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market-farming - [Market-farming] European Seeder-good investment?

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  • From: "Glen Eco Farm" <glenecofarm AT planetcomm.net>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Market-farming] European Seeder-good investment?
  • Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:49:10 -0500

I did a fairly detailed writeup about my European push seeder on the MF list sometime back in the summer. You should be able to dig it out of the archives. It is not a perfect tool but with a few adjustments I can get along with it.

The best thing I like about it is the more sturdy construction and stability when working in my stony and cloddy soil. The seed plates, when needing to be changed, are no more difficult to change than those on the Earthway and if you are only changing to a slightly smaller or larger seed you may only need to spin the externally mounted plate to the correct sized hole, much easier! And you don't have the aggravation of plastic plates flexing and jamming seed under the plate and then popping them to who knows where. Sometimes seed size variations in radish, spinach, or some bean varieties can make life difficult for those using an Earthway. This is easily handled in the European seeder by adjusting the hole size. I havr successfully sowed small seeds like lettuce, carrots, and kale but was dissappointed with the way it seeded sweet corn and I am still not sure about its performance with swiss chard and beets. My impressions are that it does best with smooth surfaced and evenly rounded seeds like peas and okra, and worst with irregularly shaped and surfaced seeds like corn and beets. These things tend to clump together as the rotating brushes move them up the side of the hopper towards the discharge hole and then release irregularly, causing skipped spaces several feet in distance within the row and piles of seed in one spot. I think a redesign of the machine with the discharge hole closer to the bottom of the seed hopper would improve on this problem.

Another thing I found to be essential for using the European seeder, is to have a cordless rechargable hand vacuum (similar to those used to clean up car interiors) to take to the field for sucking remaining seed from the seed hopper when you are changing seed types or varieties. Mine works well but it is another $35-$50 investment.

Hope this is helpful.

Marlin Burkholder
Virginia

Found posted on the bulletin board of a doctor's office waiting room:
The secret ingredients in "Viagra"
*Aspirin 20%
*Beano 20%
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