There are different seed plates for different seeds. I think I have 2 different bean plates, but not sure. I would recommend the dirt lean towards the fine versus coarse. I have a total of 4 of them. Three are hooked together, one as a single. I use the 3 gang for planting 3 rows at one time. Like a row of radish between 2 rows of spinach.

Just looked at the plates, I do have 2 different plates marked for beans, plus one for Lima beans. the Lima plates spaces out farther. you could use the sweet corn plate for widely spaced beans.

I have inherited about 5-6 sets of plates over the years.

One person I know, used his to plant pumpkins and squash, he used the sweet corn plate and taped off 2 of the 4 holes on the plate.

Hope this helps.

Marla

Marla,

>> he used the sweet corn plate and taped off 2 of the 4 holes on the plate. I love hilljack, redneck, ghetto - whatever type of engineering one wants to call it! When I was about 12, I was assigned to remove a mower and put on cultivators on a Farmall A. Didn't have a wrench that fit, so I filled the sides with coins until it did! Dad did not congratulate me for my ingenuity, but he didn't berate me for not getting the job done!

I sort of presumed the ground needed to be rather fine, not so much for planting but for covering.

Thanks,

Mike

The ground needs to be smooth, otherwise the wheels that turn the plates won't turn evenly therefore not plant evenly.

Yes, making do is the better part of having things.

Marla

I had trouble when I first used mine. I tried taping the holes but it made it get stuck. I could hardly get the seed plate out. lots of swearing! I now figure it is better to let it plant close together because the seeds don't come up as regularly as you think they will. Sometimes they are too shallow to live and other times they miss a hole. Overall it is much easier to use- especially for row peas/beans and in the wind when I used to broadcast seed a bed of carrots for instance. For my root beds I made rows about 10 inches apart and 1 month later went in between these for a second sowing. Lettuce and spinach came up way better than the carrots and peas.

I'm now using a jab planter that I purchased my local Amish equipment dealer, on the tag it says Nolt. It works really well for the larger seeds that I had trouble with the Earthway. Only problem that I've had is clogging the end with mud and not realizing it until I've missed alot of a row. Cost about $50 and well worth it. No more bending over to plant the seeds, and don't need to make a furrow. Strongly recommend it.

Marla

Yup, after being given one last Winter I 'had' to try it this Spring.It is certainly fast, but I learned that the soil has to be very well worked, no clods at all, in order to get even seeding and covering the furrow. I seeded wheat with it using a pea plate in new ground and alot was uncovered.
Now to find a good hand tool for working the soil fine enough ??? Any ideas ???

jeaninmt,

Depends on at least two things: the type of soil you have and how much space you need to plant. My backyard garden has two distinct types of dirt - rich, black earth that if tilled is the pieces are not much larger than a grain of sand. Another part is mostly clay and if I don't wait until it is 1000 percent dry, I'm lucky if 80 percent of it is not at least the size of a marble or e3ven worse, a golf ball.

I can handle this, as the rows are only about 35' long, so I rake the clods to the side. Afterwards, it is fairly easy to work.

Next year is a long way off, but, in my dreams, I will have a Cub tractor (not a cadet but a full size one!) and figure a way to use the seeder but with weights added. Then again, the Cub's hydraulics, in addition to lifting, also exert downward pressure. With my hilljack background, I should be able to figure out a way to make sowing 1000 feet of beans or peas quick!

Mike