From Japan, gardening in reused bottle caps

Heightened interest in all things green means that gardens are popping up everywhere. We’ve seen them in greeting cards, we’ve seen them in giant bubbles — we’ve even seen them created on the sly in guerrilla fashion. The latest spotting? Gardens in bottle caps from Japanese Merry Project. Priced at JPY 158, the Merry Farming Kit includes a tablet of compressed, dry soil that’s just the right size to fit inside a standard plastic soda bottle cap along with basil seeds for planting. Urban gardeners need only place the soil in a cap, moisten it, and plant the seeds, as specified in the accompanying directions. After that, all that’s left to do is wait for the seeds to germinate and grow up into full-sized plants. Merry Project is planning to expand the selection of seeds it has available, according to its site. Urban gardening is an alluring trend in its own right, but when combined with a dash of plastic reuse, it may just prove irresistible. Retailers around the world: one to offer for eco-minded adults and kids in your part of the global garden? (Related: Ready-to-plant mats grow into vegetable gardens — Amsterdam retailer targets urban gardeners — Triscuit-sponsored site taps urban gardening trend.)