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Subject: Market Farming
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- From: "Beth Spaugh" <lists AT rhomestead.com>
- To: "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: [Market-farming] pinpoint seeder
- Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2009 19:21:12 -0500
I don't like mine. Johnny's
offered for me to send it back for them to work on but I haven't rounded up
a large enough sturdy box yet. Apparently they have made some adjustments
since I got mine 3 years ago. I was going to take it to the NOFA conference for
them to take back, but ended up not going, so. The technical issues - 1)
the soil tends to build up behind the roller and the seeds don't come out. It
may work well in a perfect soil at a perfect moisture level. I have sandy
soil in my hoophouse and it doesn't not work well unless quite wet. 2) The belts pop off and
aren't real noticeable, so you don't realize you are not sowing seeds. 3) it is bulky and quite
heavy. Not horribly heavy, but I had borrowed a friend’s old style
pinpoint seeder before purchasing the newer version. The old one is very
lightweight – rides easily on the shoulder. The new one is awkward to
carry distances. The personal issues - this
is not a set the dial and go seeder. You take out hex wrenches and set a base
hole size. Then you have to adjust the brushes on each feedbin. There are
no "marks" to adjust to, you have to figure out and mark it yourself. It
might work well for me for one crop, but lettuce is different from arugula, is
different from mizuna, etc. I wish I had saved my bucks.
I am not patient enough. Also, I have the greens
harvester and have reverted to a knife. It just pushed my salad mix down rather
than cut it (yes, it was sharp, though it is rusty now) and I had trouble
emptying the salad into a container without spilling it. Call me
uncoordinated. Again, I think they may have
solved the technical issues. My main problem is probably personality. Beth Spaugh Farm Fresh Food Club CSA - http://rhomestead.com Garden fresh vegetables, organically grown, and pastured
chicken, duck, and geese "How we eat determines, to a considerable extent, how
the world is used." - Wendell Berry "Without power over our food, any notion of democracy
is empty." - Frances Moore Lappe |
- [Market-farming] pinpoint seeder, Beth Spaugh, 02/05/2009
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