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[Beekissed]

Bee you should print this thread out and send it to hoe marketing dept. with all the hoes you sold for them they should send you a free one. That happened to me on a book called Cavalier in art, I told all my clients about the book. Author called me thanked me and sent me free copy of her other book.

I just ordered the 8". In the notes section I mentioned Bee referring us to them.

When I talked to them I told them it was from this forum as well. Maybe they will send Bee a free cover or hoe.

Wouldn't that be cool??? No one beating down the doors right now from the Rogue Hoe company but it would definitely be cool to get one of those nifty covers...they cost more than the hoe!

Maybe Bee will be famous!

Mary

How do you know I'm not already famous?

I'm a keynote speaker/demonstrator at a chicken thingy in my state next month..does that count? Not exactly fame, but those chickens will know I've been there, I can tell ya that much! Of course..they'll be dead...so they won't know much after that, but I'll be the last thing they see in this world.

 

[thistlebloom]

Bee, Chicken Slayer!

 

[seedcorn]

Explain how this hoe is different to use than an ordinary hoe?

 

[Beekissed]

Explain how this hoe is different to use than an ordinary hoe?

Unlike a chop style hoe, it's a scuffle hoe, which means you use it sort of in a scuffling or mopping motion to cut the weeds off at the stem, leaving the root system below the surface of the soil to rot and add organic matter to the soil while providing aeration also. It also provides a light tilth to the surface of the soil, leaving it perfect for planting of small seeds if desired but doesn't disturb the soil matrix below.

It's also more ergonomically constructed than a chop hoe, being angled to reduce back strain, and doesn't require the forceful chopping motion, so easier on the body. It can be used to create a furrow and cover it right back up, so the only thing it can't seem to do is to help with hilling up a row, which I don't do in the BTE gardening style anyway.

It seems to be the perfect type hoe for this style of gardening and every time I use it, it just confirms that for me....amazingly quick weeding, ability to work in close to the plant and also at the edges of the garden where I have landscaping timbers...I couldn't cut the weeds there with a chop hoe at all, but this scuffle hoe just slices them off neatly all along the edge and even underneath the edge of the timbers.

 

[seedcorn]

So it acts more like a saw cutting weeds off at the base? So for grasses, they just come back?

 

[Beekissed]

So it acts more like a saw cutting weeds off at the base? So for grasses, they just come back?

I don't know...it's working really well on the Bermuda grass in my son's garden and also the clumps of crab grass in my own. I'd say the grasses would have to grow back from a crown instead of just roots, whereas this hoe cuts beneath the soil at the root level but below the crown.

 

[henless]

Lovely flowers Bee!

I looked for some pyrethrum to put on my new squash in town this evening, but couldn't find it anywhere. I may have to order some. Bee, what kind do you have? So far what I have found has 1% Pyrethrin in it. I'm not sure if that's the right kind or not.

 

[Beekissed]

Lovely flowers Bee!

I looked for some pyrethrum to put on my new squash in town this evening, but couldn't find it anywhere. I may have to order some. Bee, what kind do you have? So far what I have found has 1% Pyrethrin in it. I'm not sure if that's the right kind or not.

Mine looks like this and I get it at Lowe's....

Yours has more percentage of pyrethrin in it than this...says 0.07% on this bottle. Can't hurt to have more, huh?

 

[henless]

Thanks Bee. I'll try and get some of that to use. What about food grade DE? Sounds like it would be good to put around the base of the squash.

I will say this, I haven't seen near the numbers of squash bugs since I removed the wood chips that I had in the squash bed. I raked them all out and put them in the young chick run.

 

[ninnymary]

@Beekissed I got some more horse manure yesterday! In some places my wood chips are pretty thin because they have decomposed. In other places there seems to still be some. I don't remember if I added some more or if I layed them thicker in those places. Can I just lay manure on top of the wood chips, both where they are thin and where they are thick?

The manure is pretty decomposed, can I lay it around my tomato plants or will it burn them? I don't know if I should wait until my tomatoes are done which may be a couple of months.

Once I lay manure over everything, I want to really start looking for some wood chips. I may have to drive about an hour away. But that's ok, it's up in the wine country and I can always use a glass of wine.

Mary