Allotments 4 All

In Organic Gardening Magazine November 2000, John Yeoman (he does the gardeningguild/the village guild website) wrote about paper economy.

Cover one sheet of newspaper thinly with left-over wallpaper paste, sprinkle seeds of your choice on it sparsely, press another sheet of newspaper on top and leave it to dry overnight in an airing cupboard. - This could be cut into strips or squares for individual seeds.  When laying strips, sprinkle fine sand/sterilised soil on top.

from Gardeningguild:

Seed Blanket A very large Seed tape which can be cut into artful shapes so that one's seed bed can be laid out with the delightful precision of an Astrakhan carpet. A Seed Blanket, of course, is a sheet of kitchen paper brushed with flour and water paste, sprinkled with seed in any desired combinations and locations, and a further sheet placed upon it to dry.

Seed Tape: a Seed Blanket cut into strips. Or circles. Or even artistic shapes of any size or dimension. Thus may you rear any plant of your choice from seed in a most complex design (yay, even one that swathes an entire garden) - without the labour of setting out each wretched plant.

MV, Are you a member of the Gardening Guild too then?

Well, just registered. Not sure I want to go the extra mile and subscribe. Might even consider buying Gardening Secrets that Time forgot.

I would go with the flour and water, but surely wallpaper paste has a fungicide in it that could be detrimental to the germination.

You can get fungicide-free wallpaper paste at http://www.healthy-house.co.uk/ (it's not cheap :()

My god I love the sound of this, I can space my seeds standing up in my kitchen, saving my terrible back and out of the wind. after dark and then pop them in quickly the next day.

Are there any veg that don't appreciate this method?

So I cut my tape and I sow it, do I sow it flat (like this: --) or vertically (like this: l)?

If you want flour and water paste, put some flour (you'll have to work out the quantities by trial and error) into water, keep stirring, and bring to the boil. Let it cool. We always made our own when I was a kid. I suspect cornflour would be easier as it isn't prone to form lumps like wheat flour.

Really like this idea.  It is certainly something to try.  Thanks for this Multi.  :) busy_lizzie

What an absolute stroke of genius.  I'll be doing this for sure!

Homemade Seed Tape

Directions:


1. Cut newspaper strips about 1” wide. (If you cut strips off the edge of a newspaper page, you can make sure the strips are straight.)


2. Mix a sticky paste of flour and water - the consistency of thick gravy or soft pudding seems to work well.


3. Using a Q-tip or small artist’s paintbrush as an applicator, dab paste on the newspaper strip, spacing the dabs the right distance apart for the type of seed you’re planting.


4. Place a seed on each dab and set the strip aside to dry. Both large and small seeds lend themselves to this method, but you may find that tweezers are helpful in handling smaller seeds.


5. Plant the seed tapes in a furrow, seed side up, and cover as you normally would.


6. Keep seeds and seedlings well watered.



From “Easy Things to Make … To Make Things Easy” by Doreen Greenstein, published by Brookline Books, P.O. Box 1047, Cambridge, MA 02238, 1-800-666-BOOK

Wow, brilliant, thanks - must try if I ever get time  ;D

Due to the problems with fungicides in wallpaperm pastes, us teachers just tend to water down pva glue nowadays.  This may well work for seed tapes - water based and organic (I think)

Did anyone try it for this year? I didn't! Might try for next year though.

Yes, tried them for the first time with spinach, onion and beetroot last week. The spinach is sprouting very happily, no sign of onion or beetroot yet ...  :P

Last week for beetroot? will it grow ok? How long does beetroot take to produce decent sized roots?

Derekthefox :D

what a brilliant idea, can`t wait to try it!.

Beetroot are up! This is experimental D, but at the very least I will have beet greens this winter! I will DEFINITELY do this again, super tip, the spinach and onions are up and look very trim! 8)

Quote from: amphibian on August 11, 2005, 21:32:37
My god I love the sound of this, I can space my seeds standing up in my kitchen, saving my terrible back and out of the wind. after dark and then pop them in quickly the next day.

Are there any veg that don't appreciate this method?

So I cut my tape and I sow it, do I sow it flat (like this: --) or vertically (like this: l)?

Not sure you got an answer to this A, but it should work either way (just not upside down). But noticed in another book the idea of chopping up the seed tape and making a little ball of it before popping through holes in black plastic for e.g. lettuce on weedy ground. Wow. ;D

I am so tempted by this idea, sounds like I can use the evenings to prepare the tapes, then plant them later on . . .

Derekthefox  :D