Vgkg, I have something similar called a scuffle hoe and I love mine too. It does make faster work of the weeds in the garden. I had 2 other hoes before the scuffle and rarely touch the others now. Enjoy!

~Heidi

I think they are also called stirrup hoes.

Vgkg, How much was it?

Tikanas

Aren't they wonderful tools? I first saw one on Victory Garden I think. Have looked all over for one Lowes now carries one similar but built a bit different for about 15 bucks.

Vgkg I have missed you journal posts. Since I am near you I try to keep up (about a week behind) with my planting. So far its going well.

Also have a scuffle hoe,,, Mine was sold under the name "weed ripper", Love that thing, a good buy at any price

Tikanas, it cost just $10, (wiggle weeder) a real steal!
The one in the picture that I googled up above is called a Hula Hoe (I believe).
Wannabefarmer, I hope to update the garden journal soon, lots going on now for sure, ha.

vgkg well i'm sure vgqn is glad to hear that correction!

yes a stirrup hoe. i've used one for several years, they are great.

tom

When we dug the new herb garden for the museum yesterday, my friend had a hand tool that was similiar, only the hoe part was circular. She let me try it out and I will be on the lookout for one now. It can easily fit between narrow rows without disturbing the plants.

Vgkg, there is a slight diff in design, the stirrup hoe I have is slightly flexible, or the hoop part is not fixed but wiggles a bit. One can also change the cutting blade. Anyway, isn't it great? I put on an extra long handle for weight and leverage, and I just carry it around all the time.

I've been hearing about these and want one. Do they work on weeds like sheep sorrel, or thistle, that spread by runners/stolons?

Aren't these tools the GREATEST! It makes me think back to all the hot summer mornings I had to hoe the vegetable garden as a child. If only we'd had one back then! We did mulch, but used hay and grass clippings. Before the first hay was cut, we had to hoe and hand pull weeds. This type of tool makes the work go so fast!

Paul, it can cut though a thistle stem right at the ground level, but of course you have to keep cutting of the thistle as it re-sprouts. Runners, and stolons? Well, it takes care of the bermuda and zoysia grass as well as the mock strawberries that creep in from my neighbors' yards. Also gets goose grass and nimblewill, though I can get those weeded off before they form stolons. I'm not sure if I could slice off the really fat grassy weed that grows here. Can't rmember if that is sudan grass, couch grass, or barnyard grass--anyway one of those that is as big around as my thumb and almost woody.

I find I can use it even where there are surface rocks up to about the size of a cherry.

Hi David, yes mine also has the loosened blade in that wiggles back & forth as it scrapes the soil surface (names "Wiggle weeder"). I'm finding that it works best if used at least once a week in the same areas. Little weeds sprout up within a week (esp after a rain) and these are more easily scraped off the soil surface when still smallish. As Clare says it will decapitate my bermuda grass "sprigs" after tilling an area but it'd be real tough going on an established mat of BG. Have to repeat to keep it at bay. vgkg

paulns i think for perennial weeds you'll need to keep cutting them and eventually they die. even the annuals can grow back when left in the soil if it rains and is cool. new weeds will sprout but the best thing is hoe when it's hot, the hotter the better as the weeds die from the heat. when hoeing, weeds that are 2 weeks old are large enough to see and weak enough to die fast as they are so young.

i had a tale of woe told on either the soil compost & mulch or organic forum this spring. long story short, i got BILLIONS of weed seeds in old cow manure. i used to hand weed and it took all weekend and in 3 weeks i had to do it again and in 3 weeks .... this went on all summer! i was ready to cry when i saw the weeds by mid may, it was just a green carpet! i did not spread the manure where the potatoes were going to be planted and virtually no weeds were in that area so it definitely was from the manure. great!

i was so upset (hand weeding was not removing the roots of these new weeds) i wanted to just give up gardening! i resented the vast amount of work and time in PRIOR years to this disaster (and i had nothing back then compared to this mess)! i had no choice but to use the shuffle hoe in the entire garden. well it took about 1 hour vs the 8 hours each weekend day hand weeding, not bad. unfortunately it was cold and rainy for a week after and a lot of the weeds survived but it did kill a lot and fast. i did it again 2 weeks later when it got hotter and drier and it killed 90% of the weeds. i have run the shuffle hoe thru the garden here and there every week to get the odd weeds spending about 20 minutes each time. 20 minutes!!!!! it is odd that i was so insistent on hand weeding (i wanted them to compost and believe me i got 1 cubic yard each time!) but the time wasted was unreal, the entire weekend was shot. in early may this spring i had a green carpet and now it's bare soil and has been for weeks, no weeds. please don't tell me to mulch (i know all the benefits but don't have leaves or grass and straw at $7 a bale is too expensive and hay is well grass with tons of seeds).

i realize there's enough weed seed in the garden to keep it green for 100 years but the shuffle hoe does an efficient job and DOES IT FAST. i used it in the past but i insisted on hand weeding just to make the compost. i have to hand weed the carrots and onions and that's a drag. without a doubt this tragedy has turned into the best thing that ever happened in the garden. talk about 1 door opening when another door closes!

paulns get a shuffle hoe and just weed, they work and reduce the time by an amazing amount.

tom

Tom and Clare those were quite the testimonials. Next time I can justify spending for the garden it will be on a shuffle hoe for sure. And after that, straw for mulching.

paulns, an update, used that stirrup hoe (shuffle hoe) on sunday. did the whole garden in about 15 minutes, a lot less weeds now that it's hot. it is an amazing tool. had it for years but prefered to hand weed. now i wonder why i spent so much time just to get wheelbarrows full of weeds for the compost. not worth the time!

Thanks so much for introducing this tool to us newbies!
I just picked up one... used it over at my Mom's for around her hosta that she was having problems with crabgrass and in my raised veggie beds. So much easier than hand weeding! I'm sure after continued use, the weeds will stay at bay. It will be much easier to plant a fall garden now too!
Thanks!
Cathy

I was thinking of getting the "colinear hoe", the one designed
by Elliot Coleman, but I think it's too delicate for the really
tough weeding. I'm gonna pick one of those up this weekend. Thanks.

Swanz

I bought mine today. Works like a charm. Thanks Vgkg!

Tikanas

I have had one of these for years. I think it needs to be sharpened though. I have a Korean garden hoe that I absolutely love also. I have spent countless hours with these 2 tools-we are great friends!

Just bought one of these last night and I LOVE it!!! Saved me lots of time and energy weeding the garden paths. Worth every penny!

Hmmm. This is an old thread and I was pleased to see that VgKg was still around.....until I noticed the date. Where is VgKg? I remember that he always had good advise mixed with gentle humor.

Anyway, I am of another opinion on this tool. I found it worked fine on bare soil, but I am a mulcher and as such there is just no replacing a triangular hoe to cut through the mulch and cut the weed. Kay.

Hi Kay, thanks for the kind words. Yep I'm still around (see "2008 Garden Journal Update" thread) but time seems to have slipped thru my fingers of late so not a lot of posting here. If your mulch is thick then I agree with the hoe use. For bare soil the wiggle weeder should be used once a week or a day or two after each rain to keep things under control.

Anyone know where I can buy a shuffle hoe in Southwestern Ontario other than Lee Valley Tools?
I can't afford the $32.50 to $46.00 they want for theirs.

See if you can find one without the handle - buy that separately and locally, and get the longest one you can find. It makes using it far more fun.

I got mine from Johnny's, but I dunno a source in Canada.