Tilling and Direct Seeding Beets and Carrots

The wind is crazy here today, but the sun is out and I decided it was time to get some more seed in the ground. The ground has dried a bit from the rain last week, a great opportunity to run the tiller. I had two rows reserved on our front slope for the beets and carrots.

After tilling and prepping the beds, I had to prepare the Earthway seeder for use. The Earthway is a great seeder and a value at its price. It is best for medium to larger seeds, but will work on carrots. Install the correct disc inside the Earthway according to what size seed you are using.

If there is a lot of friction between the hopper and disc, you can use a little mineral or motor oil on the back of the disc to lubricate. You can also adjust the depth of seed planted by adjusting the furrow on the bottom. Since my soil is especially soft and sandy, I set mine at 1/4" to avoid dragging.

You can mark your rows before running the seeder to help you have straigther lines. Johnny's Seed sells small PVC tubes that will fit on their 30" Bed prep rake. It makes it easy, since you can put however many tubes on for how many rows you are planting within the bed. For the beets, I planted 3 rows within the 30" bed, and the carrots I planted 2.

Here is a picture of some of my turnip sprouts I planted mid-February. The deer and my neighbor's dog like to walk through the freshly prepared ground. As long as they don't come back to eat them later I won't complain.

Thanks for reading. If you have any questions about the Earthway seeder let me know.