Make your own seed tapes for those tiny, hard-to-plant seeds.

Oh, and they're a great activity for kids!

I have to admit I've changed my mind on seed tapes. When I first saw the idea, I thought to myself that making them sounded like what my grandma used to refer to as "picking the fly poop out of the black pepper" (though she didn't use the word poop).

I still think that, but two things have changed. One, I have a child and she absolutely loves doing this; it is a great deep winter type of craft for little ones. Think of all the lessons this can teach: measuring distances, measuring volumes (if you make a flour paste for your glue), adding fractions, and some fine motor skills.

Two, I realized that either trying to get one lettuce seed at a time into the ground or thinning after germination was just as much fly picking. At least with seed tape I can do it while I'm not so busy getting everything else going in the garden (on top of wrapping up Spring semester where I teach which is always busy).

So how do you do it? Easy.

First, get yourself a board and lay a tape measure on it.

Mark off dots with a marker at 1/2" spacing. Don't lose this board, because you'll be using every year!

Now, the toilet paper. Yes, toilet paper.

Have you ever seen warnings about not flushing paper towels (or perhaps even warnings about not using toilet paper as a wound compress)?

The reason for both is that toilet paper is made to break down in water: it won't clog pipes like towels and it comes apart and leaves debris in wounds if used as a compress.

Mark your toilet paper with dots from your board and separate the two plys if you're using two ply. You want to have single ply here.

Oh, and don't make the mistake I did one year of forgetting to mark what seed is on what strip! C for carrot. L for lettuce. S for spinach.

Now either mix up some flour glue (equal parts flour and water) or get some Elmer's style non-toxic glue.

Get your seed package (or use the internet) to look up the seed spacing for your seeds.

The carrot seed in the picture above said to plant them 1" apart and later thin to 2" -- 3" apart.

I think that's probably a good rule to follow for any of your seeds: Whatever your final spacing for the plants themselves, overseed into your tape by 2 times. So, if you want your final, say, lettuces, 8" apart, plant lettuce seeds every 4".

You never know which will germinate.

Now, cut the sharp ends off of a toothpick and put your seeds out on a plate.

No need for tweezers or anything. The toothpick's blunt end makes a great tool for picking up and transferring the seeds.

Dip into your glue, use the sticky end to "dot" up a seed. Go to your tape, and, with a rolling motion, transfer the seed down to the toilet paper.

Now, let it dry and when it comes time, bury your seed tape at the right depth. The toilet paper will dissolve away when it's wet, offering no resistance to germination and no residue to clean up later.

Mine are, as I type this hanging off the pass through in my kitchen, drying out and awaiting a move to a secure location. Then I look out the window and see the snow on the ground and feel the cold draft from the window next to my computer.

Perhaps that's one other good thing about seed tapes: kind of like buying a lottery ticket lets you dream about what you'd do with your winnings, making the tape lets me dream about Spring and next year's garden.