A method of sowing a seed directly into the soil where it will grow to maturity, rather than transplanting from a nursery to the final growing location.
Direct Seeding in the Forest Garden
Direct seeding can be used for trees or vegetables in the Forest Garden. The most notable advantages of direct seeding are the reduced cost and labor. By direct seeding trees, farmers are able to bypass the need for tree sacks as well as reduce the amount of labor because they are no longer required to prepare and transport each tree sack or bare root seedling from nursery to planting site. Certain trees are good candidates for direct seeding, while others need the early protection and support from a nursery. The best trees for direct seeding are those that have good germination rates, and that grow well without special care.
Farmers most frequently direct seed the green walls and live fences of their Forest Gardens as the cost, labor, and time of preparing thousands of trees in sacks for the perimeter of their Forest Garden takes a lot of effort. When direct seeding, it’s important to seed many more seeds than the number of final trees, as some young plants will not survive. So, if you would outplant 3 seedlings 30 cm apart in a line, when direct seeding, you might plant seeds every 10 cm. If all of them do well, and there is a need, you can always thin them later.
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