Chitting seeds?

[WelshGirl]

Sorry for the silly newbie question (the first of many, I'm sure!)
This is my first year of growing from seed, and I've heard about chitting seeds as a good way to start them off, but Google only seems to cough up results about potatoes, so I was wondering if you lot could give me any advice? Is it possible to chit other seeds, and is it a good idea to? Are there any particular fruit and veg that benefit from being started this way?
And, er, how?
It seems to be putting them on damp kitchen roll and keeping them covered... Is that all there is to it?

[Geordie]

theres nothing to stop you chitting any type of seed, but why would you might be the question. If you have an old packet of seed you might chit a few to see if germination is still possible before sowing as normal.
Of course things like sprouting seeds are chitted to be eaten.

[bluemoon]

I chit almost everything that's large enough to handle, - and have done for around 12 years, - so sweetcorn and beans, but especially peas. If peas are chitted they can be sown where they are to grow and you don't get losses due to mice and bird attacks, as a chitted seed produces a chemical which gives the seed a foul taste (it's why you have to keep thoroughly rinsing bean sprouts and the like, otherwise they'd be iinedible). I've gone from 98% failure to 98% success since chitting then direct sowing my peas. Sweetcorn are notoriously slow growers and can rot before they germinate, again chitting seems to stop this and they can be potted on once they've produced a root of about 1cm. Again your success rate should be near 100%. Parsnips seem to be more reliable if they're chitted first too. There's the old gardener's poem which advocates you sow far more seeds than you need; '1 for the mouse, 1 for the crow, 1 to rot and 1 to grow'. Well chit your seeds and all four should make you decent plants, you just don't suffer those sort of losses. Simply line a seed tray with damp kitchen paper, scatter the seeds on it then cover them with another layer. Put the tray in a plastic bag to prevent drying out then put it somewhere warm and check the seeds daily as they sprout very quickly. Re-dampen the paper if it seems to be drying. It's not really worth doing for small, reliable seeds though such as tomatoes and brassicas, and even things like pumpkins and squash are good germinators and should just be put in a pot inside a propagator. Experiment, I'm a real chitting convert, but I'm still finding out what works best.

[TEB]

I chit sweet peas and some beans, either by soaking them in water overnight or in the case of sweet peas rubbing with sand papper, off the sweet peas that I have done recently the ones that were sanded have germinated quicker than the ones left in water overnight, this may only be a one off though.

[WelshGirl]

Thank you for the advice everyone! I have some spare pea seeds so I'll give it a go with them!