Show Transcript
0:00In this video, we're going to be talking about the process of direct seating. We have a bed that's prepped and ready to go. So, what's the first step, Dad?
0:08Well, again, once it's prepped, and depending on the finness of the seed,
0:14you may want to do it a little finer than this, but I don't know. This this is plenty good for most everything that
0:23we would want to seed with it. So,
0:29you know, you can theoretically seed by hand. I can't imagine doing that on a market gardening scale, on a home
0:38gardening scale. Yeah, you can use something like the zipper to to
0:46make a shallow furrow. And I will say that um
0:52the the general rule of thumb is that the smaller the seed, the shallower you want to plant it. So, you know,
1:01omething big like corn or beans, you're going to want to go fairly deep. Um something small like arugula or carrots,
1:13you don't need to go that deep. And then the cool thing about this is you can use the other side to cover it up.
1:23And again, you don't want to, you know,
1:25if it's a tiny seed, you don't want to cover it too too deeply. But
1:32seeds want to sprout and germinate. And I think that a lot of people get a
1:40little too um paranoid about the depth and stuff and you know I mean we never
1:48adjust the depth on our seeders and they work. So yeah, so you can do it by hand
1:57and just, you know, gently drop the seeds in, but
2:04it's very hard to get even spacing. You know, either you're going to be too thick and then you have to end up
2:12thinning by hand, which if you have to thin by hand, you've just lost any money you were going to make on that crop. Or
2:21the opposite thing is to seed it too thinly and then you're wasting bed space with with just you know empty space.
2:33You want you want precision precision seating. Yes.
2:37And so there are a number of options as far as precision precision seeders go.
2:44Um there's a four row seedar, there's a six row seedar.
2:49um both Johnny's product both from Johnny's and we've used them both.
2:55But um we are now using the three row Jang, the JP3.
3:03And um my boys say their only regret is that we didn't do this years ago. We we waited too long to spring and get this.
3:15So, my counsel to any of you that are starting out, this is definitely a it's it's a fairly hefty upfront investment,
3:26but it's going to pay for itself quite quickly. Mhm. Um,
3:33we went with the JP3 instead of the JP5.
3:38It's the same frame, but um there are a number of reasons why I went with the JP3. I tried to do my research. You
3:48know, number one, it's it's slightly cheaper. Number two, it's going to be slightly um lighter.
3:57And number three,
4:01when JM's the winter market gardener book came out, um he said he only uses the the three rows for winter growing.
4:13And since that's, you know, um, for us,
4:18winter grow or cool weather growing is more than half the year, it made sense to me to just stick with the three row.
4:27Yeah.
4:28I mean, a couple other things. You're only having to buy three rollers instead of five for all the different spacings.
4:35So, it's cheaper that way.
4:38And what was the other one I was going to say?
4:42Oh, you can you can actually cultivate between the rows with with a small wire weeder or the
4:52narrow colinear hoe. Whereas if you do five rows, which you know is two passes,
4:59so that's 10 rows to the bed, there's really no cultivating at that point. So for those reasons, plus a few others.
5:07Oh, another reason with the JP3 is that you can use the uh the what do they call these?
5:18Disc disc. Disc openersh.
5:21Um you know, honestly, I've never used the other ones, so I can't compare. But
5:28from everything I've read and heard, the disc openers um are nice cuz you never get clogged up
5:39u furrower kind of thing. So you can't use disc openers if you have more than three.
5:48Gotcha. Uh because they're wider. So anyway, that's uh that's the scoop on the JP3.
5:58and why we chose that over the JP5. You know, I'm sure we don't get quite the same level of production in the summertime,
6:10but I question whether it's really that different.
6:14Yeah. Okay. So, for those that may not be super familiar with the Jang, the the real business is down here. you have
6:23the the seed hopper and then inside the the base of the seed hopper here you have your seed roller and as you push
6:31this thing down the the bed um your chain yeah the chain on this side of the
6:38machine that's driven by these front drive wheels is what uh rotates the the
6:45drive shaft here and meters the the seeds in you have a number of different adjustments you have the sprocket
6:53different. You can change different size sprockets to adjust your spacing.
6:56There's sprockets here that get stored here. Yep. And then you have the the seed roller itself that has
7:03to be um specifically sized for the type of the crop that you're planting. And so
7:11you do have to have a lot of different seed rollers, which is why we've developed this little handy product which clamps onto the handle. We have a
7:19model for the multi- row Jang seedar. Um the JP1 single row Jang seedar. And we also have a model that's just
7:27wall-mounted if you want to have a good clean way to store your uh seed rollers in your tool shed. But um this is this
7:36hopper is full of seeds. So we can't take uh the roller out and show that process. But it's a simple process of just opening up the roller here.
7:44You can open that up. You should be able to open that up.
7:47Yeah. So, this this comes off and then exposes your roller. And when
7:56the seeds are out of there, you just pull that pin, pull the shaft out, and then put a different size roller in there. Um, so it's nice having your
8:04rollers out in the field with you and and nicely organized. So, if you do need to change out, you have the three rollers. You can have three rollers for
8:12multiple different sizes here. here. And if you have a bunch of rollers or say it's a JP5 where you need five of each size roller, you can buy a second one of
8:21these uh roller nooks and and place it above here so you have all the capacity you need to keep your rollers with you and keep them organized. So, all right.
