Don’t let the rain, snow, and cold temperatures keep you from working on your Spring vegetable garden during the winter!
Make seed mats for your square foot garden in the comfort of your heated home and start planning your vegetable garden layout and crop rotation schedule.
If you are looking for a gardening craft to involve your kids, make seed mats with them so they can learn how to space seeds correctly!
Watch my garden segment on “DIY Seed Mats” on the Home & Family show!
HOW SEED MATS MAKE GARDENING EASIER
The beauty of seed mats is that they end the awkwardness of direct sowing those tiny, hard to handle seeds in the soil!
Lettuce and carrot seeds come to mind.
You can space your seeds perfectly on a seed mat where you can see them clearly!
Usually, most gardeners sow a bunch of tiny carrot seeds in the ground and then thin out the seedlings to proper spacing as they grow.
Too much work for me and a waste of seeds.
Did I mention that seed mats eliminates the need to get down on your knees to sow seeds?
Not that I’m lazy….
Seed mats also dovetails into square foot garden design where crops are spaced within a square foot grid instead of in long rows.
If you don’t know about the square foot gardening method, head over to the Square Foot Gardening website, founded by Mel Bartholomew.
Making seed mats in advance is a garden organizer’s dream activity!
You can plan how much of each crop you want to grow throughout the season and make the proper amount of seed mats for them.
Place a seed mat of carrots, beets, or radishes in the garden one week and start the growing process.
Three weeks later, place another seed mat in the garden and stagger your crops.
You get my point, just don’t forget to leave a grid in your square foot garden open for staggered crops!
Most of all, seed mats cut the risk of NOT gardening in future because of lack of time, energy or whatever.
Seed mats are ready to go into the ground when the weather and gardener are amenable.
Just do it!
MATERIALS FOR SEED MATS
- Lightweight napkins
- Vegetable, herb or flower seeds
- Flour and water mixed to “glue” consistency
INSTRUCTIONS FOR SEED MATS
- Cut your napkins to 12″ x 12″inch dimensions and label each mat with seed name and variety
- Make a natural glue for attaching the seeds by mixing some flour and water until you have glue consistency
- On your napkin, use a ruler to measure the proper distance between seeds and mark with a pen
- Dab some “glue” at each space point and attach a seed, (use 2-3 seeds at each point for tiny seeds for germination success)
- When the glue on your seed mat dries, fold carefully and put into a plastic baggy to keep from getting wet.
HOW TO USE SEED MATS IN SQUARE FOOT GARDEN
Using seed mats in square foot garden couldn’t be easier.
When the weather is right for gardening, amend your soil with compost and mix it to depth of 6 to 8″-inches.
Mark your square foot grid and place a seed mat into each square, (reserve some empty squares for staggered crops in future).
Cover your seed mat with 1/4″ to 1/2″-inch of compost, or to equal depth if you sowed seeds in the ground.
Water gently, add a plant tag and let it grow!!!
SEED MAT TIP!
I discovered Ferry-Morse “Sow Easy” color-coated seeds this year and find them easy to see, handle, and have a good germination rate.
The seeds are coated with clay and other natural materials.
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