Planting papertowels?

Pre-plant your garden squares with the Square Foot Seeds lesson. Glueing root crop seeds (turnip, radish, carrot, beet, etc) to a paper towel at teacher-directed spacing (depending on your folding, or your “more than/less than” objective) will make “planting” the first garden crop a breeze. The seeds won’t germinate until they are watered, so let this be an early January, get-back-in-the-swing-of-things lesson and then set it aside until next month. In mid-February, simply place the seeded paper towels on top of the soil in the garden, sprinkle a thin layer of soil over the paper towel and water. The seeds will germinate, the paper towel will compost and with regular irrigation, you’ll be harvesting in a few short weeks. This is a great way to get a head start on the planting season and to foster anticipation for going to the garden when the time is right.

This article appeared in the January 2020 FRESH from the Garden ENews. Subscribe here.