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Awww…aren’t they cute? Yes, BUT: they would have grown much bigger if they were spaced properly and had room to grow.
Fact: carrot seeds are impossibly tiny. This makes them ridiculously hard to plant with the proper spacing, resulting in the mess you see above. (I refuse to believe this has anything to do with my nearly-40-year-old eyes.)
Fact: one can buy seeds, spaced properly, that are attached to biodegradable paper. This is called seed tape, and it increases your seed cost exponentially–the price of convenience.
Fact: Mama is too cheap to pay for something she can make herself.
So here we are.
Let’s make some seed tape. Grab your seeds, some toilet paper, and a spray bottle full of water. According to Square Foot Gardening, there should be 16 carrots in each square foot. I’m doing 5 seeds per TP square–they could probably be closer, but there’s no harm in placing them farther apart.
Lay out your TP (directly on the soil is best) and spritz lightly with water. This helps the seeds to adhere and also starts breaking down the paper. You want to use TP instead of paper towels or napkins because TP is designed to dissolve in water.
Place your seeds on the paper according to the required spacing. These are “Sunshine Mix” from Renee’s Garden–my favorite seed company.
Rescue your seedling forts from Little Peanut, who is now walking and getting into everything, and give her a kitchen pan and wooden spoon to play with.
Carefully (because the paper’s already starting to melt) bring your seed tape to the garden and place it in the designated spot.
Carrot seeds only need a tiny bit of soil on top. Give them a dusting of the good stuff from your compost bin, another spritz of water, and you’re done.
Now we wait. They should be ready to harvest in January!
