Tiny Farm Gear

Based on a first-hand recommendation, and a fair bit of experience with uneven mesclun seeding, and endless carrot thinning (all thanks to the the less-than-precise Earthway seeder), I’m up for one of these! The FarmArt Six-Row Seeder is sold through the well-known US seed house, Johnny’s Selected Seed. From the web site blurb: “Up to six rows can be planted at once with 2 1/4″ spacing between rows. A roller in front firms and levels the soil. One in the back closes the furrows and drives the seed shaft. Four hole sizes are provided for seeds from raw carrots through pelleted lettuce. Three different drive ratios give spacing within the rows of 1″, 2″, or 4″.” This covers all the spacings I can think of for carrots, mesclun and other salad greens, green onions,… By using only some of the six hoppers, you can get row spacings of 4½”, 6¾”, 9″ or 11¼”. According to the brochure, “This design arose from Eliot Coleman’s experience with pinpoint seeders, customer feedback to Johnny’s, and design and development work by Art Haines of FarmArt,” which also sounds good, as in, practical! The only problem is, at $549, it’s a bit of an investment for my 2-acre scale of tiny farming, especially since I also want to try the equally recommended Jang seeder…

Maybe every tiny farm already has one of these, a rechargeable high-intensity spotlight—I’m posting this because Bob, who’s been farming for over 40 years, doesn’t, so maybe it’s something you hadn’t considered. The one pictured is a 10 million candlepower Northern Industrial model, I have a similar Sunforce brand. Previously, I had a couple of 1 million candlepower units, then the 10 million got less expensive ($30CDN on special in 2007), now there are 15, 20, 25 and 40 million units… 10 million is just fine. Having a really bright light comes in handy for nighttime missions, whether it’s dealing with some sort of mechanical emergency, retrieving something left in the field, or just checking things out, as well as poking around in larger outbuildings, like big old barns. You can’t compare the amount of light these produce to what regular flashlights provide. Yes, it could be considered a somewhat decadent convenience tool, and you could do without, but they really are useful! Ideally, I’d like a rechargeable high-intensity LED version that can be supplementally hand-cranked (if that’s possible), as in my experience these halogen models, while advertised as being good for around 45 minutes, only run from 25-30 minutes on a full charge—if you’ve walked out in some woods, or even down at the end of a big field, 20 minutes can go by pretty quick.

If you’re small-scale farming, having a presence on the Web is pretty well a must these days. One approach is to start a farming blog. There are two basic approaches, either by opening a (free) account on one of the blogging platforms like Blogger, WordPress or TypePad, or by running your own blog software. The second way I far prefer, for flexibility and control, and it’s really no more difficult than using a blog service. Only thing is, it’ll cost you a few dollars a month (starting at $5-6). If you opt for the DIY route, there are two main choices in blogging software, MovableType, and my pick for small, independent sites, WordPress. Both applications are open source and free, easy to set up, and quite straightforward to use. For the single site, WP is friendly, easy to use, highly customizable (you can add anything, from contact forms to photo galleries with ease), and, well, FUN. That’s just one opinion. (BTW, this site runs on WP.) If you’re about to set up a new blog, or unhappy with your current situation, definitely give it a try!

The Jang AP-1 single-row hand seeder has gotten a couple of rave reviews, here and in Tiny Farm Forum. It apparently way outclasses the Earthway, although (or, at only) about triple the price: $365US. It plants from small to large seeds (basil, carrots and lettuce, to beans, peas and corn). Also available in 3- and 6-row configurations. I haven’t tried it, but it seems like a must-purchase for increased accuracy and reduced seed use, adding up to much less thinning and cash savings. Available in the US from Mechanical Transplanter and in Canada from Willsie Equipment Sales.

The CoolBot “turns any brand of off-the-shelf, window-type air conditioning unit (purchased separately) into a turbo-charged cooling machine. With it, you can transform a highly-insulated room into a walk-in cooler, keeping your vegetables fresh and thermostatically controlled cool down to 32° F!” And it’s only $300. Combined with a $300-500 air conditioner, CoolBot promises to deliver the performance of a commercial cooler compressor that would cost at least $3,000. It also saves around 60% on electricity bills. Installation is incredibly easy: tape a CoolBot sensor to the A/C unit’s temperature sensor.

