I like to use compost tea to soak seeds, and to water seeds in when planting, especially in modules. At this time of year the temperature is too low to create a decent compost tea, so how do we achieve the same results?
Soaking Seeds
I pre -germinate all of my larger seeds by soaking them for up to 12 hours, and then setting them on damp kitchen paper. That allows me to only use seeds that have shown themselves as viable. This saves empty spaces in pots and modules.
I prefer to use actively aerated compost tea in the soak water, to get a healthy bunch of soil microbes coating the seed and root prior to planting out. For smaller seeds I tend to use compost tea to water the seeds initially to achieve the same effect.
For a really basic explanation take a look at the Compost Tea Link. Alternatively there is a lot of information about compost tea in the archives.