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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

Rehoboth Homestead, Peru, NY

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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