i've found it is much easier to get some
rows planted from on high (without having to
bend to drop seeds) if i use a hollow tube
to drop the seeds down. also use it to space
them out by sliding it along a few inches at
a time.

now i'm looking into getting a longer one
as the one i'm using now is only a few feet
long. one four feet long would be nice as
then i could plant rows i can't reach into
as easily, plus not as much bending.

a 1x1 with a routered grove in it and
then covered by a thin slat would also work
if you didn't care about round and light.

pvc tubing is probably quite easy. bamboo
looks nicer, but i think it's hard to get all
the nodes cut through for the seeds to drop.

small funnel or flare at the top is also a
help for those with hands that don't quite hit
the end of the tube as easily.


songbird

On Fri, 24 May 2013 12:30:21 -0400, songbird
wrote:

i've found it is much easier to get some
rows planted from on high (without having to
bend to drop seeds) if i use a hollow tube
to drop the seeds down. also use it to space
them out by sliding it along a few inches at
a time.

now i'm looking into getting a longer one
as the one i'm using now is only a few feet
long. one four feet long would be nice as
then i could plant rows i can't reach into
as easily, plus not as much bending.

a 1x1 with a routered grove in it and
then covered by a thin slat would also work
if you didn't care about round and light.

pvc tubing is probably quite easy. bamboo
looks nicer, but i think it's hard to get all
the nodes cut through for the seeds to drop.

small funnel or flare at the top is also a
help for those with hands that don't quite hit
the end of the tube as easily.


songbird


I love your idea. Will keep it in mind when I get ready to plant
beans in the garden. I have a couple of 2"w x 1/2"d x 8' long sticks
that I have marked on one side in 3" increments and the other side in
4" increments.. They certainly help getting a reasonable straight
line and equal spacing. Add in the tubing it would be pretty easy.
--
USA
North Carolina Foothills
USDA Zone 7a
To find your extension office
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/index.html

On 5/24/2013 12:30 PM, songbird wrote:
i've found it is much easier to get some
rows planted from on high (without having to
bend to drop seeds) if i use a hollow tube
to drop the seeds down. also use it to space
them out by sliding it along a few inches at
a time.

now i'm looking into getting a longer one
as the one i'm using now is only a few feet
long. one four feet long would be nice as
then i could plant rows i can't reach into
as easily, plus not as much bending.

a 1x1 with a routered grove in it and
then covered by a thin slat would also work
if you didn't care about round and light.

pvc tubing is probably quite easy. bamboo
looks nicer, but i think it's hard to get all
the nodes cut through for the seeds to drop.

small funnel or flare at the top is also a
help for those with hands that don't quite hit
the end of the tube as easily.


songbird


Handy tool I use in the garden is a long reach pick up grabber.
Saves my back in the fall picking up chestnuts and I guess you could
also use it for planting seeds.

songbird wrote:
i've found it is much easier to get some
rows planted from on high (without having to
bend to drop seeds) if i use a hollow tube
to drop the seeds down. also use it to space
them out by sliding it along a few inches at
a time.

now i'm looking into getting a longer one
as the one i'm using now is only a few feet
long. one four feet long would be nice as
then i could plant rows i can't reach into
as easily, plus not as much bending.

a 1x1 with a routered grove in it and
then covered by a thin slat would also work
if you didn't care about round and light.

pvc tubing is probably quite easy. bamboo
looks nicer, but i think it's hard to get all
the nodes cut through for the seeds to drop.

small funnel or flare at the top is also a
help for those with hands that don't quite hit
the end of the tube as easily.


songbird

I would suggest polymer conduit for electrical wiring, you can pick up bits
around any building site or at the dump. Even if it is too short provided
one bit has a flared end they can be easily joined. To buy you would
probably have to get a 6m length, you could cut them into 1.2m lengths and
sell them at farmer's markets as organic recycled green save the planet
tubes.

David

"songbird" wrote in message
...
i've found it is much easier to get some
rows planted from on high (without having to
bend to drop seeds) if i use a hollow tube
to drop the seeds down. also use it to space
them out by sliding it along a few inches at
a time.

now i'm looking into getting a longer one
as the one i'm using now is only a few feet
long. one four feet long would be nice as
then i could plant rows i can't reach into
as easily, plus not as much bending.

a 1x1 with a routered grove in it and
then covered by a thin slat would also work
if you didn't care about round and light.

pvc tubing is probably quite easy. bamboo
looks nicer, but i think it's hard to get all
the nodes cut through for the seeds to drop.

small funnel or flare at the top is also a
help for those with hands that don't quite hit
the end of the tube as easily.

