ECF Seeder

(Emerald Castle Farms Seeder)

This tool was designed for wild simulated ginseng growers!
(or anyone who doesn't want to bend over to plant any kind of seed in the woods or flowerbeds and garden!)

I invented this seeder to help me plant ginseng using the wild simulated method in the woods without raking and crawling around on my hands and knees. The design is simple, and it frankly works. I would never consider rake and scatter again unless I had a ton of seed to get into the ground quickly -and even then very hesitantly. With this tool, I can plant about half a pound in an hour right through the leaves.

Over the years, the ECF Seeder has proven its worth not only in the woods planting ginseng, but right at home too! I like sunflowers, but don't want to till a bed along the fence in my backyard. Enter the ECF Seeder and its ability to drop a single seed at a time right where I want it right through other ground cover (like lawn grass). As I've gotten older, I have come to appreciate this seeder design even more in the spring garden. The plate is overall 8" by 4", and the tube is centered 2" from the front -making measuring distances a snap. Take a look:

Let me explain why it is important that this tool works through the leaves. First, who likes to rake leaves? Especially in the woods! Not only do you save time and labor, but not raking preserves the woodland floor. Replant failure is a big deal in the commercial ginseng world. Basically, you cannot grow ginseng where you have grown it in the past. Commercial ginseng farmers buy or lease new farms once they have produced ginseng in all the available land. I’ve noticed the same thing in woods grown ginseng beds. Even waiting five years after harvesting rootlets, I cannot successfully grow in those beds again. So, in my mind, the connection is disturbed soil. We don’t see replant failure where wild ginseng occurs, and I don’t see it in wild simulated settings if the ground is not torn up and disturbed. This means you can continue to replant that area with this seeder, and selectively harvest only the largest and most marketable roots in the patch. Managing a ginseng patch in this manner also avoids a flush of invasive plants from colonizing the area after being exposed to sunlight in disturbed soil.

Another important use for this tool has nothing to do with ginseng. I’ve come to use the ECF Seeder when planting flowers around my yard next to fences where I don’t want to till up a wide bed. With the seeder, I can walk along and poke in a few seeds here and there right next to the fence and let them come up naturally. This works especially well with seeds like sunflowers. I simply plant a row along the fence and let them do their thing. No beds to weed or mulch –just sunflowers growing out of the edge of the yard.

For those with small gardens, the ECF Seeder can be used to plant most seeds through mulch or in a no-till fashion. Consider tilling your garden, laying straw or some other mulch, and then going along and planting your green beans right through the mulch! The seedlings will push up through the mulch and your weeding chores could be significantly reduced. All of this and not to mention that we are never bending over or crawling around on our hands and knees to plant the seeds.

If I told you I could save you time, money, effort, and increase your profits all in one simple solution... would you want to know more?

In fact, if you have ever tried planting wild simulated ginseng by hand you will definitely realize the benefits of this innovative tool.

You might have had an experiences similar to mine. I was looking for a seeder for wild simulated ginseng. The problem was that only altered corn seeders were available. Those that were advertised, were always on back order or otherwise never available.

Finally, about 2002 or 2003, I decided to put my years of maintenance and building experience to work and designed a brand new, easy to use, and most of all effective wild simulated ginseng seeder.

I called my new tool The ECF Seeder.

You will appreciate the simple way this new seeder was designed. With just a little logic applied to the design concept, this new seeder is not only more efficient than hand planting but gives a better result! You can accomplish an amazing amount of work in a much shorter time than you could do otherwise. That saves you time and makes you money!

I am able to plant 15 seeds or so each minute. That comes out to about a pound (7000 seeds) a day! I told you this amazing new tool would save time and effort!

• Those 15 seeds per minute were precisely planted to the optimal depth.
• Seeds can be spaced simply and easily with just a glance.
• This was all done standing without the need for stooping or bending over.
• Wow!

