There’s a trick of the trade our growers swear by: seed tape. Rather than sorting tiny garden seeds by hand, you can plant a strip of biodegradable seed tape with the seeds already inside. This dissolves into the soil giving you perfectly spaced plants. It also prevents birds from eating your freshly sown seeds or rainfall from washing them away.
While you can buy seed tape, it’s easy and affordable to make it yourself. You’ll need Olds Seed, scissors, glue, and toilet paper or other quickly dissolvable paper.
First, select seeds that are traditionally planted directly in the garden such as radish, lettuce, spinach and carrot. Next, take strips of 3-5 foot long toilet paper and cut them in half lengthwise.
Place small dots of glue on one section of toilet paper at distances appropriate for gardening. For example, carrots should be every 6 inches or so in the garden. Then, place one seed in each dot of glue, using tweezers if you need them. Cover the toilet paper with another section of toilet paper, with the glue and seeds inside. Then, let your seed tape dry until you’re ready for planting.
At the appropriate time, simply plant the seed tape in your garden at the normal depth and proceed as usual. As an added bonus, the seed tape should help you use fewer seeds and save you time bent over fiddling with them. We hope you enjoy!
