Broadcast.
It's Wednesday which means its word of the week time. This weeks word is broadcast. So let's take a look at what my understanding of broadcast means in horticulture terminology.
Broadcast.
Broadcast seeding is a term used for the scattering of seeds by hand or mechanical over an area of soil or compost.
For us home gardeners we would take a pack of seeds and simply scatter them over the area that is designated for these seeds. This could be out on the ground of the vegetable patch or allotment or even in a seed tray.
Personally, there are very little seeds that I might sow in this way outside. The only seeds I do this with would be carrots or parsnips. However, in seed trays, the vast amount of my seeds are scattered over the compost. Generally, the small seeds will be sown this way with larger ones placed into position.
The main reason that I do this is for speed. I don't want to spend all day picking up 1 small seed and drop it into position so I simply broadcast or scatter seeds over the area. Although as seedlings emerge and grow they might be to close together and therefore need thinning out to give them room to grow. I find with carrots that sown this way gives a much more even spread of carrots.
Further reading.
wikipedia page on broadcast seeding.