Germinating Carrots

Question from Evelyn:
My little child Annie loves watching your videos! We had to turn it off the other night and she got so upset wanting to watch you more!!

My question is does that carrot trick, with hot water, work for any seeds? herbs? other veggies? THANKS!

Answer from Pat:
The boiling water trick is ONLY for germinating seeds of members of the carrot family (they are all hard and have hard seed coats): carrots (including wild carrot or Queen Annes Lace), celery, parsley, and parsnips. They all have umbel shaped flowers and very hard seed coats on their seeds. You would cook and kill other seeds if you used the boiling water trick. The technical name for this is “scarifying” seeds to break the seed coat, but few people know this trick except readers of my books and people who attend my classes. I have also made the video on this subject. After planting the seeds by sprinkling them down the row in damp soil or by broadcasting them onto prepared garden soil, pour on the boiling water straight right out of the kettle, then cover the seeds VERY LIGHTLY with potting soil and tamp it down. Carrot seeds need light in order to germinate. If they are too deep they will not germinate. Seeds pop up very quickly and all at once instead of in three weeks.

So, yes it works for one herb (parsley) and other veggies (celery and parsnips). Emphatically NO it does not work with other seeds.

I am thrilled that your little girl Annie enjoys my videos. Please give her my love and a kiss from me.