Alright - tools - what works and what doesn't

[patandchickens]

What kind of hand weeding do you want to do. If you like hoeing-style, they make hand-sized hoe type thingies of various types. Get one that you can sharpen the heck out of, IMO.

If you prefer a more targeted approach and want to slice the weeds off at soil level, there is a lot to be said for a sharp linoleum knife from the hardware store. Paint the handle bright orange. My last 2 are *somewhere* on this property, *hopefully* nowhere the kids will ever find them, probably buried in flowerbeds by now (it's been a couple years).

The most effective hand-weeding, though, if you have the time for it and are not working around any really shallow rooted thing like peas, is to work in damp soil and pull the weeds up roots and all. Dry in the sun for several days on the driveway or etc, then compost. (I do sometimes use a hand-sized hoe, though, if a bajillion seeds are sprouting... or I just rub them out with the flat of my hand).

Dunno whether that gives you any ideas,

Pat

 

[Reinbeau]

As far as garden carts go, I absolutely love my [rul=[url]http://www.smartcarts.com/]Smart[/url] Cart[/url]. Pricey, but it's just so easy to work with, it's well balanced, goes anywhere I need it to, I wanted one for years and finally bought one about four years ago.

For digging I really like my spading fork from Johnny's. Again, not cheap, but it's got a lifetime warranty I know they'll stand behind, and in this yard, with the rocks I encounter, I need that warranty. I had a different brand many years ago, a Wilkinson, I bought at a local nursery, when it broke they honored the warranty but the replacement was no where near as good as the original, and it came without a warranty at all! Anyoo, I digress.

One of these days I'm going to try out a broadfork and see if I'd like to invest in one, but until then I do any tilling with my little four-stroke Mantis.

My Felco #7's are always on my hip in my Sorrel gardening pants (I found these pants at Kittery Trading Post a couple years ago and have never found them anywhere else. Double knees with a removable pad, two long side holders for tools, plenty of other pockets, made of durable canvas type material), along with this wonderful soil knife from A. M. Leonard. I've really come to love using this knife, it digs out roots, makes little holes for transplants, it's just easy to grab it and dig.

There's more but that's enough for now! :tools

 

[Dixiedoodle]

I just received my new Prohoe hoes...one is a scuffle hoe and the other is their heavy duty garden hoe..they are wonderful! Recycled steel, really sharp, easy to use and made in the USA! I got tired of 'trying' to hoe in our large garden with red clay that turns to bricks during the dry summers, with cheap dull hoes! I have used them for two days and they are great..

my Felco pruners...I could never prune the vineyard without them!

And last but not least--I LOVEEEEE my Leatherman's gloves. I wear them all the time--garden, pruning, weeding, planting, picking the produce. They are thin, lightweight and after you wear them a while--they seem to mold to my hands..

 

[Beekissed]

I must admit, I would be lost without my garden cart. It is practically indestructible and has a dump feature. We can pull it with the lawn tractor or by hand. We have carried firewood in with it all winter, used it to spread wood chips and mulch, carry tools, clean the yard, etc. I am superwoman with my garden cart. :weight My aunt is visiting this spring and she is bringing me the kind with the bicycle wheels and I will welcome it into the family with loving arms. My wheelbarrow, though useful, has finally slumped into retirement....and deserves a rest. I will still use him at the roadside when I sell produce because he looks antique...wait, he is an antique!!

My pitchforks are my favorite tool right now, old and sturdy. My long-handled shovel also. :tools

Anybody used a Mantis tiller? My mother loaned me hers to break up some soil and, MAN, do they have the power!!!! I was amazed! Although I am going toward no-till, if I would change my mind, I would want that little firecracker in my toolshed (takes up NO space, can hang it on the wall!).

 

[Reinbeau]

I've got the four-stroke Honda engined Mantis and I love it. I had a two-stroke for years (and despite what you hear, mine started reliably, but I stored it indoors for the winter, that may have made the difference), but a tree crushed my shed and the old Mantis was replaced with the newer, quieter one with the insurance money

 

[JohnL11935]

YARD CARTS-
This looks like a very useful tool, but an expensive purchase. Anyone use them and recommend them? I have a few hills (walkout basement) so a level lot is not exactly a good description for my yard.

Check out:

http://gardencartblog.blogspot.com/

I built a whizbang cart for a coworker - they absolutely love it. Now, if I could only find time to build one for myself!

 

[simple life]

My favorite hand tools are from Seeds of Change, I tried to link the website but it wouldn't work.
If you go to the Seeds Of Change site and click on garden tools and then hand tools they have some great small tools, great for raised beds as well.
I love my soil scoop, it does alot of different things and the hand hoe is great too.There are several more things on my wish list from that page.
My garden cart is called Bill and I just tell him where I want stuff to go.

 

[aquarose]

Where can I buy a Bill garden cart! Actually, I got a wheel barrow for Mother's Day and I don't know how we got along without it all these years. Although my son did let it tip over in the garage with a load of soil in it. I have a stirrup hoe. I used to weed by hand. This year, I'm lazy and use the stirrup hoe and the beds look better than ever before. Just catch the weeds small and just cut them off right below the soil level. I don't even pick them up, just leave them spread around like mulch. I edge with the stirrup hoe too!

 

[whatnow?]

YARD CARTS-
This looks like a very useful tool, but an expensive purchase. Anyone use them and recommend them? I have a few hills (walkout basement) so a level lot is not exactly a good description for my yard.

Check out:

http://gardencartblog.blogspot.com/

I built a whizbang cart for a coworker - they absolutely love it. Now, if I could only find time to build one for myself!

The garden cart brooder is much classier than the rusty jeep brooder I was contemplating. You said you built a cart and then showed the link with the home built carts... is yours on the site? There are some nice looking carts. I don't think Tevya's would suite me, though.

 

[Grow 4 Food]

Can't be much help with the turning dirt. My turning shovel is a 16 double bottom plow attached to a 45 hp tractor. But then again I would be hand turning 40x80 garden either. As far the garden cart though I can help. Someone else brought up a good wheel borrow. They make a plastic one (TSC) that has double wheels. IT IS THE BOMB! My DW can put 15 bags of mulch in it and move it where ever she wants to. No tipping, No Balancing. I even used it to haul the 300lbs of filter sand for the pool with out worrying about it turning over. I actually am concidering buying another because we use that one so much.