Tools for Seed Starting

Seed starting can be time-consuming, take up a lot of space, and have inconsistent results. Or it can be the dreamiest part of the season, surrounded by a sea of green baby plants while winter still lingers outside. 

Join three farmers with several decades of collective growing experience at The Seed Farm to learn about their best practices, lessons learned, and favorite tools for seed starting at a variety of scales. Whether you want to increase your production space or improve the efficiency of the space you have, you’ll find out about tools and techniques to germinate seeds faster, grow healthier plants, and improve your bottom line. 

Tools for demonstration and trial will include a vacuum seeder, various sizes of soil block makers, a drop seeder, a pinpoint seeder, and the paper pot transplanter. We will discuss the use of various tray types, including peet/ biodegradable pots, WinStrip trays, Soil Blocks, and standard plastic trays. Growers will share their experiences using different seed starting and germination methods and how this impacted their efficiency, scale, markets, and crop plan.

We will look at three germination set-ups for starting seedlings—heat mats, grow lights, and a germination chamber—and see a side-by-side comparison of two different potting mixes.

Speakers:

• Dan Hunter is the owner/operator of Hunter Hill CSA, a small acreage, no-till, organic practices farm that serves 130 members in the Lehigh Valley.
• Kristin Illick and Jeffrey Frank co-own and operate Liberty Gardens, a vegetable farm just outside Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. They grow produce for restaurants and retail sales in NYC and the Lehigh Valley.
• David Sell is Farm Manager at The Seed Farm, overseeing both the Farm Business Incubator Program as well as vegetable production that goes directly into Second Harvest Food Bank’s pantry network. David has worked on small farms for over a decade, including in packhouse and vegetable production management.

Notes

• Capacity: This event is limited to 25 registrants.
• COVID-19: Please review our safety protocols for in-person events.
• Questions? Check out our in-person event FAQs. If you have a question, contact events@pasafarming.org