DIY Grass Seed Shaker

Several years ago I came up with this idea after buying 5 pounds of grass seed and realizing that I had used it all on a very small area.  As hard as I tried to sprinkle the seed evenly and lightly it seemed that it would always go where I did not want it to go and always too heavy.  There had to be a better method for laying down grass seed.

My neighbor who owns a nursery suggested that I put the seed in a brown paper bag and shake the bag upside down only allowing a little seed to escape.  This worked better but still not perfect. But it did give me an idea.

I now use the plastic container that grated cheese comes in and use that as a seed shaker.  It allows me to get a more even and lighter application of seed. Also, this helps you to not waste your grass seed and keeps you from having those heavily seeded areas.

I buy my seed from my local nursery where they weigh the amount you need and put it in a paper bag.  They offer a variety of types of seed and I buy two types.  One for shady areas and the other a high end blue grass mixture. I also buy by the pound.  If you buy prepackaged seed you are paying for inert material and possibly weed seeds.  I buy pure grass seed without filler.  Read the contents of the grass seed bag the next time you buy a bag and you will see that it is not all just grass seed.

I mark my shakers using a paint pen so that I don't mix up the seed and use shade seed in a sunny area and visa versa.  You can buy these pens at some hardware and paint stores. Automotive parts stores sometimes have them, too.  But I'm sure they can be had some where in the Internet.

Just after I came up with this idea I sent it off to This Old House Magazine and they used it in one of their issues.  I had no indication they intended to use my idea and I was so surprised to run across it while reading my issue.  They used just my initials but it was still cool to see it in their publication.

Today I was able to get my grass seed laid and my sugar peas and two types of cucumbers planted before it rained.  It was hot and humid today and we were able to get a lot accomplished but when the rain finally came I was so ready to go inside and take a shower.  Imagine our surprise when we went inside and realized that we did not have any power.  No power means no water......grrrrrrrrrr.  I used captured rain water to wash my hands.

R walked next door to our neighbors to makes sure it wasn't just our house.  When he came back he said they were without power and were none too happy that their brand new Generac generator only ran for 10 minutes and then quit.  We hope to install a generator at our house some day because there is nothing worse than not having electricity, water, OR heat in the winter.  Just ask R.  He was out on the deck with his battery radio trying to tune in the baseball game on AM all the while muttering to himself.  Thank heavens the power came back on around 10PM and by 10:01PM I was in the shower. It never felt so good.