Filed under Around The Farm, Random Stuff by jed78 on 04/12/2010 at 16:54
one comment
I picked one of these up at our local feed store the other day and I thought I would share the experience with ya’ll.
Assembly
It was pretty easy to put this together, it involved about 4 bolts with nuts, a pin and a few wing nuts, I had it together in about ten minutes, and that included finding the tools.
Tools And Seed Plates
Here you can see the tools needed to put the seeder together, 1/2 inch and 7/16 inch wrench and a cresent wrench, thats it, very simple ! The seed plates in the picture are different sizes to plant the different seeds, there are 6 altogether , you can also purchase other sized seed plate to handle any possible seed you could want.
Still In The Box
Here is the box, to give you an idea of the size, 4 cubic ft bag of humus for reference!
Assembling The Seeder
The seeder comes partly assembled in the box, all you have to put on is the rear wheel, the handle and the row spacer, in the photo above I have the wheel on and I’m about to add the handle, you can see that in the left side of the photo.
The handle goes on with 4 nuts and bolts , its that easy , the row marker goes on with a pin and cotter key so it can move freely, very simple design. Like I said it took maybe ten minutes total.
Complete Earthway Seeder
There is also a black plastic clip that the row marker folds up and tucks out of the way in, it just clips on the the handle , it doesn’t hold the marker very well at all, you may have to rig something if you want it to stay there when your done seeding.
Well there you have it , in ten minutes a time and back saving device for the serious gardener, next time a review of the seeder in action, and yes it does have some pros and cons, but i’ll let you know about ‘em soon, so stay tuned!
Filed under Around The Farm, Garden Preparation by jed78 on 03/07/2010 at 16:31
2 comments
After several years of hand working gardens, tending milk cows and goats, raising a few pigs we finally decided to get a tractor. After several weeks of shopping we finally came across Calvin at Allied Power Mart , he made us a deal and we took it.
We got a used rental tractor, Kubota L5740 with 178 hours,Front end loader, a round bale spear, and a 60 inch tiller for a real good deal, they even delivered it to us, They are a real class act there at allied… and no this isn’t a paid endorsement.
Delivery Day
We didn’t wait long to try it out, we hooked up the tiller and started in on a 40 x40 foot plot that has sort of grown over, lemme tell you , it cut thru the overgrown weeds like butter, what would have take a whole day with a walk behind tiller took about 15 minutes, and that was with my brother-in-law and me taking turns on it and marveling at our achievements, Here take a look!
Tilling the garden plot
Like i said it chopped thru weeds and soil and left a smooth patch of dirt, you could hardly see any vegetable matter left.
60 inch tiller
You can see on the right side what the patch looked like prior to the tilling, and the results on the left side after just one pass, its smooth.
Before the tilling
Here is a better shot, you can still see the rows in the bottom right, that’s from previous cropping, it flattened those out too.
After 2 passes, here it is
As you can see it does a very thorough job smoothing out this plot, i’ll be planting as soon as the last frost date comes up in a few weeks!
Well thanks for checking by again, I’ll keep you updated on the planting soon!
Filed under Around The Farm, Tools by jed78 on 02/06/2010 at 17:57
2 comments
Ok folks, here it is, my homemade seed starting rack! I’m going to use this to get a little head start on my vegetable seeds this year. I tried to start some last year but it just wasn’t enough light is the house with out some serious lighting backup. I think I have that problem solved this year, take a look.
The Parts
Wire baking Rack
We had this one already, They run about $40 at the Sam’s club, the good part about these is that the shelves are adjustable. There is also a larger rack that runs about $90 , if you need more capacity.
Fluorescent Shop Lights
I got these two shop light fixtures at home depot for $9 apiece, The rack has a total of 4 shelves so if you wanted to you could add four more lights for a total of three actual growing shelves, but for know I’m starting with one.
Rigging The Lights
The set up is pretty easy, the lights have some chain included with the, you just have to get the lights centered like you like them and hook the chain to the fixture and then the shelf. I used two fixtures for the shelf for more light, but you could use just one fixture per shelf need be. Once the lights are connected you’ll need to adjust the shelves so there is very little clearance from the top of your seed pots and the light base, you’ll need to adjust the light distance as the plants grow, but the closer the better, this keeps the plants from getting too leggy.
Final Configuration
Well here she is, for about 15 minutes of work and around $70 I put this lighted seed starting rack together, it should last a long time since it will be indoors for most of its useful life. I have a few flats of seeds ready to go, so that will be another post, I don’t have the photos ready yet hehehe.
If you needed to you could rig the shelf unit with some sheet plastic for a mini green house set up, I used this set up since it will be in the house where the temps are good but the light isn’t.
Well thats it, I’ll keep you updated on how it works, I potted up some roma tomatoes and some Jalepeno and sweet banana pepper seeds for the first batch and we’ll see how they work!
Good luck with your gardening!!
Filed under Composting, Tools by jed78 on 12/26/2008 at 09:45
one comment
Chipper Shredder
I was thinking of this idea last year, I think I may just go ahead with it. My compost pile takes a while to break down with whole leaves left in there, they form an almost waterproof matt so nothing gets thru. Smaller particles are better, at least I have heard that.
| Avid Gardener, Meet the Chipper Shredder
(Tue Sep 25th, 2007, by Nadia Osman)
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When you’re outside puttering around in your garden, you probably feel tranquil, serene, at one with Mother Nature. It’s just you and your plants, getting along fantastically together. The last thing you want is for that peaceful silence to be obliterated by an intimidating gardening contraption like the chipper shredder. But fear not, those scared easily by loud noises and heavy machinery: chippers are not like their predecessors, and they’re only getting better.
The chipper shredder is interesting in that it’s one of the most versatile gardening tools around. Sure, you may scoff at the idea of having a machine assist with something that’s so essentially natural. Yet after weeks of turning over that compost heap or letting those bags of leaves pile up, it’s best to turn to a little extra help. For those that compost with gusto, a chipper shredder may already be sitting in your backyard somewhere, happily assisting with converting leaves into mulch and spitting out wood chips for ground cover. For the lazy composter, it may not even have occurred to you to enlist a hunk of metal to help make mulch. For those that don’t even compost, the chipper shredder is still handy; with its chopping and dicing abilities (like an oversized piece of kitchenware seen on late night infomercials) will speed up the process of eliminating dead brush and tree limbs from the yard.
Old chippers were often clunky, deafening, and dangerous. New chippers tend to be lightweight, safer, and much quieter. The newer electric models are also less likely to emit strange, toxic odors like the older gas powered models, and they’re healthier for the environment. They work well for long periods of time, given that you don’t shove copious amounts of tree excess in all at once. The more powerful the shredder, the more it can handle; for backyard home work, smaller chippers are your best bet. Furthermore, larger chippers are great for clearing acres of dead tree brush and trunks. For those with compost piles or ordinary yard debris, the smaller chippers work very well for creating mulch. Distribute your chipper’s finished product over your flower bed, and you can be witness to a worm colony growing rapidly in your compost pile. The best part is feeling proud knowing that you didn’t really have to do much-your chipper shredder did all the work for you.
Leftover plant stalks? Stick ‘em in the shredder. Trimming from your shrubs? Throw ‘em in the chipper. Brittle, dry leaves? Why, just chuck those suckers on in. Get all the mulch you need for composting while saving yourself time and effort by using a chipper shredder. Now all you have to do is putter in your garden and enjoy the silence of happy, healthy plants.
About the Author
Find the perfect wood chipper or lawn sweeper, at Composters.com. |
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