First, I needed a way to hang the trellis for my peas and green beans. There was already a cable stretched over the top of this long bed, so I just needed a way to attach the netting to the cable. Rather than tie the netting to the cable with twine or wire, I wanted a solution that would lower the net a bit so it would be easier to secure at the bottom. To do this, I designed a small hook several inches long that could be printed quickly several at a time. Here is the finished garden trellis netting hook on Thingiverse. Undoubtedly it has other applications as well, especially since the openSCAD file is parametric and can easily be tuned to different dimensions.
Seed Spacer
I use a hybrid system to lay out my garden, a combination of square foot gardening and hexagonal plant spacing. Hexagonal spacing provides an aesthetic sense or order in the garden, but it also has many benefits to the plants. When planted in a tight hexagonal pattern, the leaves of plants will shade the soil, which keeps the soil cooler and slows evaporation. The denser spacing also helps control weeds because the established garden plants will work to crowd weeds out and keep them from coming in. Lastly, tighter spacing means you can get more produce per square foot from your garden (you may get less per plant, but with more plants you get more per square foot). For more information about hexagonal spacing, as well as a holistic approach to organic gardening, see How to Grow More Vegetables by John Jeavons. You can also see this reference on the spacing method as it applies to companion planting.
This kind of spacing isn’t too hard to do by hand, but is much faster and easier with a tool to help. This seed spacer was designed to place holes at fixed distances which you can then put the seeds in. Just press the spacer into the soil to make three holes, then lift, rotate, and position the spacer with two of the prongs in two of the previously made holes; repeat….
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: CircuitPython 9.2.1, What is DMA, PyConUS 2025 and More! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey
