17 Vegetables You Can Plant In Your Garden Just By Sprinkling The Seeds

Sometimes, the easiest way to grow a vegetable garden is to let nature do the heavy lifting. Scatter-sowing, also known as broadcast seeding, is a simple and headache-free way to grow plants. It skips the tedious and time-consuming tasks like digging dozens of small holes into the soil, or germinating plants in small nursery pots. It's fast, efficient, and it's a wonderful way to fill a garden bed or raised container with lettuce, carrots, or radishes. This is great for beginners and experienced gardeners alike, especially those who'd like to maximize grocery savings by planting vegetables. 

But choosing the right vegetables for this technique is important, because not all seeds thrive when loosely sown on the ground. In general, this technique works well with seeds that only need a thin layer of soil over them to germinate. One risk of sprinkle seeding is that plants can overcrowd each other, which may slow their growth. To remedy this, thinning might be required with plants like radishes or beets once greens start to sprout. 

And let's be clear, broadcast seeding does require some work. First, you'll need to prepare the soil. Oftentimes, this can be done by adding compost and water, though it can vary depending on the vegetable. Another step that's sometimes helpful is to create thin and shallow rows in the soil to keep crops organized. It's nothing like digging up a trench, and it can be done by gently pressing a plank of wood, a ruler, or another straight edge half an inch or an inch into the ground. Then, you can sprinkle seeds loosely into that row and push some soil over it with your hand. 

Looseleaf lettuce is easy to grow and a wonderful choice for beginners. You can simply scatter these seeds by hand onto the ground and pat them down to make sure they stay in place and don't blow away. Repeat this step often and with small amounts of seeds throughout the growing season. Looseleaf lettuce is a cut-and-come-again crop, meaning you can harvest what you need while new leaves continue to grow. It's a low-effort and rewarding crop to grow in your garden. 

Arugula has very small seeds that grow relatively quickly. They can be sown fairly close to each other, which is perfect for sprinkling. The ideal way to sow arugula is by taking a bunch of seeds in your hand and scattering them over the surface. No need to cover them up with lots of soil, just use your hand to move some dirt around and tamp down the seeds. You don't want the seeds to blow away in the wind, but you definitely don't want them too deeply either. 

Spinach seeds can also be scattered by hand into the ground, but they require a bit more order and organization than lettuce. Instead of scattering spinach seeds loosely on the soil, you can sprinkle them in a row. Scatter the spinach seed by hand along that row and tamp down with your hand to make sure the seeds are firmly adhering to the soil. Ideally, you'll want each spinach plant a few inches apart from the next, so be a bit more precise when sprinkling down the seeds to give them all enough space to breathe. 

Mizuna (Brassica rapa var. nipposinica), also known as Japanese mustard greens, is a leafy green that's rich in antioxidants and vitamins. This is more typically grown and used in Asia, but it's similar to bitter leafy greens, like arugula. Mizuna seeds can be sprinkled by hand over the ground. Be gentle with it to make sure the seeds are scattered thinly, ideally, at least an inch or so apart from each other. If needed, do some thinning once the seeds sprout to maintain that spacing.

Sprinkle seeding isn't just about tossing dozens or hundreds of seeds all at once. Sometimes, it's a method that you can use for planting just a handful of seeds. For example, you can broadcast just a few cabbage seeds at a time. First, water the soil thoroughly and flatten it. Then, sprinkle the cabbage seeds evenly by hand, giving them at least 18 inches of space from each other. Finally, tamp them down, or sprinkle some soil over the seeds (less than a quarter-inch), and spray some water on them. 

You can sprinkle radish seeds loosely in soil, as long as you make sure to thin out the plants afterwards. To broadcast radish seeds, sprinkle a seed packet over prepared soil and then use your hand or a rake to loosen the dirt. If you notice overcrowding once the seeds start to germinate, remove extra plants to make sure the remaining ones have enough room to grow. To thin radishes, check the spacing requirements on the seed packet and gently remove the green sprouts from extra seedlings — and eat them! 

Carrots are another easy-going crop that you can sprinkle sow. With large garden beds, you can thinly broadcast sow seeds in an unruly manner. If you have tight garden beds or like to keep your space orderly and organized, sow the seeds by hand in thin, straight lines. You can use a tool, like a simple plank of wood, to sow your carrots in straight lines by pressing it into the ground and creating rows. Then, just use your hand to cover the rows of seeds with some soil and tamp it down. 

