More in Outdoors
For easy sowing, buy seeds that are attached at intervals to a biodegradable tape, which can simply be laid in the drill. For a straight row, pull a string line tight across the seed bed and make a V-shaped drill by dragging the corner of a hoe along the string. Make the drill about 1 inch deep for beet seeds (the depth varies for different crops).
Pour seeds into the palm of your hand and sow them one at a time at 2-inch intervals along the row. (Spacings vary for different seeds according to their size; tiny seeds should be sown as thinly and evenly as possible.)
As soon as sowing is complete, use the back of a rake to push the soil gently over the drill. Mark the row clearly with a plant label so you know what you have sown where, and don’t disturb the germinating seeds.
Excerpted from Simple Steps: Vegetable Gardening
© Dorling Kindersley Limited 2007