Making Seed Tape

The temperature was seven degrees (F) when I ventured outside this morning, the coldest of this winter.  I harvested seven eggs and found all seven of our rabbits nesting cozily in their straw.  While I am not a superstitious guy, the three sevens reminded me how our ancestors gave thanks for sustenance and safekeeping, especially this time of year.  Three of the hens shocked me back to reality by giving three more eggs, three hours later.  The predicted high today is 21 degrees.  Surely there is a numerologist somewhere who can further explain.

Even though this blog is technically about neighbors, I am going solo for today's project, also the first blog post of the year, as the neighbor is home with his wife and new child, unlikely to emerge in this weather.  Luckily my wife and youngest son are in the next room thinning seedlings, so I am not alone.  I predict the neighbor will emerge in the spring to help with the harvest.

Each year around February we fire up the grow lights and begin planting trays indoors in anticipation of winter's end.  The earliest seedlings become micro-greens for soups and salads until we decide to let others continue growing for transplanting into the spring garden.  Although I love cultivating these pungent young greens, there are several drawbacks.  Mainly we loath the chore of thinning seedlings.

For newcomers, thinning is the process of removing plants that are too closely spaced together which almost always results in killing those that are removed.  Thinning is required because it is very difficult to plant small seeds at regular intervals over the soil.  Instead, the gardener typically sprinkles twice the seeds required, or more, to allow for the fact that some seeds never germinate.  Later the gardener sacrifices the smaller plants to leave nutrients for others.  The plants removed are cut at the base to avoid disturbing the roots of the keepers.

My wife is opposed to thinning plants on metaphysical grounds: she abhors killing anything.  I, on the other hand, simply dread the boredom of dawning tweezers, scissors, and a magnifying glass for what seems like an eternity to turn 200 overcrowded plants into a hundred.  Thank heavens, this year I think we have an alternative: seed tape.

Among our first eight trays of seedlings this year we planted two using seed tape.  If you have never seen seed tape, it consists of a roll of paper embedded with seeds regular intervals.  Actually it is two thin strips of paper with seeds sandwiched in between.  I used a lettuce seed tape, a common variety, purchased locally at the home store, although other seed types are available.  My goal was to make the seed tape myself, but I decided to first try the store bought version, and it worked out well.  The two trays planted with seed tape have required almost no thinning at all.

So, today I set out to make our own seed tapes.  If you want to try it, here is what you need:

1. Paste.  In a small bowl, mix 1/4 cup of flour with 2-3 Tbsp water.  Mix and add water slowly until you reach the consistency of glue.  Don't use real glue if you plant to eat the greens.
2. Work surface.  I used a scrap of plywood, approximately 2 ft. by 4 ft.  A tabletop will work, but the plywood allowed me to make guide marks with a pen.  Plus, I could set up in front of the cozy wood stove.
3. Seeds.  I used one brand new package of carrot seeds for half of my seed tapes, hoping that it will be very likely to germinate.  For the rest I used a variety of last year's leftover packs: spinach, several varieties of lettuce, chard, cilantro, pak choi, cabbage, and parsley.
4. Toilet paper.  Roll out strips about 3 ft. long.  Use scissors to cut them down the middle lengthwise.  Newspaper or other scrap paper will work fine, I think.  (Three feet lengths allow me to plant directly in beds outdoors, or break them strips in half if I decide to plant in trays.)

Seed tape is a great advantage for small seeds.  By this I mean that working with small seeds is very challenging in the garden soil, even when planting in trays.  By contrast, the white background of the toilet paper indoors on a flat surface makes it easy to apportion seeds with less wasted seeds.  I would not bother making seed tape for large seeds that are easy to handle, like squash and cucumber.  The largest I used were Cilantro, and most were smaller, such as carrot and lettuce.

How to make seed tape:

1. Stretch out a strip of paper along your work surface.
2. Use a pen to write the name of the seed on the end.  This will be important later on at planting time.
3. Use a utensil to place dots of paste at two-inch intervals along the paper.  I used a chopstick, but a spoon, Q-tip, or Popsicle stick would also work.
4. Sprinkle one or two seeds in each dot.
5. Fold the paper lengthwise and press firmly, but gently, to seal.

After the paste dries, you can roll up or fold the strips.  I worked ahead so that, when I had finished making about six strips, I put away the first one which was was dry.  It is not a fast process, but it gets faster with practice.  At 18 seed dots per strip, I had more than 500 potential seedlings by the end of the afternoon with time to blog about it.

Store seed tapes in a cool, dark place until planting time.  When it is time to plant, unfurl a strip in a tray of soil, or directly in the garden, cover with soil, and water thoroughly, just as you would with any seed.  The paste and toilet paper dissolves as the seedling takes root.

Check back in a few weeks to see our seed tapes in action, and to see whether the neighbors made it through the winter.  And be thankful that spring is just around the corner.