And using an old jar with a hole drilled through the lid and putting the
seeds in the jar also helps with directing one's aim where it needs to go

The Cook wrote:
....
I love your idea.

anything that saves bending over to
some degree helps. i like to try to
improve with low tech methods as much
as i can.

last year i planted a great number of
rows by sitting on the ground and using
a hand trowel. very slow work. then
towards the end of the planting i said to
myself that this was really silly so i
stood up, grabbed the pointed hoe and
did my seed drills with that. then i
walked along and dropped the seeds about
at the right spacing. the problem with
that method is that the wind is rarely
calm here enough to get a straight drop
so i had to lead the wind. meaning some
fiddling with the seeds that missed getting
them nudged into place. still speeded up
the planting by quite a bit. this year
i hope to get it all done in a week
instead of three weeks.

the pvc tube came along as it was fallen
on the side of the road from someone hauling
stuff. i hate leaving trash along the road
so picked it up. this spring i was pondering
how to beat the wind drift without getting
too complicated and so i trimmed the broken
bits off and it worked well enough to make
me want a nicer wooden alternative.

i think in the back of my mind was the
example of the pelletized seeds and the
air hoses to move them around for mass
planting in greenhouse operations.


Will keep it in mind when I get ready to plant
beans in the garden. I have a couple of 2"w x 1/2"d x 8' long sticks
that I have marked on one side in 3" increments and the other side in
4" increments.. They certainly help getting a reasonable straight
line and equal spacing. Add in the tubing it would be pretty easy.

hope it helps.


songbird

Derald wrote:
songbird wrote:

now i'm looking into getting a longer one
as the one i'm using now is only a few feet
long. one four feet long would be nice as
then i could plant rows i can't reach into
as easily, plus not as much bending.

I have two that I use frequently. One is an arbitrary length of
small diameter (3/8", I think) PVC tubing with a small funnel jammed
into one end; the other is one of those long skinny funnels intended for
filling automobile transmissions, etc.

sure helps!


I have bamboo on hand (want
some?) but it never occured to me to use it as you describe. I suppose
that one could split it down its length and and remove the nodal walls.

i have a bamboo flute that hollowed out one
of the nodes to get the right length. very
nice sound.

haven't worked with bamboo when it is green
ever so can't say how easy splitting would be.
to hollow out with a super long drill bit
would likely be a challenge, but possible as
the bit could at least self center using the
width of the shaft to guide the point. just
would need different long bits based upon size
of bamboo tube itself.


Presently, the bamboo serves as stakes, dripline anchors, vertical wire
trellis anchors, and as dragonfly perches. Oh, and individual nodes
bundled together make marvelous "nests" for native solitary bees and
wasps and, used singly, are perfect "steamboats", of which we have God
knows how many tucked into tree limb apices around the domain.

what is a steamboat? i've not heard this expression
before as applied to bamboo or anything to do with
gardening. just the usual river/lake chuffing along
kind...

bamboo is very useful, but around here the types
that grow don't get big and are pests. some of my
recent readings in the permaculture books puts
plantings of them on islands in ponds to keep them
from spreading.

glad to see you got out from under the truck.
hope things are well for you down there?


songbird

Derald wrote:
songbird wrote:

i have a bamboo flute that hollowed out one
of the nodes to get the right length. very
nice sound.

Is it a transverse flute or a recorder type? Gives me ideas....
Just what I need: Another "hobby".

six holes, C scale, actually too long for my
hands to play comfortably (my pinkie finger is
too small to cover the hole reliably and my hands
cramp after a while) but i don't have the heart
to sell it.

it was smoked and shellacked.


haven't worked with bamboo when it is green
ever so can't say how easy splitting would be.

