Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Housebound? Make a seed tape with children (or one for yourself) by Vicky Spelman


Making a seed tape is easy and a great way to plant seeds, especially little seeds like carrots.  In the photo, a paper towel was used but you could also use toilet tissue or newspaper.  You can make the strips as long as you want but shorter strips are easier to work with and handle.


Cut your strips, and label with what kind of seeds you are using. Refer to the back of the seed packet for seed spacing.  Then measure or just eyeball it and make pen marks along the strip where the seeds need to be.  Put a little dot of school glue on each mark, then place a seed on it.  Let dry completely – probably overnight. 

You can use the tubes from toilet tissue, or paper towels to wrap your seed tape around until you’re ready to use.  Keep the seed packet handy for the planting depth of your seed tape.

Advantages include:
1.    Even seed spacing prevents over sowing, especially with small seed crops like lettuce, greens, carrots, wildflowers,
2.    Even spacing eliminates the need for thinning the young seedlings later.

When you're ready to plant the seed tape, just unroll and lay your seed tape(s) down and cover to the depth indicated on the seed packet.  It's okay if the seed tape shows through a bit - some seeds don't need to be planted deep.  

With your seed tapes ready to go, it will be easy to do succession planting throughout the gardening season.  

Happy Gardening!