Last Easter, we posted Ambatalia’s extensive how-to on dying Easter eggs with natural dyes. We have that essential Easter item covered. What to do THIS year? There’s egg-shaped stones painted a la Max Ernst…
Then an image we saw in a Remodelista post about cold frames got us thinking about another kind of ALT Easter eggs. We discovered that halved egg shells are sometimes used as starter pots for seeds to sprout in (supplying the plant with a nice dose of calcium). We thought: wouldn’t a carton of eggs with little seedlings growing in them be a wondrous and surprising Easter gift? Why not?
The process is pretty simple: crack and empty the eggs*, fill with potting soil, add the seeds… Instructables has clear directions and a PDF. If you start planning now, we figure you’ll have some charming little shoots in time for Easter, on April 8th. (See packages will give you a sense of how long a particular seed takes to sprout; beans and cucumbers only take a few days.)
We’d love to receive a carton of Easter eggs filled with seedlings…
…When the plantlet grows too big for the shell, just crack the shell and pop it and the root ball right in soil.
*As for what to do with the raw you pour out of the shell, here are some delicious ideas:
25+ “fried egg on anything” combos
giant cheese popover-pancake (eggy, chewy, crispy, swell!) + a sweet lemon-scented version
d-i-y egg cups + recipe for perfect soft-boiled eggs
Related posts: how to dye easter eggs with food-based dyes (easy!)
(easter) eggs as blank canvas
painted stones for home a la max ernst
wishing you a happy easter, passover… spring
portable milk crate farm (d-i-y), for roof, terrace, lot
This would be amazing for Persian New Year, too! Two of the traditional items on the spread are painted eggs and ‘sabzeh’, a big plate of sprouted lentils or wheat. I love the idea of growing the sabzeh *inside* the eggs! Might be too late for this year, but this is definitely on my radar for next year.