Splitting bamboo is super easy, even through the nodes. A pocket
knife will do for small diameter stuff. It splits easily enough, green
or not. Dead bamboo doesn't last very long. In those parts of the world
where it is used structurally, a process of "curing" is employed that
removes the organic matter and leaves only the cell walls.

ah, thus the smoking and shellacking...


to hollow out with a super long drill bit
would likely be a challenge, but possible as
the bit could at least self center using the
width of the shaft to guide the point. just
would need different long bits based upon size
of bamboo tube itself.

My thought had been to split the bamboo and remove each wall,
forming a trough.

likely would work somewhat other than the bounce
of the seeds, but if you keep the angle shallow
enough that would probably be controllable.


We have a slow-spreading stand of bamboo along a fenceline. It has
been there at least 40 years to my certain knowledge. However, although
the "reeds" get around 20' long, maximum diameter is, maybe, 1 inch. It
suffered a major die-off in 2011; don't know whether it was life cycle
or some other cause

if it flowered/fruited it was life cycle.
usually the entire stand will go at once.


but other "daughter" stands are thriving. We
obtained those by pegging down joints of living reeds a number of years
ago, pegging down joints of _their_ daughters and so on; it's slow
going.

you're the first person i've ever heard say
they are having a hard time getting it to
spread. usually i hear about it the other
way (that it's too invasive), but perhaps you
have one of the slower growing varieties that
are supposedly not so invasive...


snip
what is a steamboat? i've not heard this expression
before as applied to bamboo or anything to do with
gardening. just the usual river/lake chuffing along
kind...

Oh, my, but you've led a sheltered life. A "steamboat" is a
"carburetor" used to increase the perceived efficacy of marijuana smoke.
A tiny hole, into which the doobie is inserted, is drilled near the end
of a section of bamboo. The stoner stoppers the end of the joint (pun
unanticipated) with a finger, fills the chamber with smoke and then,
while inhaling strongly, unstoppers the end. Whammo! You didn't live
through the '60s, did you ;-)?

i just turned 50 this year, the 70s were
tough enough. i did my time in the stupidity
trenches. learned my lessons. got on with
life. being stoned is just fine, not for me
any more tho.


snip
glad to see you got out from under the truck.
Well, it's only temporary. I've lept from the frying pan directly
into the fire. It's so sad. More in email some day.

'k. take good care of yourself.


hope things are well for you down there?

Yes, "things" are going well, although, I'm still feeling guilty
about my fall-winter gardening hiatus. Finally got my old butt into gear
and have "hot weather:" stuff started. Already getting tomatoes, of
course,




and have some late mustard greens that, so far, are holding
their own against the heat — unseasonably cool overnight temps have
helped, I think — summer squashes are coming in and the beans, okra,
eggplant, cowpeas, etc are coming along.

what type of beans you plant this season?


No "English" peas, though, for
the first time in years. February is normal Spring planting time for
those and, by now, they'd be struggling against the heat and the mildew.
Got such a late start this year, though, that decided to pass but I do
miss the little cuties. Nothing better than a morningtime Samuel Adams
brewski and a handfull of from-the-vine Little Marvels....

i have some pics of seedlings that i have to
edit/post. decided i would do a sprout group
as they are very fun/cute/interesting, but i'm
not in that mood tonight so...

it's been rather cool here the past few nights.
we have plants to put out in the gardens, but with
it being too cool i don't want to plant for a bit
yet. we'll hold off a few more days and then see
what the forecast is like.

instead i've been weaving a trellis for climbing
beans. the old grape trellis gets a second life.
it's in an unfenced area so i have to come up with
some deterrents for critters and hope there is a
harvest. it's overflow area, not too hard to
enclose with a tall fence, so i will likely do that
at some point in the future, but i didn't want to
spend money on fencing if i can get away with
less expensive measures first. looks like a great
crop of strawberries this year even in that back
overflow patch. except the deer have been through
and we have woodchucks around too. i'm still
determined to give that back patch a try without
too many added measures. it is after all partly a
decoy area so that the critters can munch on that
and leave the rest of the yard alone...


No garlic, either, and an insignificant number of onions; long
story there, which primarily revolves around "sloth", if you get my
drift.

it is it's own reward. i shouldn't say anything.
i read a 30something book series this past winter
that was mostly useless fluff...


