This winter the Chequamegon Food Co-op offered a grant opportunity to farmers in the Chequamegon Bay area for projects that would improve their businesses. In conjunction with several other farms, Northcroft Farm applied for and received a new vegetable seeder. In the above photo you can see me seeding carrots.
This seeder has, dare I say, revolutionized, seeding for me. I'll explain how, prior, the way I seeded most things was by hand. Carrots for example were seeded by prepping a bed with the rototiller, running the handle of a shovel up and down the bed to make 5 narrow furrows, sprinkling seeds from a packet into the furrow, and then gently going along and brushing soil over the seeds in every furrow.
This technique has several problems with it. First the five rows were not always very straight. This led to problems hoeing when the rows got too close together and the hoe would not fit between the rows. The furrows were not always of an even depth and when I brushed soil over the top of the seeds it was not always an even covering. Carrots, in particular, are very fussy about how deep they are planted(1/8-1/4 inch). When placing the seed in the furrows, the seed often came out irregularly, sometimes the seeds were too close together, sometimes too far apart, and sometimes the wind blew and the carrot seeds flew all over the place.
The new seeder allows for several improvements. The seeds are put into seed hoppers( clear plastic container with a yellow tag in the middle of the seeder). At the seeder moves along the seeds move over a "roller" at the bottom if the hopper. The roller has holes exactly the size of the desired seed and adjustable gears allow for adjustable and even spacing of seeds. As the seeds move over the roller they fall one by one into the roller, where they are picked up and deposited in a chute that leads to the furrow. The furrow is created by the seeder and the furrower can be adjusted up and down to control depth. After the seed falls into the hole a shovel shaped paddle come and brushes soil over the furrow burying the seeds at a even depth. Lastly a roller moves over the bed smoothing the bed out.
The seeder also allows me to sow 2 rows of carrots at once(3 for radishes and spring turnips) making the spacing between rows more even. The improved spacing also allows me to plant 6 rows in a bed instead of five, in other words I can plant 20% more in the same space. The new seeding technique is so slick I can sow carrots now in 1/4 the time, with 20% more rows, and with more reliable spacing and germination.
Efficiency is Multiplied
This seeder has, dare I say, revolutionized, seeding for me. I'll explain how, prior, the way I seeded most things was by hand. Carrots for example were seeded by prepping a bed with the rototiller, running the handle of a shovel up and down the bed to make 5 narrow furrows, sprinkling seeds from a packet into the furrow, and then gently going along and brushing soil over the seeds in every furrow.
This technique has several problems with it. First the five rows were not always very straight. This led to problems hoeing when the rows got too close together and the hoe would not fit between the rows. The furrows were not always of an even depth and when I brushed soil over the top of the seeds it was not always an even covering. Carrots, in particular, are very fussy about how deep they are planted(1/8-1/4 inch). When placing the seed in the furrows, the seed often came out irregularly, sometimes the seeds were too close together, sometimes too far apart, and sometimes the wind blew and the carrot seeds flew all over the place.
The new seeder allows for several improvements. The seeds are put into seed hoppers( clear plastic container with a yellow tag in the middle of the seeder). At the seeder moves along the seeds move over a "roller" at the bottom if the hopper. The roller has holes exactly the size of the desired seed and adjustable gears allow for adjustable and even spacing of seeds. As the seeds move over the roller they fall one by one into the roller, where they are picked up and deposited in a chute that leads to the furrow. The furrow is created by the seeder and the furrower can be adjusted up and down to control depth. After the seed falls into the hole a shovel shaped paddle come and brushes soil over the furrow burying the seeds at a even depth. Lastly a roller moves over the bed smoothing the bed out.
The seeder also allows me to sow 2 rows of carrots at once(3 for radishes and spring turnips) making the spacing between rows more even. The improved spacing also allows me to plant 6 rows in a bed instead of five, in other words I can plant 20% more in the same space. The new seeding technique is so slick I can sow carrots now in 1/4 the time, with 20% more rows, and with more reliable spacing and germination.
Efficiency is Multiplied