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My perfect soil has developed a "skin". What to do?

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newspud9:
I have very carefully prepared a bed over a couple of years nurturing it with compost, manure, and de-stoning etc.  in order to end up with very soft soil that I could use in particular to grow carrots which had always defeated me.  All was going well and I sowed my first row 2 weeks ago.  However, a few days ago the surface of the soil has developed what I can only describe as a skin.  On a trial section, if i use my hands it can rub back into a really good physical structure.  But that will of course disturb the sown seeds.  Not too sure how to proceed other than to hope the seeds will germinate successfully.  Comments most gratefully received.

Plot 18:
The crust develops when the top soil layer dries out in the sun. Regular watering usually allows seedlings to grow through it.

Perhaps next time you have a hot spell, you could sow in a groove filled with bought compost.

newspud9:
Thanks very much for the advice.

squeezyjohn:
It's likely to be because of heavy rain followed by a hot day - a quick hoe normally sorts it out.

Beersmith:
You are not alone.  My soil is good but rather light. Heavy rain followed by a couple of hot days causes my soil to crust too. Easy to break up with a hoe where nothing is planted. But It is a great nuisance when trying to germinate small seeds as it makes it very difficult for them to break through the surface..

I have two main tactics.  For beetroot, chard and similar I start them in modules and plant out when a couple of true leaves have formed.

But this doesn't work for carrots and parsnips which really have to be sown directly to avoid forked roots. I sow both in very shallow thin drills and cover with vermiculite rather than soil. Vermiculite is light, retains moisture well and will not form a crust.

Generally it works well, but it is not foolproof.  A few days back we had an extremely intense storm and it dumped about a month's rainfall in an hour. The rain was hitting the ground with incredible force. It overwhelmed the vermiculite and caked over a couple of rows of carrots. Luckily a couple of rows sowed earlier germinated well as did my parsnips. I will sow more carrots for succession.

If a crust does form try to keep the surface damp without being too wet. This will usually allow some seedlings to get through although the row may be patchy.

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