8:30Well, let's let's demonstrate the the process of using the the Jang Seeder.
8:36Well, so we're going to take these off just because we're not wanting to seed arugula here. Um,
8:44so yeah. So I mean it's going to work the same way, but the beauty of the Jang is
8:52it's so easy to push and you know the soil doesn't have to be perfect.
9:00You can literally just I know Curtis Stone used to run with it. Um, you get down the other end, turn it back around,
9:12and come back and you're done.
9:22So, it's super fast, super precise.
9:28Um, you know, it's the Cadillac, but again, I would encourage
9:36don't waste time with the what she lesser models.
9:43Yugo, we can go with that cuz I think they don't make those anymore. Yeah,
9:48go don't go with the Yugo. Go with the um Cadillac or I guess this is Korean,
9:55right? So, we should Japanese, I think. say um Hyundai,
10:01I don't know. But yeah, just uh buy the buy the nicer seeder. Um it's kind of
10:08everything the success of your crops um starts, you know, at planting. So get get the planting right and everything else should fall in line a lot easier.
10:19So u not that you have to have this like just starting out. There are other ways like we've demonstrated, but this is going to give you great results. You can
10:28also buy the single row that's significantly uh less expensive. So, you could start with the single row and just you're just taking a lot more passes and then upgrade to a multi-row Jang. Um,
10:38but I'll just say one one to me a key advantage of a multi-row seeder over a single row is that, you know, with the
10:47single row, you're never going to keep your rows perfectly parallel. Mhm.
10:53And so, you know, you're going to have some of this. So, when it comes to cultivating,
10:58it's much harder cultivating after a single-row seeder,
11:04whereas this, you know, even if you vary slightly, all three rows are going to be perfectly together.
11:13Yep. Yep. No, that's definitely a an important factor. So,
11:18so yeah, that's kind of the low down on seating. Obviously after seeding you want to water and keep it moist. I think
11:26we talked earlier in another video about you know using silage tarp or whatever to cover it if you don't have an
11:34abundance of water. Keep it moist until the stuff comes up. Keep it cultivated
11:41and uh you're off to the races. All righty. Hope this video has been helpful. Until next time, happy growing.
How to Direct Seed on Your Market Farm: From Hand Seeding to the Jang Seeder
By Jonathan Dysinger and John Dysinger
Updated on
Precision seeding is critical for market farm profitability — too thick and you waste hours thinning, too thin and you waste bed space. For serious production, the Jang JP3 seeder is the tool to invest in. Bountiful Blessings Farm chose the three-row JP3 over the five-row JP5 because it's lighter, cheaper, allows disc openers, and leaves room to cultivate between rows. Their only regret: not buying it years sooner.
Direct seeding is one of those tasks that seems simple — drop seeds in the ground and let them grow — but the difference between doing it well and doing it poorly has a direct impact on your bottom line. Uneven spacing means either thinning by hand (there goes your profit margin) or wasted bed space (there goes your revenue per foot).
In a recent video at Bountiful Blessings Farm, my dad, John Dysinger, walked through the progression from bare-bones hand seeding to precision seeding with the Jang, and explained why they chose the JP3 over the more popular JP5.
Can You Direct Seed by Hand?
On a home garden scale, yes. You can use a tool like a zipper (a small furrowing tool) to make a shallow line in the bed, drop seeds in by hand, and cover them with the back side of the tool.
The general rule: smaller seeds get planted shallower, larger seeds go deeper. Arugula and carrots barely need to be covered. Corn and beans go down several inches. And my dad's reassurance for anyone stressing about exact depth: seeds want to germinate. Don't overthink it.
But on a market garden scale, hand seeding falls apart fast. It's nearly impossible to get even spacing by hand. You'll either seed too thickly — and spend hours thinning, which destroys profitability — or too thinly, leaving gaps that waste bed space. Either way, you lose.
If you have to thin by hand, you've already lost the money you were going to make on that crop. That's how my dad frames the importance of precision seeding.
What Are the Seeder Options?
Budget Seeders (Johnny's Four-Row and Six-Row)
Johnny's Selected Seeds sells affordable push seeders in four-row and six-row configurations. Bountiful Blessings Farm used both for years. They work, and they're a reasonable starting point if budget is tight.
The Single-Row Jang (JP1)
The Jang JP1 is a significantly less expensive entry point into precision seeding. It handles one row at a time, so you're making multiple passes per bed — which is slower. But seed placement is accurate and consistent.
The downside beyond speed: with a single-row seeder, your rows are never going to be perfectly parallel. Each pass introduces slight drift, and when it comes time to cultivate between rows, those inconsistencies make it much harder to run a hoe or wire weeder through cleanly.
The Multi-Row Jang (JP3 or JP5)
This is where market-scale seeding gets serious. The multi-row Jang seeds three or five rows simultaneously, with all rows perfectly parallel since they're on the same frame. One or two passes and your bed is seeded.
