Hi Tori, and welcome to seed-starting!
Don't think of it as a MISTAKE, planting too many seeds too closely together. Think of it as planting a FLAT of seedlings. You cleverly planted them so densely to SAVE ROOM for the first few weeks.
(Now that you need to pot them up to larger pots, it would be nice to have a cold frame or greenhouse to fill. If you don’t have a large enough greenhouse yet, your husband has NO place questioning your seed-starting projects - he should be busy building you bigger greenhouses! Or at least a temporary cold frame.)
Splitting them isn't "recovering from a mistake"! It's the savvy way to select the very best, healthiest seedlings for yourself. (And still have enough healthy left-overs to give potted seedlings to everyone on the block. And if you look up local charity event s and plant sales, over-sowing is even less of a mistake. It's just ambitious preparation for making hundreds of small pots to contribute to that charity event.
If some insane person thinks "you have too many plants", well, that person just doesn't understand gardeners! Besides, there would not BE too many seedlings if SOMEONE was doing his job of making more garden beds for you!
With proper preparation, you have great answers for anyone who wonders why you planted that ENTIRE packet of seeds.
(Next year, you'll know to split that packet 4 ways. Plant one, save one, and trade two. The Hog Wild Piggy Swap is a KIND OF a twelve-step program for seed-a-holics. Very seldom, there, will you hear the phrase "too many seeds".)
1. Buy too many commercial seeds
2. Plant too many commercial seeds
3. Save some commercial seeds for trading
4. Save some of your OWN harvested seeds for trading.
5. Trade for FAR too many more seeds of great variety
6. Repeat steps 2, 4 and 5 with saved and traded seeds
7. Build a larger seed bank for storing ALL THOSE SEEDS you bought, saved and traded for
8. Build more garden beds and cold frames and a greenhouse
10. Learn to propagate rare and fancy hybrids by cuttings and divisions.
11. Trade cuttings and divisions for ever-more rare plants
12. Market rare and valuable plants