With the ECF Seeder you will be able to plant more efficiently and effectively. You will save time. You will save effort. You will increase your profits. The ECF Seeder does this by spacing your seeds properly, by automatically planting them at the right depth and by planting them in such a way that they cover easily without you manually covering them.

Avoid back pain and muscle spasms from raking seedling beds only to end up with bunched up clumps of seedlings. This seeder plants one or two seeds at a time (you decide). Each spaced and planted simply and easily with little effort. In fact, it works right through the leaves!

You will immediately see how much more profitable your wild simulated operation can be.

• Simple to use -no raking or digging
• No damage to expensive seeds. The seeds are not driven into the ground (or against a rock) by a piston.
• Works for other seeds also!
• Save your back! No more bending or stooping. Plant your seeds from a comfortable standing position.
• Enormous potential. Now you can plant a large quantity of seeds in a short period of time simply and easily! Get them into the ground this year so they can start growing your profits.
• Save time in the woods. Spend your time how you want -not slaving over a rake to get your seeds in the ground.
• Virtually maintenance free. This simple design comes apart in seconds for easy cleaning should something foul the tubes.
• Reliable. There are no delicate mechanisms to break.
• Small and easy to get through the woods where ginseng grows best.
• Seeds are easy to cover. The ECF Seeder is designed to allow for easy covering of the seeds to aid in keeping them from being eaten by small furry creatures.
• Places each seed at the optimal depth for good germination, protection and growth.
• Works right through leaves. No more raking! Leave the area looking like you were never there!
• Works in rocky and root filled soil. Even works in harder than normal woodland soil.
• Simply and easily space your seeds accurately with just a glance. Proper spacing helps aid in disease prevention in your seedlings.
• Rugged all metal construction. Made by hand right here in the USA!
• Designed for ginseng growers by a ginseng grower.
• Designed to stay put when the seed is being placed. No more leaving the seed on top of the ground to be eaten.
• Fast. You can plant about 15 seeds or more per minute. Much faster than planting by hand.
• Does not jeopardize your wild simulated classification.

So, what is the price for all this? Let me ask you this question first. What is it worth to you?

If you can plant an extra pound of seeds per year what would the increased profits be for you? While there are many things that can and do go wrong growing ginseng as we all know too well, if you were to take a 15% survival rate applied to one pound of ginseng seeds, and the market price being $500 per pound. That would be over $2600 if we used 200 roots per pound.

Increase your planting by just one pound each year and you
could be looking at a bonus of about $2600 each year!

How much is something that could bring you a sizable bonus like that each and every year be worth?

To be completely honest ... I don't know what this is worth to you. How can you put a price on enjoyment you get from being in the woods without a rake in your hand making beds? How can you price the value of seeing the woods virtually undisturbed in the fall? Maybe you will plant more than an extra pound of seeds with this time saving, innovative seeder.

I created this seeder for my use and have decided to share it with you. I decided not to charge what this seeder is worth in my operation (talk about sticker shock). I have instead decided to make it available to you for only the cost of materials and labor.

You can still get your ECF Seeder today for only $179.95! plus $35 shipping (anywhere in the United States).

P.S.
You realize that you make money by planting seeds, not digging your roots. If you are tired of slaving to get your seeds in each fall with what little time you have available, this is definitely your opportunity to change all that.

Just envision spending an extra day in the woods, or watching a football game without your back hurting, all the while knowing that you have already sown the extra seeds to bring in a fantastic bonus for you in coming years? Order your ECF Seeder now and start increasing your profits and saving your time in one simple step.

Want to know more?

Ok, let me show you step by step how the ECF Seeder works

I have come to the point that I will not plant wild simulated ginseng without this tool. I am certain you will feel the same way after you get used to using it.

Originally, I developed this tool for my own use. I have tried to buy other seeders on the market and they were always backordered or otherwise not available. The tool that you are looking at is one completely of my own design. Having used this tool since 2002, I am convinced it is the most practical way to plant truly wild simulated ginseng. In the woods, I average about 1/2 pound of seed planted per hour -without being in a hurry or worrying if I drop an extra seed or two in the hole.

