Category Archives: Vegetables

What comes up vs. what went down: comparing seeders for no-till veggies

A few months ago, I wrote about our trials with some push seeders for no-till seeding, and I also posted a video about precision seeders like the Monosem and MaterMacc. Getting a good stand is the first step toward any successful crop, … Continue reading

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No-till vegetables in New England

If I had a dollar for every time someone told me no-till vegetables aren’t possible in New England, I’d be… well, I’d have about $5. Still, if I had a dollar for every time someone told me it is possible in New … Continue reading

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The right cover crops for no-till spring and fall peas

The right cover crop might be a better soil preparation prior to peas than tillage. At a farm meeting in Maryland in May, farmers and researchers said they had seen as good or better yields of no-till peas following specific … Continue reading

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No-till seeding into forage radish with precision seeders

Precision seeders are a major investment for a farm, but for larger, mechanized farms, they can decrease seed costs, thinning time, and they can enable very easy no-till seeding into low-residue cover crops. We have had the opportunity to work with Monosem and … Continue reading

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Two ingredient cover crop cocktails

Someone branded cover crop mixtures as “cocktails” and it has stuck. Even NRCS has adopted the “cocktail” label: Regardless of what they’re called, the new multi-species mixtures are very exciting, results are intriguing, and these cocktails are probably the cover cropping … Continue reading

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Push seeders for no-till seeding: No-till seeding Part II

Step two after calibrating our seeders was to put them to action in the field. Here’s a short video. This was on a pretty wet day when we never would have tilled the field. It was even a little wet … Continue reading

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How many seeds is your seeder putting in the ground? No-till seeding Part I.

Truth be told, I like vacuum seeders. They plop down seeds at nice even intervals in a perfect furrow, and then close the furrow with press wheels, creating good seed-soil contact. But vacuum seeders are wicked expensive (I’m living back … Continue reading

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