Burlington, VT. 

The tool we use here at the farm looks more like this:

This speeds up how quickly we can make the blocks, but is a great space for that sort of "intentional inefficiency" in garden education, and using the hand tools would allow more students the opportunity to make the blocks. 

We use potting soil which is wet, but not soaked, and top the blocks with vermiculite after they're seeded. The soil blocks themselves facilitate air pruning of the roots of the starts, and the blocks serve as an easy place for students to pick up transplants by. In some cases, such as peppers, we'll start in a small soil block, and then actually transplant the seeds that germinated into larger soil blocks, before transplanting again to either a bucket for transport or a "permanent" home. 

I'm not sure if Maisie is on this forum (if so - hi Maisie! Thanks for the tour!), but if you have a way to get a hold of them, she'd be a person who I would consider an expert on using these with students.

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Amity Freiman (They/Them)
- Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture
Columbia MO

"While I'm alive, I'll make tiny changes to earth" - Scott Hutchison
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We do soil blocking as well, using the blockers from Johnny's Seeds.  This is our first year doing it and getting the potting mix. just right to hold together was a bit tricky, but we're working on figuring that out.  We're just about ready to transplant them into larger blocks or into the beds directly.  If anyone has a soil mix that they recommend, I'd be appreciative.  Johnny's has good instructional videos as well. 

Lara Blom

Hillbrook School

Los Gatos, CA

We use Vermont Compost's "Fort Vee" blend, we've been experimenting trying to find a local source that works as well but it's just outperformed pretty much anything we've tried. The biggest trick really is getting it to the right texture before blocking, which is an art as much as it is a science. We just run a hose into a large vat of potting mix while stirring with a rake, and the folks here just kind of eyeball it, but I am amazed by how consistent they're able to be compared to my own personal attempts.

(Also, because this world is extremely small, I had to drive right past Hillbrook on Shannon Road to visit my grandmother in Los Gatos for years!)