sowing seed in wood mulch

How do I sow seeds when the ground has 3 inches of mulch on it?

If it says "sow 1/4 inch below the soil", how does the mulch affect the germination. Plus, I guess I can kiss all my poppy seeds goodby because I just had to put down mulch (Other plants were planted were I sprinkled my poppy seeds.

Am I supposed to only sow outdoor seed where there is NO mulch?

I'm not the indoor sowing type. I learned that last year. So I'm only interested in direct sowing.

Should I go to another forum with this question? (That shows how lost I am.)

I would just move the mulch a bit where you want to plant the seeds, that's a bummer about your poppy seeds :( This year I plan on doing a lot of direct sowing but I'm just going to move the mulch, mine is leaves, then I have saved a lot of smaller pepsi bottles (20 oz) and cut the bottom of them off and I'll put those over the seeds so the wind doesn't blow the leaves around or the robins throw a lot of leaves around too so that will keep my seeds in place without getting leaves on top of them.

I agree, moving the mulch aside is the right thing to do. If you drop them on top of the mulch, some seeds may germinate and be able to get their roots down through the mulch and into the soil (this is one of the reasons you still get some weeds even when you've mulched) but you're definitely decreasing your chances. Same thing if you put them underneath the mulch--some may germinate and find their way up through it, but again your chances are decreased.

thanks y'all. that's what I thought. :-)