MILLIE ROSS: Even on a very rain day,
and in the middle of a renovation,
there are always jobs to do for the garden.
And today, I'm getting to a job I've been itching to do for ages.
I absolutely love growing plants
and propagating lots of plants.
I do it in almost anything.
I've got plastic punnets and trays here and, of course, plastic pots,
and, really, plastic was a bit of a boon to the nursery industry.
They're lightweight. You can transport things.
They're endlessly re-usable, really,
and they can also be recycled.
But I always like to look for an alternative to plastic as well.
Today, I want to make something
that is really an old-fashioned bit of nursery kit.
It's known as a seed-raising flat.
It's essentially just a timber box that is rigid,
so you can move it around, you can stack them and put them away,
and also you can make them to the size that you want to raise.
You can raise a whole lot of seeds in a single space.
So, I'm gonna use some of this old timber to get started.
So, I'm gonna make this about 750mm long by about 400mm wide,
which I think is about the size that I can easily move around,
it's comfortable to carry, and I should fit loads of seeds in there.
I'm just clamping these together
on the flattest surface I have
and getting them relatively square.
It is... Hey, mate.
It is second-hand timber, of course,
so it's never perfect.
Off you go. Go on. Out.
And then I'm gonna join them together
just using some pre-drilled holes, to stop it splitting,
and some clouts.
YOU need earmuffs.
So, that's the box. Now I gotta build the base.
That is a pretty simple structure.
But I'm gonna reinforce it by putting the base on,
and I need to include a small gap
because it needs drainage.
This is, after all, gonna be a pot for growing plants.
Just try and space them as evenly as I can.
That'll do us to start now.
And, again, I AM gonna pre-drill,
because this IS quite brittle timber,
but you could use really anything you've got lying around
for a project like this.
I've just given that a really rough sand.
And...now I just need to fit some handles,
and often I use some sticks or something like that,
but I also pick these old pickets up from old fences
when they get decommissioned or rot in the ground.
But I thought they would make a fantastic shape
to actually pick up when I move these around.
I reckon that is pretty good.
Now it just needs a little coat of oil
and then we're finally ready to plant.
Just applying a mixture of linseed oil
with a little bit of turps,
which'll penetrate that timber, make it a bit more waterproof
and give it a little bit more longevity.
It's a really good mix - you can use it on tool handles
and, really, any timber in the garden.
The beauty of a big bed like this
is that you can sow multiple seeds,
raise hundreds of plants in one little area.
I've made some little rills, just using my float,
and now the seed goes straight in.
I'm planting multiple rows
of some quick-pick gai lan broccoli...
..some spring onions,
lots of mignonette lettuce
and a beautiful black cornflower.
If you're gonna make your own seed flat,
well, you might as well make your own labels.
For me, custom-making things that I can use to grow plants in my garden,
well, it's almost my favourite thing to do,
and in a couple of weeks, these little plants
are gonna be up and at it.
They'll be ready to be pricked out, into the garden,
or into bigger punnets, but...
..really, over its life, this little box,
it's gonna grow thousands of plants.
I reckon that's a pretty good reward for a couple of hours' work
and for salvaging and re-using an old pallet.
Why don't you give it a go?