Yes, you are correct.

Mother nature will take care of the rest, when it comes to watering.

'April showers bring May flowers'... Unless you have a week/10 days of no rain your seeds will be fine.

They have been growing for thousands of years without our 'hoses.' That is part of the beauty of direct sowing, mother nature helps out!

If I read your post right, you buried (well planning on) the seeds 1/4 inch deep and then put a 1/2 inch of compost on them so 3/4" deep? That is much to deep. Do you still have your seed packets? They should tell you how deep to plant them.

You should mix in your compost and straw into the first 12" or so, of your soil.. not just the top. It could burn the plants.

Happy Gardening : )

Keriann~

"Yes, you are correct"

Correct about WHAT?

The plants will rot before they emerge. Seed thickness is how deep you should plant. No more than 1/4".

I surface sow everything but the larger seeds; sweet peas, lupine, etc. Just scratch up the surface of the soil a little bit, give it a good soak with the hose, sprinkle seed and press it down. Good, rich dirt should stay moist watering every other day, unless it's just blistering hot sun with no shade at all. If that's the case, you may well need to water every day, or risk lower germination levels. But that's probably ok, too; maybe just sow twice as many as you would and thin if they all come up. I would do it that way and risk it getting a little dry versus burying tiny seeds under all that.

I read the post wrong.. oopppss!

Taz- please forgive me, I make mistakes sometimes.

I woudl add that I would water your seedbed very well before sowing the seeds or they may be washed off the surface.

Keriann~

"I make mistakes sometimes"

We all do. After I seen "you are correct" I had to go back and read the OP again and before I posted I read it one more time lol.

We plant seeds by digging a trench and filling it with water and letting it soak into the ground. Then we fit in a bit and water again a bit just to wet the filled in soil. Then we plant leaving a slight trench. That moisture will be drawn to the surface by the sun and keep your seeds moist. The trench lets you put the water just where you want it after the seeds sprout, on the plants and not the whole garden.

Thanks for the good advice! I planted this morning, and we'll see how they do!