A time to sow…

On Thursday, I began sowing my lettuce, always a delicate and tricky job. So before I went to work, I wondered if there was a good technique that I still ignored for sowing small seeds, well spaced, without having too many stuck together in clumps. That’s how I embarked upon my own research and have summarized the result for you should you ever be interested in doing the same. If I could categorize my findings, it would go like this: 

First, there’s seed mixing, presented as a common and inexpensive method. I must mix my tiny seeds with a dry, fine substance like sand, vermiculite, or even cornmeal. A starting point would be a pinch of seeds to a tablespoon of the filler. Once mixed, I should transfer the mixture into a salt shaker to allow for uniform distribution as I sprinkle the seeds, and then gently press them down with a flat tool or my over-sized hand to ensure good soil contact and germination. 

Then there’s the toilet paper method that consists of ripping off a strip of toilet paper to a desired length, moisten the paper slightly with a spray bottle. On it, I’d lay the seeds with tweezers on the damp toilet paper with the desired spacing, before folding the toilet paper lengthwise to enclose the seeds, place the V-shaped paper strip directly into a shallow trench in the soil and cover it lightly with soil. Finally, there are always mechanical tools available like seed spreaders whether manual or electric. 

Even though I liked the toilet paper idea, I found it too tedious and time consuming and didn’t follow any of these recommendations, I did it as I did it before, that is, pinching a small quantity of seeds between my thumb and my index finger and very carefully released them (almost) one seed at a time. 

I took my time, felt good about my work and after sowing so diligently we’ll see what we can reap!