DIY soil blocks

I've attempted sowing seeds in soil blocks for the first time this year, mainly  summer crops such as pumpkins, corn and beans;  most of them seem good and strong, but I'll withhold judgment until after transplant.  The idea is that there is less root disturbance when planting out and therefore less transplant shock.  It would be great if it worked out, as many of my summer plants succumb to slugs and bugs during transplant shock.

Waiting for beans to sprout, April 2022

It was kind of labor intensive to make the blocks by hand though--I had to mix up compost and sand and then press each block through a little mold I made (out of a 300 mL plastic cream pot).  If I was growing to make money, I'd buy a special tool to save me the time but I can spare it for just myself. 

Nice day for tomatoes, April 2022

Not everything went into soil blocks--most of the seeds I sowed went into trays, and several of the indoor sowings have left my kitchen to harden off outside on the patio though I'm still waiting for two trays to sprout.  Some have even been transplanted out (a few cherry tomatoes have gone in planters at the allotment), though most of them will wait until next week at the earliest.