Besides using my soil block maker, I am also a huge fan of reusing items destined for the trash or recycling bin for starting seeds indoors. With that in mind, I put the call out to some of my garden writer and garden blogging pals, asking them if they use reused items for seed starting. Boy, did I get a response! Several people had written entire blog posts about their love for reusing, so I thought I'd share them here to hopefully spark some ideas.

• David Townsend from The Home Garden sowed heuchera seeds in reused yogurt cups, showing that even perennials can get the reused container treatment! He's also rooted cuttings in small plastic containers, which is a great idea.
• Use egg cartons to start seeds that you'll be transplanting fairly quickly, such as lettuce and spinach.
• Tina from HappyHobbyHabit shares a unique method (one that will satisfy your inner origami-artist) for making paper seed starting pots.
• Kim from A Study in Contrasts shares one of my favorite ways to reuse containers for seed starting: winter sowing!
• I've written here about making pots out of empty toilet paper and paper towel rolls.

I love reusing items for gardening. It saves me money and keeps would-be trash out of the landfills.

Now, it's your turn! Do you reuse items for seed starting? Want to share with the rest of the About Organic Gardening community? Tell us about your seed starting ideas here!

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This morning, the USDA released its new Plant Hardiness Zone Map (which you can see here.) About half of all the zones in the U.S. moved a half-zone warmer than they were on the previous map.

One of the nice features about the new map is that you can search by ZIP code, so you can accurately determine which zone you are in (a nice improvement over looking at the zone maps and trying to figure out where your city, which straddles two zones, actually falls in!) In addition, the USDA has added two two new zones, 12 and 13, for very warm climates.

My zone stayed the same: Detroit is still Zone 6B, but much of Michigan went up a half-zone.  Did your zone change?

January marks the beginning of the indoor seed-starting season for those of us in zone 6 and above. While the pickings are slim for me still (onions and parsley), it will be so nice to have something green under my grow lights again. Below are a few links to help you get started with seed sowing:

• Vegetable and Herb Seeds to Plant in January
• 10 Places to Buy Organic Seeds
• Equipment for Indoor Seed Starting -- What Do You Really Need?

I am looking forward to getting my hands dirty and coddling some seeds. I have done some wintersowing, and, while it's fun, I don't get the satisfaction of babying my seeds the way I do when I grow under lights. Of course, that's just me, and I'm kind of obsessed.

Are you planning on starting seeds indoors this year?

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I've hit that point in winter during which I start obsessing about the garden. Daydreaming, planning, re-planning, highlighting things to order... all fun, of course, but not nearly as fun as actually digging in my garden. I've got cabin fever, badly.

All of this daydreaming and planning also has me taking stock of which items, such as organic fertilizers and soil amendments, I'll need to order or purchase this spring. And in my garden, manure and compost reign supreme.

I use a lot of compost tea, but the past few years I've started using manure tea more often, and both the vegetable and ornamental plantings seem to appreciate it. It's easy to brew your own manure tea, but you can also order it online from places like Authentic Haven Brand Manure Tea, which makes it even more convenient.

Do you use manure tea in your garden?