Making Your Own Peat Pellets
(Page 3 of 3)
First put one tablespoon of water in the compression
cylinder. Now lay down a cheesecloth square, measure out
1/2 cup of tightly-packed peat and carefully dump the mess
into the cloth's center. Gather together each of the four
corners of the cloth to form a kind of square bag with side
slits and twist the bag until you've closed the slits.
Secure the loose ends with a piece of wire, half a pipe
cleaner or a bread wrapper twist and very gently squeeze
the peat bag, wired side up, into the compression cylinder.
RELATED CONTENT
Now for the action. Set the cylinder and contents on the 3"
X 3"-square piece of wood, and place both on the business
end of the jack. Lower the piston into place and begin
pumping the jack's handle or turning the screw on a screw
jack. You'll have to hold the cylinder with your other hand
until the top of the piston makes contact with the truck or
whatever you're compressing against. Increase the pressure
gradually. Remember, you're only trying to press a little
peat . . . not jack up the truck or rip out the
stairs.
You can determine proper pressure by grasping the cylinder
and trying to pull it sideways. Can you pull it away from
the jack? If not, you've probably got enough pressure.
Now wait at least two minutes while the old
pounds-per-square-inch formula does the job on the peat. If
you're the type who can't stand waiting—not even for
two minutes—you can use the time to good advantage by
locating the other juice can, dumping in the
water, and stuffing peat bag down its throat. Okay, time's
up. Release the jack, remove the piston, and take a peek.
You should be looking at a white mass at the very bottom of
the cylinder and—hopefully—you'll be able to
see the wire you used to tie the bag. With a knife or
screwdriver, carefully pry the pellet from the cylinder,
untie the wire . . . and you're done!
Now when you pull a peat pellet off the shelf for a fast
and neat planting job, you'll be sure you're pressing your
favorite seed into a completely bio-degradable
home-made miracle.
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