Market Farming

[Leigh Hauter <lh AT pressroom.com>]

Well, first of all our soil is very rocky, so the seeder doesn't just 
work  every where for us. In fact, when I first got one I had the 
same problem. It was very spotty.  Now I use it in the beds I've been 
working(and picking up rocks) for a decade and mostly the wheels turn 
fine (but not always). The finer the soil is tilled the better the 
seeder works.  Notice that it also works better when you hold the 
handle shorter.  Play with the angle, too. And watch it as you seed. 
Even on good soil the wheels sometimes stop turning the seeder for 
inexplicable reasons. If the ground isn't absolutely flat seems to be 
one of the reasons. I think the seeder could be improved if there was 
a screw holding the wheels to the shaft.  Oh well.

That said, it does a really good job if you are really careful, a 
much better job than any other hand seeder I've seen.

At 7:21 -0700 8/17/04, Petersons family wrote:
> I need to know more about how to use the 4-row precision seeder - 
> I've never gotten it to successfully roll along evenly through the 
> soil.  Somehow my soil and its wheels don't work together.  Do you 
> have cake-flower fine soil?  Do you tamp it down before seeding?  I 
> guess what I need, is info on how you prepare the seed bed before 
> using that particular seeder.
> Molly Petersons
> Whidbey Island
> Washington State
> On Aug 16, 2004, at 11:48 AM, Leigh Hauter wrote:
>
> > I've planted lettuce using the 4 row precision seeder 
> > successfully. You need to pay attention to the adjustments and it 
> > works best in fine, well worked soils.  We planted all of our fall 
> > greens using it and they are coming up in smart rows right now.