Planting New Years Resolutions with Seed Paper

Planting New Year Resolutions with Seed Paper

by Victoria Hill

As we wrap up 2021 and look forward to 2022, there are many New Year’s Eve traditions celebrated by those that follow the Gregorian calendar. Many New Year’s Eve traditions focus on family, friends and food. Some notable food-focused traditions include eating beans for money, pork for luck, or grapes for prosperity. We plan parties or get-togethers that are small and intimate or large and include our communities. Making New Year’s resolutions is also a well-known tradition. We set goals, make promises, and write down our hopes and dreams for the coming year. This year, you could begin a new tradition by planting your New Year’s resolutions using seed paper.

What exactly is seed paper? It is paper and note cards with flower, vegetable, or herb seeds blended into the paper. Seed paper is created by adding seeds to paper pulp and then spreading the pulp onto a screen to get rid of the moisture and let it dry. You can purchase the paper online or from a local nursery if available. Using seed paper is a way to grow a beautiful garden and to improve our environment. Once planted, the paper breaks down, and as your plants grow it becomes compost in your planter or garden. You are also growing plants that provide food for the bees and butterflies or for you and your family. This new tradition could be something the whole family participates in, from school-age children to adults. While there are prepared seed paper options available, getting creative gives you even more opportunity to involve the whole family. For example, small children can glue seeds to wrapping paper and you could use that as your seed paper. You could write a word or draw a shape on the paper and let the children use the writing as their guide to glue seeds to the paper. Using larger seeds for little fingers to work with, such as sunflower seeds, is recommended. For very small seeds,

you could cut little squares and glue the seeds to them for easier handling. You are recycling the wrapping paper and planting if you go this route.

If you are interested in making your own seed paper, there are many videos and blogs that can help you through the process. You could also buy the seed paper and plant with your family or friends when the weather permits after the New Year.

Should you decide to begin this new tradition, you will need a few items to get started. You will need to purchase or make your seed paper. You will need a planter or prepared spot in your yard to plant the paper once you have written down all of your resolutions. If you use a planter, you will need soil for the container as well. You can write your list of resolutions on one piece of paper or if you have more than one resolution, split your resolutions up on multiple pieces of paper. Once planted, you will need to water the area well to ensure you have saturated the soil but that there is no standing water. You will need to make sure the area stays damp but not soaked until your seeds sprout. As you tend to your garden and watch your plants grow, you are reminded of your resolutions. This is a great way to stay mindful about our goals and hopes and dreams for the New Year.

Whether you choose to purchase or make seed paper, this is a purposeful and exciting way to begin a new tradition that both helps our environment by recycling, improving the soil, providing food sources to bees and butterflies, and gives us a visual reminder of our resolutions as we watch our plants grow.