Ive got an old tater planter. It has a tub e with a handle at the upper end, and the dividers at the bottom just about like the one shown in the video.
When I did my mkt garden. I planted 80 tomato plants. I got cages for over 100. The idea was, with no water, out of 80, I ought to get a bu or 2 out of all of them a week, and it usually worked out that way.I planted them, I think 8ft apart in the row, and between rows. That way, I could cultivate them with my Cub BOTH in the rows, one time up and one time down, BUT I could also cultivate them cross rows, and diagonally in the rows, like they used to do checked corn. It was a bad use of a lot of ground. I planted this year 2ft apart in my former flower garden, and they did just fine.
I couldn't use my tater planter for the same reason I couldn't use that transplanter they showed. Takes 2 people.
My thoughts are that its a VERY specialized piece of equipment. Its a market garden rig, cant imagine the average homesteader having much use for it. Its a cute setup.....im left to ponder if it would have much use for us out here. We have such a funny winter growing season. Out here all your leafy greens are grown all winter. Lettuce, chard, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, radish, all grown from September thru April. The major issue we have growing those crops is getting them to produce before the cold weather hits in December and shuts down growth until late February. Often times plants are almost about half mature when the cold hits and stops them, when they resume growth in Feb they immediately bolt to seed. It can be frustrating! This year we are abandoning growing in the open for most winter crops and only planting in our high tunnel to see if we can get any better production.
Yuma is on average about 5-10 degrees warmer than Phoenix in the winter. That makes all the difference to leafy greens and Yuma is called the salad bowl of the united states because of it. They grow like crazy all winter there.
Id be more interested in such a rig but I guess what im getting to is that the sort of stuff it would transplant isnt great profitable producers here. We see far more production and profit off our early spring and summer crops (carrots, beets, sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers. squash, onions, garlic, melons). Almost all those except the onions wouldnt work with that transplanter or id just prefer to direct seed.
We only use hand tools and since we are setting up to do Back to Eden style gardening, mixed with other methodology, there will be a lot less work involved (no tilling). Our garden area will be spread out more (Permaculture Orchard, too), but we aren't farming. We do grow 90% of the fruits/veggies we eat. This year, since we moved, one of our nearby neighbors allowed us to use 1400 sq ft of his garden. I am hoping our areas will be ready by Fall.
We planted the whole garden in raised beds except for squash, oats and cucumbers. No mechanical equipment is needed to maintain them. We use a Dutch Hoe. It has to flat prongs with a flat cross piece between them and a long handle. We also have a common hoe and a four tine fork to use in the gardens. We do have a push cultivater and push seeder.
The hay field is still mowed with a sickle bar mower and horse but as we down size we will no longer have a horse and mower. My husband is efficient using a scythe for small amounts of hay which is all we will need for two goats which is our goal.
As for cutting trees for fire wood; we would only use a bow saw or cross cut saw for very small trees or limbs. Cutting big trees with a cross cut saw is very hard work for two men.
Our emphasis when we move will be to build a small house about 16'X24' with south windows, a skylight and well insulated which will require very little wood to heat. We fully agree mechanical things are expensive and gas guzzling! Gas here is around $5 a gallon and that is too expensive to use for mowing lawns, cutting trees, tillers, tractors etc. The simpler the better is our forward way of thinking. Have a great day!
Labor saving devices are exactly that.
If you eventually have the personnel and time to do stuff without power tools or you want to practice skills without relying on powered equipment then maybe that's an option to consider...but while we have access to power tools and we still live in a world where time is money, for most folks it makes sense to use the equipment that gets the job done the easiest
Yes but labor saving does not come without a cost. You are trading money for labor/time. It all depends on what you have more of, or what you value more.
Guy with a tiller sees me hoeing and thinks he is doing it better because he cultivates faster and easier. But he spent/spends how much labor to get the money to afford the tiller? And how much labor/time/money does he spend on maintenance and fuel to run it?
