Amy Andrews from New Mexico says the time just flies when spring
arrives. During the cold days of winter, she saves future planting and thinning
time by making seed tapes.
 She cuts newspaper into 1-inch-wide strips. To glue the seeds to
the paper, she makes a paste from water and flour, about the consistency of
thick gravy. She adds a quarter teaspoon of water-soluble fertilizer to each
half cup of paste.
Using a yardstick and a marker, Amy marks the seed spacing on
the paper strip — this saves thinning time later on. After placing the
seeds on the dots, she completely covers each seed with a drop of paste. Then
she lets the tapes dry and stores them in plastic bags.
At planting time, Amy heads to the garden and simply rolls out
her seed tapes and covers them lightly with soil. After she waters, the
newspaper rots away as the seeds grow. |
