Sowing Japanese turnips... with Dental Floss?

Ok, ok, it's not really dental floss. As the kitchen garden for a world-class chef, we are privileged to be on the receiving end of seeds from all over the world. Chef Kinch travels all of the time to faraway, exotic places, and when the opportunity arises, he snags some pretty kooky stuff for us.

Chef Kinch brought back some seeds from one of his trips to Japan, and they are sown using a really neat new-to-us method. The seeds are actually embedded into this string. 

This method is great for the OCD gardener (tip: you might need a new hobby if this description fits you), and it's also a nice treat for those of us who like to see a little bit of order within the chaos of our vegetable patch. The seeds are spaced exactly one and a half inches apart, perfect for those tiny tender turnips - just the way Manresa like them!

The string is made out of a soluble material that dissolves into the soil once the seeds are watered in. After amending and preparing the bed, we take a bamboo stake and create a trench which will hold the string. When determining the depth, always refer to the seed size - larger seeds like squashes and beans get planted deeper, while smaller seeds like carrots, lettuce and beets get less coverage after sowing. These seeds are on the smaller side, so the trench was about 3/4 of an inch deep.

 

We measure out the seed-string to fit the length of the bed:

  

And then backfill the trench.

Here are the little seedlings:

 

And in about six weeks you get these lovely, evenly spaced turnips!

 

Comments

[finnyknits]

Terrific - it's like Seed Tape 2.0!

Meanwhile, after visiting Love Apple on a few occasions and enjoying your excellent classes (beekeeping = A+), I finally got a chance to enjoy the tasting menu at Manresa and it was extra sweet having the experience of your lovely farm in my mind every time a new course was introduced.

It's good work you're all doing. Keep it up.

[Mike Beard]

Can this "Seeds with String" be ordered?

If so, from where?

Thanks

[Taylor]

What a wonderful idea! I'd like to get my hands on some of that floss!