Seeding Square Makes Planting Seeds Pain Free

A couple of years ago, I  incorporated the square foot gardening method for planting seeds. Basically in a nutshell, square foot gardening is where you space your seedlings closer together.  The close knit plants crowd out weeds and thrive.  However, when you plant 9 beans seeds for every square AND your raised bed is 8 feet by 4 feet, planting gets a little tiresome.  (Do the math and see how many seeds I have to plant in one raised bed.) The Seeding Square tool makes square foot gardening a breeze.  No more measuring or counting. Life is now one happy seed-fest.

Square Foot Gardening Enthusiast.

First things first.  Why do I plant using the square foot gardening methods?  As I mentioned above, less weeds and better yields.  Who doesn’t want more yield per bed?  Learn more HERE.

Originally when I converted to this method, I set up twine squares to create my squares.  However, at the end of the season, the mulch and the squares got into a fight and all of my handy work went down the tubes.

All I can say is what a waste of material and time.  You can’t imagine the time it took to set up my grids.  I felt like a carpenter.  Measure twice and then place once (instead of cut.)

The next year I used small trim pieces to lay down into a grid to plant.  Again–another horror scene.  It was time consuming and I was still measuring.

The thought of another year of using my trim pieces as grids was just plain depressing.

Seeding Square– From Depressed to Ecstasy.

So, when Jennifer, the co-founder of the Seeding Square contacted me to help with her kickstarter, I think I was more excited about the product than she was.

Let’s be honest.  I was jumping up and down.

Okay, I was cartwheeling and I haven’t done that since I was 14 years old.

All I could  think of was no more measuring since the Seeding Square is an exact 12 inch square.  Plus, this little wonder has color coded holes correlating to the number of seeds per square for the different types of plants. See the chart below.

My Seeding Square Arrived!

Just before gardening season, Jennifer sent me a Seeding Square.  Thanks to our wonderful, wacky cold weather, I haven’t planted any seeds until Memorial Day.  I grow most of my plants inside from seed.

Well, I took the Seeding Square down to the bean roadway.  You know the 288-beans-per-raised beds?

At first, I had some rough moments when I tried out the Square.  It wouldn’t lay right.  I was trying to push down the seeds through the holes with the orange dribbler.

The dribbler looks like a small Harry Potter’s wand with markings on its side with measurements for one to four inches for seeding depth.

(Jennifer, I didn’t read the directions. I am not a directions reading type of gal.)

Yes, I should have read the instructions first. (See below.)  You use the dribbler to make the correct seed hole depth not to push your seeds in.  For example, beans are planted one inch below the soil.

 

In Jennifer’s video, she makes planting seeds look so easy.  What on earth was I doing wrong?

I took a deep breath and realized a few key solutions:

• The Seed Square is rigid plastic.  Make sure your raised bed or ground is smooth when working with the unit.  Lump and bumps make it harder.  So rake out your beds the best you can before you use the square.
• Moisten your soil.  I am not talking about drenching it but making it  moist.   When you place the square on the ground, you will see the indentation in the moistened soil.  This indentation helps you to move along the row and know where you planted last.
• Use the dribbler to make holes.  You don’t have to use it.  My beans tend to be soft and swollen from sitting in an inoculate and water. I simply lifted up the square, created a hole with my finger and put the seeds in.  When you do use the dribbler for holes, it is easy to miss a section since you might not be able to see the seeds in the hole.
• Remove the orange funnel from the back of the unit.  The funnel is used to drop seeds into the holes not as a support for the square. (Yea, a duh moment on my part.)

Once I figured out what I was doing wrong, I planted the seeds very quickly.  I only found black beans to be hard since they are the same color as the compost.  (Again, I planted them at dusk when the lighting wasn’t very good.  Don’t do this.)

Watch the video below as I plant white beans. Now planting seeds is just plain fun!

Want one?  I thought you would.  They cost $25.95.  Click HERE.

Alternatively, you can buy one HERE on Amazon.

PS.  That picture above is Jennifer and her husband.  Don’t you love entrepreneurs with a sense of humor?

Disclaimer:  I am an affiliate of  the Seeding Square.  I adore this product and only become an affiliate of products I use myself.  You won’t incur any additional charges from purchasing from me.  I appreciate the loyalty in helping Green Talk to keep pumping out content.

I am also an affiliate of the Amazon program.

 

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