EarthWay Planter-Any good?

I bought an Earthway planter for my elderly parents to use, and once they were gone it came back to me.

In the meantime I bought a Lambert planter. The Lambert took less seed to "prime" the seed hopper and was otherwise much like the Earthway.

The biggest problem I always found was that you had to buy several times the amount of seed you wanted to plant just to keep enough in the hopper to feed into the plate correctly. Seed is expensive.

Since the hole sizes of the plates are for an average size of seed, they tend to slobber too many seed in some instances and not enough in other. In other words, you still need to figure on lots of hand thinning.

For most of the years I've owned the Earthway it has been stored and I've planted by hand instead.
If my back bothered me like some people suffer, then yes, I'd probably use it.

There you have another side of the coin.

Link

I just did a search on Dogpile.com.

It has been so long since I have used one that I really don't remember just how much seed is the minimum required amount.

While the seed can be poured out of the hopper and used the next year, some seed doesn't keep well. As an example, parsnip seed should be replaced every year as it loses its ability to germinate rapidly. Perhaps you don't plant a lot of parsnips though. I like them but have never grown them.

I've been told that garden seed SHOULD NEVER be stored in a refrigerator that has had apples in it. Something about the outgassing of the apples prevents germination. I would think that a sealed glass jar would prevent any problems. Cool storage is best for carried over seeds at any rate.

JT