The JB Greens Quickcutter

Here’s a tool Dale Zeich of Little Creek Gardens in Kelowna, BC shared with me:

John Denison cut the 18" blade on a regular hedge trimmer down to 12 inches and added a piece of tin to catch the just-cut greens. Dale tells me it works like a darn. Brilliant!

Last July, Vanessa and I paid a visit to Annapolis Seeds and eighteen-year-old Owen Bridge in Middleton, Nova Scotia.  Owen is a precocious and talented seed producer, having honed his skills as a teenager on Vancouver Island before  moving with his family to Nova Scotia and starting his own seed business.

Owen is also really into human-powered hay production, and during our visit he showed us his hand-made hay rake:

From left to right: scythe, Owen Bridge, rake

The rake is made completely of Ash--no nails or screws. Owen used wedges to anchor each tooth, and the shaft to the head. It takes Owen about a day's work to make the rake from unharvested ash to final product.

Another advantage of this rake is that it can be easily set alight during late night castle-stormings. Owen is personally responsible for chasing three ogres out of Middleton. Though in the third case, the ogre turned out to be Annapolis Valley Baker and Bike Mechanic Doug Brown, and Owen later apologized for the mix-up.

Craig Inglis’ Seed-Bed Roller

Craig Inglis made this roller out a salvaged lawnmower handle and a bunch of plumbing parts, which I will try, likely unsuccessfully, to describe below.

So, look. Craig did his best to explain this to me, but he lost me fairly early on in the convo. First, notice the end of the handle--Craig bolted pipestays on to the handle on each side in order to mount the roller. The gray parts are schedule 80 nipples that are 4 to 6 " long. He couldn't remember. The main roller is comprised of four 3" PVC couplings covering another pipe. Because of those end caps you see, you can fill the inner pipe with water or sand or concrete. Sorry. This description is awful. Hany-folk: You can put this together in your sleep. The rest of you: roll around on the ground back and forth to tamp down your seed, like I do.

According to Craig, most if not all of these parts can be got from the hardware store. Thanks Craig.

A quick fix for your Earthway Seeder

Have you ever had small seed get lodged behind the plates of your Earthway, which slows down seeding and grinds the seed to a useless powder? I have. Here’s a fix I happened across on a cool-looking blog called wannafarm.com. I’ve done it myself and using the finger test (checking to see how hard it is to pry the seed plate from the wall of the hopper) and this fix appears to improve things greatly. That said, I haven’t field tested it yet.

What you’ll need:

• One 3” PVC end cap, found in any hardware store
• One 2-inch by ¼” bolt, washer, and a wing-nut for easy removal
• A drill with ¼” bit, a wrench or socket set, and a hack-saw

A hacksaw, a 2" x 1/4" bolt with washer, a 3" PVC endcap, and a drill with a 1/4" bit: everything you'll need to try out this fix.

How to do it:

• Saw off the end of the PVC cap so that there is approx. 1-inch of lip remaining. Drill a ¼” hole in the center of the cap.
• Remove the bolt that links the drive train with the seeding mechanism. Replace it with the 2” bolt from the outside of the hopper. Ensure that the inner and outer mechanisms are nice and snug, and be delicate (at least, more delicate than I was…sigh) to avoid breaking the plastic teeth of the drive wheel. Add the PVC cap to the end of the bolt, inside the hopper. Secure the bolt with the wingnut, making sure you’ve used washers on each end of the bolt.
• You want the nut as tight as possible without impeding the seed plate from turning.
• This fix requires you to remove the cap every time you’re switching plates, but if you use a wingnut it’s a pretty quick procedure.

No, I wasn't drunk when I sawed down the end-cap. I'm just less a handy- than an impatiently-imprecise-man.