Beets can also be sown using the broadcast seeding method. Similar to carrots, it's best to create a thin straight line in the ground to scatter the seeds into before covering them lightly with soil and water. The great thing about beets is that you can thin them if they're overcrowded, and eat the greens that you cut off in the process. Beet greens can be used in many recipes, and they're very healthy.

Bunching onions (Allium fistulosum) are another one of those great plants that don't need to go deep into the ground, and can therefore do well with sprinkle seeding. To help keep your crops orderly, you can create a small row by pressing down on a straight edge just half an inch into the soil, and then sprinkle little bunches (hence the name) of seeds every few inches within that row. To do this, just use your hands, literally making the sprinkling motion with your fingers to drop the seeds in place. Then, move some soil around to cover them up and tamp it down. 

Endives (Cichorium endivia) are incredibly easy to grow from seed, as long as you've got the right temperatures for them. They're a great addition in the garden and in the kitchen, with their crisp texture and unique flavor. The best part is that their seeds can be scattered directly on the soil in a sunny spot in your garden or in a raised container. Just sprinkle the seeds evenly across the ground, use your hand to pat them down, and move some soil over to cover them. 

Turnips can also be grown in gardens and raised containers by broadcasting the seeds loosely by hand. Once again, there might be some overcrowding resulting from loosely sprinkling seeds, but you can easily remedy it by thinning out the plants once they sprout. To sprinkle-sow your turnips, you create a straight line in the soil and loosely drop seeds with your hand into it. If your garden is big enough, just sprinkle the seeds loosely without creating rows, and use your hand to cover the seeds with a bit of soil.

Corn salad (Valerianella locusta) is not, in fact, corn. It's a type of green that's also referred to as mache or lamb's lettuce. It's healthy, and it's got a subtle and gentle flavor that's a lot milder than alternatives like kale or arugula. No need for any fancy gardening to grow these. You can just sprinkle the seeds across the ground and gently cover them with a thin layer of soil with your hand, patting it all down to help the seeds stay in place. 

Garland chrysanthemum (Glebionis coronaria) is a green vegetable that's commonly used in Asian cuisines like Chinese hot pot or various Japanese and Korean dishes. The seeds of garland only need to go about a quarter-inch into the ground to germinate, so you can easily hand-sprinkle them on top of prepared ground and gently move some soil over them with your hand. However, garland plants need some space to breathe, so sprinkle the seeds thinly with several inches between them to prevent overcrowding.

Another vegetable that you can broadcast sow is bok choy (Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis), also known as Chinese cabbage. Bok choy seeds don't go deep into the ground, only needing about one-fourth of the soil over them to germinate. This is equivalent to using your hand and moving some soil over the seeds after sprinkling them on the ground. To avoid overcrowding, be gentle with your sprinkling and use your fingers to place seeds a few inches apart from each other (as directed on the seed packet).

To germinate, cress (Lepidium sativum) seeds only need to be covered with a very thin layer of soil (even less than a quarter of an inch). Therefore, no need to dig any trenches and holes in your garden to grow this delicious green. Simply sprinkle seeds thinly on the ground or in a container. Then, use your hand to cover them up with a tiny bit of soil, water it lightly, and after a couple of weeks, you should start to see seedlings piercing through the ground.

Kale is a great option for broadcasting. Prep your soil for successful planting by flattening it and sprinkling some seeds onto it. Add another thin layer of dirt on top with your hand and water lightly. When the seedlings start to emerge, keep an eye on overcrowding and do some thinning if needed. You can either drop the seeds at random or create a thin and shallow line in the ground (about half an inch deep) to sprinkle the seeds into. Kale plants grow fairly large, so some thinning might be required. 

Leeks (Allium porrum) are not only delicious, they're an easy crop to grow using the scatter method. Just fluff up the soil with your fingers or a rake, and sprinkle some seeds evenly across the soil of your prepared garden bed. Use your hand to cover the seeds with a thin layer of soil and tamp them down so that they won't fly away with the wind. While these are simple to sow, they do require some patience, since some varieties take as long as 150 days to mature.