Category — Tools

We bought a Jang hand push seeder this year from Mechanical Transplanter Company in Michigan. The seeders are made in Korea. We’re going to be networking with other farmers who have bought this seeder to collaborate on which rollers and gear settings work best for specific seeds. We don’t have any video of the seeder in action yet but I did come across an interesting setup of a gang of the seeders following behind a rotary hoe prepping the seed bed. An effective use of effeciency for sure.

Here’s our soil block recipe that we use. Sometimes we’ll add more compost to a mix depending on how much fertility we feel the compost has. We mix our soil in an old mortar mixer. That’s the type of mixers that have paddles and actually churn the mix instead of a concrete mixer that just spins and turns the mix. We always mix the ingredients dry first (You’ll notice on the recipe it says “mix” after a series of ingredients are added. This helps you end up with a even mix) and then add the water. How much moisture? Well that’s where the artisan skills come into play. Probably more than you think but not so much you end up with a soup. And remember, the peat moss absorbs a lot of moisture over time so if you wet it down, leave, and come back you’ll generally find a much drier mix than you started with. Ideally I aim for a mix that I can grip in a handful and squeeze a fair amount of water out when my grip is closed.

How’s that for non specific in terms of moisture? Email me if you need more input.

About 2 seasons ago we invested in a cultivating tractor. We had been doing all of our weeding by hand, but we started to get behind a lot of the time, and were looking to expand our growing space. We knew that there were a lot of options out there- Farmall made some good ol’ cultivating tractors as well as Allis Chalmers. (There are many others too, but these two seem to be the most readily available these days) One thing we knew about cultivating tractors was they were generally gas powered as opposed to diesel. This equates to less power, the inability to run biodiesel, and just the same standard chugg-a-lug of old tractor motors.

During the investigation of what tractor to look for, I came across a great resource for converting an old Allis Chalmers G from gas to electric. That’s right- 48 volts DC!

So I started the hunt for an old AC G with no motor. Came across one outside of Corvallis, Oregon. Bought it for $800 and then spent another $2500 on the motor, batteries, and other parts for the conversion.

Over the next 2 months I stripped the tractor down to parts, refurbished anything that needed repaired, and then put it back together and added the electric components.

The next question was deciding what cultivating setup to use. I talked to several other farmers to see what they used and consulted the book “Steel in the Field” and came to the conclusion that a basket weeder was the way to go. The basket weeder works great in lighter soils- loams, sand, silt- but does have some limitations in heavier rocky soils. The basket weeder also works best when weeds are at the white hair stage. In other words when the weeds are still just emerging. If you have an established stand of grasses or other weeds then a tool bar with sweeps might be a better bet. (I’m setting such a tool bar up this season and will post about it once it’s finished.)

So check out the video of the basket weeder in action and listen to the quiet purrrrr of the electric motor. Another thing you might notice is the tank mounted on the back of the tractor’s battery box. This is used to spray fish fertilizer as I weed. It runs off it’s own separate 12 volt battery. This way I can cultivate and fertilize in one pass. Any other questions about the tractor and it’s conversion just email me.

At our farm we use soilblocks for all of our greenhouse starts that will eventually be transplanted out into the field. A lot of people don’t know about soilblocking and it may be due to the fact that many folks feel that the extra labor is not worth it.

We’ve found for us here in southern Oregon, where we have highly unpredictable springs as far as weather goes, the soil blocks work really great. Having the plants in the blocks gives us several advantages-

-If you do hit a raining spell, the plants have more room to grow, and can stay in the flats longer.

-Because the blocks all physically touch one another (meaning there’s no divider between cells) the roots are able to intermingle and in essence have the whole flat to grow in.

-And the blocks hold moisture better and longer than standard plug flats.

-Not to mention the fact that we can reuse our flats over and over and not have to throw away any plastic inserts.

We started out using a 4-block maker and have since moved up to the 20 block maker. There’s a variety of sources for the various types of blockers out there. We’ve always gotten ours from Johnny’s Selected Seeds (no I’m not getting paid by Johnny’s for the link, they’re just a great company) but I know that Peaceful Valley Farm Supply carries them as well.

To make a block you have to concoct a specialized soil mix that works well when very wet. The idea here that you take the very wet mix and compress it into the soilblocker and press the release and you’ll have a block. The actually block making process has been the hardest thing for me to explain to people over the years, so thanks to the invention of video on the internet I’ve added a small clip on making the blocks.

I’m always on the lookout for a good source for good priced labels for our packaged salad mix and our produce going to wholesale venues. I currently have a print shop make them up but I need to do some number crunching and see if this set up would be cheaper and a better product.

Our friend Walter from Sugar Mountain Farm in Vermont is a wizard in DIY farm projects. But he doesn’t skimp on quality for cost.

Check out his post on printers and labels here. And he fills you in on how to get a free printer. Cool.

In small scale vegetable farming there’s a discrepancy between low end push seeders and high end seeders. There isn’t a seeder built that is precision, costs under $1000, and actually works. (If you know of something I’m missing please let me know)

The Earthway’s are pretty good considering they cost around $90. But one of the biggest problems is that small seeds work their way behind the plate and start pulverizing the seed. Not so good if you’re looking for decent germination.

At this great annual get together here in Oregon, known as the Farmer to Farmer Exchange (I’ll write more on this in an upcoming post) great ideas are passed around. This Fix was given at one of those round table discussions.

It’s pretty easy:

Take a 3″ PVC end cap. Saw about an inch or so off the end, basically leaving you with a shorter cap. Drill a hole in the center. Then remove the central bolt holding the seed plate assembly to the seeder and replace it with a 1/4″ bolt that is 2 1/4″ long. The bolt should go all the way through the seeder and the new cap. Place a wingnut on the end (for easy plate removal/replacement), and tighten just snug enough to allow plate to still spin freely.

This fix basically just keeps the seed plate against the body of the seeder and helps prevent crushed seeds. As with most things it takes some adjusting, but once you get it, it works like a charm.

Check the pictures for before and after.