The principle is simple...push in the rod to make the hole, and drop the seeds in the funnel. No bending or raking required. I asked my 9 year old son to help demonstrate the seeder. He had never used it before, and it was a little tall for him to use easily, but he was planting like a champ in no time.

In normal woods dirt, just a simple push will work for making the hole.

After making the hole, drop a seed or two into the funnel and give them a second to travel all the way down the tube and be deposited into the hole you just made. Be careful to not move the seeder after making the hole as that will cause the seeds to fall outside hole on the surface of the ground.

I use a shotgun shell pouch to hold my seed when using the ECF Seeder. This allows you to securely hold the seeds in a manner that allows you to get to them quickly. I find this method much easier than keeping them in my pocket. You can pick up one of these pouches at Walmart for about $5.

After the seeds drop, just move over to a new location and repeat the process. If you want to measure the spacing of the seeds, you can do so easily with this tool. The base plate is four inches wide, and eight inches long. The distance from the hole to the back of the base plate is six inches. So, if you want to space seeds six inches apart, just put the back of the baseplate at the last hole you made. The new hole will be six inches further ahead.

Realistically, I don't worry too much about spacing when I am planting wild simulated ginseng. I normally pick a path of travel, then plant seeds in a small arc in front of me as I move slowly forward. This allows me to cover the area a little better I think. No doubt however, the spacing is much more than say four by six inches.

I built the seeder with the angle so that covering the seeds would not be necessary. They will be hidden from above, and the first rain will fill in the hole.As you can see from the picture, the hole is basically not visible. Now, some will wonder about their seed drying out before it rains. This is a potential cause of delayed emergence we see in ginseng. However, by planting right through the leaves, and with the angle of the hole, the seeds will likely never dry out to the point of being a problem. Ginseng seed can tolerate much dryer conditions than we used to believe, but I've never had an issue with the seed sown with this tool.

Here is a better view showing the freshly planted hole. As you can imagine, if there were any leaves in place, the hole would be completely obscured from view, and there would be no danger of the seed drying out.

Below is a close up of the hole after I dug out one side to reveal the ginseng seeds at the bottom.

This picture is a small area that I seeded with the seeder just prior to the pictures being taken. Before I seeded this area, I removed many smaller saplings to make room to walk through. As you see, there is no evidence what so ever that the area contains about 2/3 pound of ginseng seeds just waiting to come up next spring. This space is approximately 25' by 50' in size.

The picture below is of the same area seven years later. Look at all those four prong ginseng plants! There are over 60 wild simulated ginseng plants visible in this picture!! Wow!!

Still not sure?

Ok, I know some have been asking for years (remember, I've been selling these since about 2000). Well, it has finally happened. A video of the ECF Seeder in action! Watch the video, and then decide if more natural planting, which helps protect the seed from natural preditors (turkeys in particular) and ensures a more intentional placement of seed is worth about a pound of seed. This seeder allows for sustainable planting and harvest because it does not disturb the soil like every other planter I've seen requires. I designed this seeder, I still make them one at a time by hand, and I'm the only place you can get one. Don't wait until the rush just before planting time...get your order in early!

Order your ECF Seeder today! They are still only $179.95 + S&H!!

Mail Order:

To order by mail, send a check or postal money order for the correct total amount ($179.95 + $35 S&H = $214.95 *Ohio residents must add sales tax*), made out to Castle Enterprises, to:

Emerald Castle Farms
5482 St Rt 19
Galion, Ohio 44833

Don't forget to include your legible name and mailing address. From the Shopping Page, just add your items to the Paypal shopping cart, enter your zip code to calculate correct shipping, and print the page. This will provide a list of your items, the correct shipping charges (including sales tax if you are in Ohio), and an accurate total amount for which you should make out your check or postal money order. Just drop a copy of the shopping cart in the mail with your check or money order.