This may come in handy for some, a display of all of the tools I have for indoor seed starting. This is for starting about 2,500 veggie seedlings. I have homebuilt, fluorescent-lit plant racks, and use mostly 38- and 72-cell plug sheets. Most of these tools are used always, some not as much: 1. The Seedmaster, a gadget for trickling out small seed as you rotate the wheel (the yellow pieces are click-in filters for different seed sizes); 2. assorted white plastic plant labels; 3. a dibbler or dibber or whatever, for poking little holes in soil; 4. a fine-point black waterproof marker (I like Sharpies) for labeling; 5. the mini-transplanter is essentially a tiny, stainless steel shoehorn for easy liberation of plugs from their cells; 6. a moisture meter, simply stick it in the soil; 7. plant snips for thinning seedlings; 8. Mini-Sim seeder: fill and shake out; 9. suction seeder with three tip sizes: squeeze the bulb, put the tip on a seed, release to hold, squeeze again to drop… ($25…what was I thinking?!); 10. digital timer for keeping track of repetitive tasks like bottom-watering trays one by one; 11. plant light meter, reads in footcandles, with settings for indoor and out; 12. digital indoor/outdoor min/max thermometer/hygrometer, mainly for keeping track of temperature; 13. magnifying glass with light, for examining seedlings (and GREEN MOSS) up close; 14. soil scoop for filling plug sheets and pots with seedling mix; 15. spray bottle with good quality spray head (more water per pull; I’ve used a wand mister like I have in the greenhouse, but the hose kept getting in the way, I may try one again for the seedling room this year); 16. small fibrepak flats, convenient for holding tools and seed packets on the potting table (left lying, the packets can so easily get wet…); 17. small bulldog clips, useful for all kinds of things, like organizing groups of seed packets. And the winners are…all of them, EXCEPT for: #9, which I found to be useless for my purposes; #8 which is great, but mostly for heavier hand seeding in the field, like for flowers; and #6, 11 & 13, which are more educational toys than essential tools, but still cool!

Recently purchased Micro Eco-Farming: Prospering from Backyard to Small Acreage in Partnership with the Earth by Barbara Berst Adams. So far, it’s more than living up to the recommendations that lead me to it. Book summary: “Micro eco-farmers profit on small acreages, small-town backyards, urban lots, and even in basements. Here’s how they succeed, how they start ‘with nothing’, what traits they share, and what secrets they know. Hundreds of real-life examples with ideas, resources and methods for all who aspire to create their own micro eco-farm: from wild-grazed mini dairies, cut-flower stands, heritage rose farms, urban greenhouses, to mail-order farm craft, and more. 176 pages, softcover.” More when I’m finished reading it.

Wheel hoes are excellent! I started using one last season, though I’d been reading about them for a while—what took me so long?! They cut major time from straight cultivating, weeding between-row and paths where you’d usually use some type of hand hoe. Mine is from Valley Oak, and I’m absolutely happy with it. I use the standard 8″ blade, and that’s it. I haven’t tried the Glaser wheel hoes, but they’re no doubt fine as well. They come with a range of accessories, including blades in various widths, a hiller/furrower, a 3-tine cultivator. There’s a two-wheel/two-blade attachment for the heavier pro model that allows straddling a row. The handles can be offset for working from the side.

In North America, at least, the EarthWay Precision Seeder is in a class of its own. This is in good part due to the fact that it’s also the only seeder in its price range… Inexpensive at around $100US, it’s widely used in market gardens and nurseries, and probably larger home gardens as well. I’ve used one for five seasons (with no breakdowns, no repairs!). For direct seeding, for me it’s either the Earthway or by hand.

It certainly works well enough to get the job done, but it also has its drawbacks and requires quite a lot of getting used to. It can be a huge seed-waster, dropping more seed than necessary. It’s also prone to clogging and skipping depending on the type of seed. And you have to get used to it. For example, for bigger seed, I listen for the regular click of the seed going down the chute, and for all seed, I watch to see the seed hit the ground (you get used to it, you can even spot tiny carrot seed! :). So, it takes a fair bit of familiarity to use efficiently.

For a long while, a couple of decades at least, it was the only inexpensive seeder around that could take on bigger tasks. In recent years (maybe the last five), other single-row push seeders have appeared. They’re apparently more accurat, also, more expensive, but in the $500-1,000 range that makes economic sense for the market grower on probably half an acre or more, paying back through savings in seed and thinning time.

All that said, it’s still a useful machine at a great price.

Tips »

These Gilmour hose menders and couplers are absolutely brilliant. I discovered them last season, after messing around for years with regular brass fittings and hose clamps. Made of nylon, with stainless steel screws, they’re light, durable, and feel like precision parts. Inserting and screwing tight are both smooth and straightforward. They’re no more expensive than brass couplers, and they eliminate having to use a separate clamp. I use mainly the couplers, to make up custom pieces of hose (the top row is for 5/8″-3/4″ hose, the bottom for 1/2″), while the menders can be lifesavers if you accidentally slice a hose. I’ve yet to install a full drip irrigation system, so my small-scale irrigation is intimately connected with regular garden hoses. I suspect even with a fully installed irrigation set-up, hoses on the tiny farm will still play a part, and these will come in handy. I have tried one other plastic connector of similar design, but it broke. I’d recommend this particular brand since it’s the one I’ve field-tested with great success.