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There you are bored to tears just sitting there watching the blizzard outside your windows and lamenting about all that blasted snow you’ll have to shovel once it stops snowing. If it ever stops snowing, that is. You’re snow bound for who knows how long and your cabin fever is getting bad. You’re dying for something to do. You’re dying for sun and fun. You want to get your fingers into the soil and start planting something. You want spring to come NOW! Before you start pulling your hair out why don’t you take a deep breath and do something constructive? Like what? Think about your spring garden.
Blimey! How’s that supposed to help? Thinking longingly about the garden that is currently under a foot of snow just makes you more grumpy. Spring is three months away yet. What is the use of thinking about it? Sure, you can sit by the fire flipping through endless seed catalogues making a wish list to rival Santa’s “Good kid, bad kid” list but then what? If you order them now you still have to wait for the right time to start them indoors or out. That won’t help at all. There just is nothing to do for your spring garden in the winter!
Oh, ye of little faith and even less vision. Don’t you know this is the perfect time to make seed tapes? What the heck is a seed tape? It is a very nifty devise in which seeds are glued on paper strips which can be placed in a long, shallow trench directly into the garden and then covered with soil for simple, easy planting.
But why would you want to use seed tapes? Sticking your finger in the soil and dropping a seed isn’t so hard to do. True, but this is to ensure even spacing between plants without having a ruler by your side during planting time. By making seed tapes during the winter when you have plenty of time all that tedious measuring is eliminated leaving you with more time to do your spring garden chores.
On top of that seed tapes make planting super easy not just for the experienced gardener but also for a tiny child, people with severe arthritis and even mentally disabled adults and children can be taught to use them so, they too can enjoy gardening. Even if you don’t think you would bother to use the seed tape think about making some with those seeds you may not be planning on using next spring and donate them to a retirement home, daycare center or home for disabled individuals. They would appreciate it, I’m certain and think of the joy you’ll give them. Isn’t that worth a few hours during a cold, hard, dreary winter day? Get the kids to help and they’ll have fun too. You know how much they like sticky fingers.
Okay, so how does one make a seed tape? Quite easily. All you need is newspaper cut into strips an inch wide, seeds, a little all purpose flour and a bit of water. With a ruler mark the newspaper at 2-3 inch intervals. This is where the seed will go. M ix together the flour with just enough water to form a thick paste. Dab the paste with your finger onto each mark and place a seed there. Allow this to dry and when dry store in a shoe box, tin can or whatever you might like to store seeds. They can be stored flat or rolled up, entirely up to you but make sure you label each as seeds all kind of look alike. You wouldn’t want to plant a row of cucumbers in your flower bed and Zinnias where the carrots were supposed to be, after all.
Then all you have to do in spring is exactly all you want to do, plant. So, stop watching the snow pile up and get going. Sticky fingers await!
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Author Bio Box: Glory Lennon
 Visit http://www.helium.com/user/32782 for more fascinating gardening lessons, amusing short stories and intriguing novel excerpts.
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