At Bountiful Blessings Farm, the team's only regret with the Jang is that they didn't buy one sooner. It's a significant upfront investment, but it pays for itself quickly through time savings and more uniform crop stands.
Why Did Bountiful Blessings Farm Choose the JP3 Over the JP5?
This is the question most growers wrestle with, and my dad did serious research before making the call. Here's his reasoning:
Lower cost. The JP3 is less expensive than the JP5 — both the seeder itself and the ongoing cost of rollers (three per crop instead of five).
Lighter weight. Two fewer seeding units makes a noticeable difference when you're pushing it down beds all day.
Disc openers. The JP3 is the largest configuration that accommodates disc openers (wider units prevent their use on the JP5). Disc openers cut through residue and soil cleanly without clogging — a significant advantage over standard furrowing shoes. My dad hasn't used the standard shoes for comparison, but everything he's read and heard from other growers confirms that disc openers are worth having.
Cultivatable row spacing. With three rows per pass (six rows per bed on two passes), there's enough space between rows to run a narrow wire weeder or colinear hoe for cultivation. With five rows per pass (ten rows per bed), the spacing is too tight for any cultivation — you're entirely dependent on the seeding density being right because you have no way to manage weeds mechanically between rows.
JM Fortier's recommendation. In The Winter Market Gardener, Fortier noted that he only uses three rows for winter growing. Since cool-weather production is more than half the year at Bountiful Blessings Farm, the JP3 made sense as the single seeder for all seasons.
Summer production trade-off? My dad acknowledges they probably don't get quite the same production density in summer as a JP5 would provide. But he questions whether the difference is really that significant — and the cultivation advantage alone justifies the choice.
How Does the Jang Work?
The business end is in the seed hopper at the bottom. A seed roller — sized specifically for the crop you're planting — meters seeds out one at a time as the front drive wheels turn a chain that rotates the roller. Different sprockets change the spacing between seeds.
You do need different rollers for different crops, which means accumulating a collection over time. Farmers Friend makes a Roller Nook — a storage accessory that clamps onto the seeder handle so your rollers are organized and accessible in the field. They make versions for both multi-row and single-row Jang models, plus a wall-mounted version for your tool shed.
Changing a roller takes seconds: open the hopper, pull the pin, slide the shaft out, swap the roller, and reassemble.
The Technique
Bed prep: The soil should be reasonably smooth and level, but it doesn't have to be perfect. The Jang handles minor imperfections well.
Seeding: Push the seeder down the bed at a steady pace. Curtis Stone famously runs with his Jang — you don't have to go that fast, but the point is that it's designed to be pushed quickly. Turn around at the end, come back for your second pass, and you're done.
After seeding: Water immediately and keep the soil moist until germination. If water is limited, you can use a silage tarp (white side up) to retain moisture, as we covered in our cover crops article.
Cultivation: Start cultivating between rows within a week or two, before weed seedlings establish. The JP3's row spacing gives you room to work a narrow hoe or wire weeder between the lines — one of its key advantages over denser configurations.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Jang multi-row seeder (JP3 or JP5) is the standard for precision direct seeding on market farms. Bountiful Blessings Farm uses the JP3 for its lighter weight, disc opener compatibility, and cultivatable row spacing. The JP1 single-row model is a more affordable starting point.
The JP3 is the better choice for most market farms. It's lighter, cheaper (fewer rollers needed), accommodates disc openers, and leaves enough space between rows for mechanical cultivation. The JP5 provides higher density but eliminates the ability to cultivate between rows. Bountiful Blessings Farm chose the JP3 and has no regrets.
Seeds planted too thickly require hand-thinning, which is so labor-intensive that it can erase all profit on the crop. Seeds planted too thinly waste bed space that could be generating revenue. Precision seeding eliminates both problems by placing seeds at consistent, optimal spacing.
General rule: smaller seeds go shallower, larger seeds go deeper. Arugula and carrots barely need to be covered. Corn and beans go several inches deep. Don't overthink exact depth — seeds want to germinate, and slight variations rarely cause problems.
Yes. The Jang JP1 is a good entry point. The trade-off is speed (more passes per bed) and row alignment — a single-row seeder can't keep rows perfectly parallel across multiple passes, which makes between-row cultivation harder. Upgrade to a multi-row model when production volume justifies it.
Seed rollers are interchangeable inserts that meter seeds based on size and shape. You need a different roller for each crop type. Roller bundles for common small-seed or large-seed crops are a cost-effective way to build your collection. Store them on a Roller Nook that clamps to your seeder handle so they're organized and accessible in the field.
The Takeaway
Precision seeding is the foundation of a profitable direct-seeded crop. Hand seeding doesn't scale, and thinning by hand erases your profit margin.
If you're just starting out, the Jang JP1 gets you into precision seeding at a lower price point. When you're ready to scale, the JP3 offers the best balance of speed, cultivatability, and cost for most market farms. And invest in seed roller bundles for your most-planted crops so you're not scrambling to find the right roller on seeding day.
Get the planting right, and everything that follows gets easier.