I think the point of considering manual tools is realizing that 'faster and easier' is not always the best or most economical way to get it done ( and it oftenisn't faster when you consider the time it takes to earn the price ). I think Thoreau said something about the time it takes to walk to a location being sometimes shorter than the time it takes to earn a train ticket....yet the average person will only consider how fast the train moves in comparison to walking and therefore conclude that the train is faster.
Thoughts on the Hoss Wheel Hoe? I was watching You Tube videos and came across that fancy piece of American made equipment. It seems to be a good price point (if I buy implements separately) and it requires no gas and seems to take only a teeny bit of technical knowledge. I've got that and brute strength to boot !!!!
I really like the Hoss, other than the low down planter for it. Im going to buy their R & L plows as I have none here and a disc, Maybe 2 discs IF I find I can easily push one. Ill have to build a way to mount them onto my high and low wheel cultivators. IF I cant push 2, than my Iron Mule can.
As you likely saw in the vids, the plows can be used singly, OR together, making it a lister. I saw them listing to plant potatoes, but I was always taught that they had to be down lower than they can make the rows.
I really like the Hoss, other than the low down planter for it. Im going to buy their R & L plows as I have none here and a disc, Maybe 2 discs IF I find I can easily push one. Ill have to build a way to mount them onto my high and low wheel cultivators. IF I cant push 2, than my Iron Mule can.
As you likely saw in the vids, the plows can be used singly, OR together, making it a lister. I saw them listing to plant potatoes, but I was always taught that they had to be down lower than they can make the rows.
Okay. Valley Oak or Hoss wheel hoe? I like the idea of the two wheel hoe. What do you think ?
Thoughts on the Hoss Wheel Hoe? I was watching You Tube videos and came across that fancy piece of American made equipment. It seems to be a good price point (if I buy implements separately) and it requires no gas and seems to take only a teeny bit of technical knowledge. I've got that and brute strength to boot !!!!
Is there anything in particular you want to know on the Hoss? We use ours extensively with almost every attachment they make. Only thing we dont have is the disk.
Heres some pictures of our corn patch this year. Seeded with the Hoss seeder and cultivated exclusively with the Hoss wheel hoe. It produced fantastically. 6 different types of corn in a succession.
The double wheel option along with the double stirrup on the spreader bar is SLICK for being able to straddle those small plants and weed either side at the same time. Even in our hard clay it worked fantastically. A good workout but a good job done.
The double wheel option along with the double stirrup on the spreader bar is SLICK for being able to straddle those small plants and weed either side at the same time. Even in our hard clay it worked fantastically. A good workout but a good job done.
Wow ! Awesome pics. Thanks for sharing them!
I'm just looking for an easier way to stay on top of the weeds between the rows, dig straight furrows to plant, maybe build hills (I still have lots to learn about that - want to plant some potatoes next winter), and keep the soil broken up so it's not so hard. I hadn't considered the option of planting the seeds but I'm sure that's a good idea, too. Mainly the weeds. So. Many. Weeds.
This is a good overview of things you can do with a wheel hoe. Now ill be honest......that is some seriously sandy soil. Its not as easy to use in my clay at all...but it gets the job done for sure. The cultivators and stirrup hoe are excellent for weeding inbetween rows. Ive never used the sweeps. Didnt think they would hold up to our hard soil.
This is a good overview of things you can do with a wheel hoe. Now ill be honest......that is some seriously sandy soil. Its not as easy to use in my clay at all...but it gets the job done for sure. The cultivators and stirrup hoe are excellent for weeding inbetween rows. Ive never used the sweeps. Didnt think they would hold up to our hard soil.
Yeah .... That soil looks nothing like my soil, too. At least not yet. I figure it will take a couple of years to get there.
I one time figured out, at Lehmans price, getting all but the seeder and disc, I would have way over $500 in it.
Well...I figure that if I buy it in pieces, ask for parts for Christmas/birthday/Mothers Day/Flag Day ... I can have the whole shebang. Plus, it seems to be something that will last and last and last - maybe one day my great grandkids will be happy to use great grandma Shannon's wheel plow - and I know I'll never learn to fix gas powered equipment - so this suits me well. As long as my body holds out.
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