Patent ID: 8720352

Claim:
An apparatus for planting seeds in groups for hill plot farming, said groups having a group length and a distance between said groups that is a group spacing, operably connected to a farming implement whereby motive power is provided to move said farming implement at a velocity through a field and including; a. a soil opener means whereby a seed furrow is opened in soil, and; b. a seed distributor plate means with an axis of rotation that is substantially horizontal and including a number of seed pockets indented into an outer surface of said seed distributor plate means with said seed pockets sized to hold a plurality of seeds, and; c. a rotational drive means whereby said seed distributor plate means is caused to rotate about said axis of rotation at a rotational rate, and; d. a non-rotating cover means with an inner surface shaped to fit said outer surface of said seed distributor plate means, said non-rotating cover means including a seed entry opening and a seed exit opening, said seed exit opening located above a bottom of said seed furrow, and; e. a retention means whereby said non-rotating cover means is held in sliding contact with said seed distributor plate means, and; f. a soil closer means, whereby a substantially equally-spaced flow of seeds is directed into each of said seed pockets at said seed entry opening thereby being aggregated as a preferred average number of seeds and retained as said plurality of seeds while said seed distributor plate means rotates and moves each of said seed pockets to said seed exit opening and said plurality of seeds flows as said group from each of said seed pockets and is deposited into said bottom of said seed furrow to form a group colony, with said group spacing between said groups and with no seeds between said groups within said group spacing and said seed furrow is covered with soil by said soil closer means.