Have, however,already ordered some of next year's garlic: "Ajo
rojo", a delicious Creole variety purported to do well in Mexican Gulf
Coastal warm-winter climates. Also awaiting word from a Texas grower on
availability of a second variety, "Texas Rose", another Creole that came
up from Carribean islands via Mexico and which, I'm hoping, should also
thrive in Florida's humid warm winters and early-onset summers —
remember, "spring" is about ten days in late February or early March.

i hope they work out well for you. the onions
are all planted here for now. i have some seeds
i should scatter someplace and a few odds and
ends to plant, but the mass beds are in. some
already well up and growing strong (they like
worms/worm poo).

our springs seem to be about that the past few
years. the crocuses are up and gone rather quickly.

probably the best tulip year i've ever had in
terms of quality/disease pressures/weather/bloom
length. which seems rather strange in comparison
to how the crocuses did. you'd think that the
tulips would do better with a little cooler
weather too, but in the end it was the mostly
lack of rain and few frosts that helped them the
most.


Oh: I found a snapshot of the Tampa Bay area's only "real" snowfall
in my lifetime, so far: 1977. It wasn't much and the cover didn't last
for very long after sunrise.

you're sick. some day i'll have to put some of
my snow pics on-line just to keep you appreciative of
that heat.


songbird

Derald wrote:
songbird wrote:

what type of beans you plant this season?

Snap beans. One entire bed of "Provider", a variety recommended to
me some time back by a r.g.e denizen; a half bed of "Delinel", among my
favorites but with which I've had lousy results for the past few
seasons. If I can find space, a smattering of "Tenderette", a new-to-me
variety that am trying just for grins.

let me know how they turn out. i'm always
interested in bean/pea/peapod tales.


i have some pics of seedlings that i have to
edit/post. decided i would do a sprout group
as they are very fun/cute/interesting, but i'm
not in that mood tonight so...

Good idea. It could be an identifier for new gardeners.

that is part of the reason for doing it, plus
the cuteness/artistic aspects. i hope one of my
shots of a turnip seedling turns out as there
was an ant carrying a dandelion seed (including
the bit of fluff/fuzz) going by. the next rainy
day that project is top of the list.


I still
remember the time that I pulled most of my carrot seedlings before
realizing they weren't weeds! Mostly, though, I remember the grief
poured upon me by neighbors....

oh, wow, good one, i could get shots of
queen-anne's-lace which should be close
enough for carrot family...


probably the best tulip year i've ever had in
terms of quality/disease pressures/weather/bloom
length. which seems rather strange in comparison
to how the crocuses did. you'd think that the
tulips would do better with a little cooler
weather too, but in the end it was the mostly
lack of rain and few frosts that helped them the
most.

Been many years since I saw tulips in a garden. Down here, they
require refrigeration and most folks don't fool with them. Except for
shepherding migratory wildflowers, I, of course, don't "grow" anything I
can't eat!

tulips are marginally edible for most people
(a wimpy onion taste), i'd not eat them here as
it's much easier to grow onions/garlic anyways.
tulip bulbs i can often gift or trade for other
plants. the other aspect i like them for is
they are heavy pollen producers (the sticky
pollen that doesn't float around nearly as
much as some other pollens) and the bumblebees
and other bees are quite fun to watch harvesting
from them.

many wildflowers are not common here. almost
all borders of farm fields are sprayed or mowed to
kill them off or keep them from blooming. even
some of the rare and endangered flowers get hit by
careless operators.


Oh: I found a snapshot of the Tampa Bay area's only "real" snowfall
in my lifetime, so far: 1977. It wasn't much and the cover didn't last
for very long after sunrise.

you're sick.

...but that's a constant; one adapts.

we consider it a part of the entertainment...
yesterday and today's funny phrases: "Christmas
bacon" and "crapass".


Hey, I didn't say I _liked_
the stuff! I didn't even take the snapshot -- just found it among my
dead dad's stuff; presumably, he took the photo.

ok, i won't torture you with snow pictures...
at least not for the near future.


songbird

Derald wrote:
Derald wrote:

Gonna harvest this evening and then spray
all (well, except for the nightshade) with Bt. IME, a good Bt
application is even more effective for provoking (not the same as
"inducing" or "enticing", neither of which implies the same element of
cosmic spitefulness) rainfall than is washing an automobile.

It Worked!! 3.65 inches of rainfall overnight. Sprayed'em again,
you betcha.

hahaha...


songbird