My favorite tool: THE HOSE!!!! Sorry, but I can't help myself. That is what the heat does.

I have a digger tool that has two prong on the end, and is serrated on the side. It will go into the ground, tear the mulch bag and scoop dirt, etc.

My rose clippers are a favorite.

My gloves are Bionic gloves. They wrap tightly around my wrist, and support my finger.

I also have an electric saw to use to cut my 18 or so Crape Myrtles in the spring.

Sammy

15 year old 5 gal. paint bucket for weeds, carrying dirt or sand. Tweezers for cactus stickers, bar-b-que tongs, a serrated kitchen knife, hand trowel, hand nips, a pair of scissors, a good pair of lops, a shovel, yellow kitchen gloves. That just about sums it up on the tools I use.

A good pair of loppers makes a HUGE difference. I can slice through large branches of my photinias like butter now. Before that all we had was a dull, rusty pair of pruning shears. BIG upgrade!

I'm just starting out for the most part, so there are more things on my to-buy list than on my can't-live-without list. I'd say the thing I want the most is a good, sturdy garden cart. Having all the materials you need right there next to you instead of making several trips to the garage will help tremendously, especially when it comes to bulky stuff like bags of mulch and compost.

I need a good hoe and square garden shovel, too. It's not easy making straight lines with a rounded shovel, as I've learned a few times already while trying to install edging. A digging fork/pick axe is also on the list for breaking up the sandstone-like subsoil we have.

I am a tool addict and have many more tools than I need, but the ones I would hate to give up at this stage of my life are the lawn mower and trailer, and my small 4 wheeled wagon.

The tools I use most often are the Ken Ho Weeder style of tool.

Larry

Ah! The loppers! I completely forgot about those. My favorites are made by Fiskars, and I love them. My neck and shoulders can't take the abuse that's handed out by most brands of long-handled loppers, and these are amazing. I like them so well that I bought another set and sent them to my mother in CA.

I should have said at the beginning that I am not an organic gardener by any means. However, I do try to use the most ecologically-friendly solution to a problem if it's remotely feasible. I use castor oil for mole control, and mix my own rather than pay the high price for the pre-mix. I prefer to use pyrethrin whenever I have to spray for nasty critters, and my good Chapin 2-gallon sprayer is terrific. I've used the brand for years, but I do tend to pay a higher price for the really good ones, rather than the cut rate offered at a lot of the big box stores. Some of those aren't worth the space to carry them home.

We had a real problem in the henhouse with black rat snakes that were stealing eggs and killing our birds. First I tried wadding up bird netting in all the crevices they might use for access. It does catch the snakes, but the birds won't leave it alone either. It ends up strung out all over the place. Then I found a product called Snake Stopper that's a cedar-base powder. Since it isn't granular, the birds leave it alone and it does seem to have cut the snake population way down. I haven't seen one in there since I began using it. It doesn't harm them, it simply repels them because they don't like the scent. A treatments last for several weeks. I think I need to start using it around the garden to deter the copperheads!

And speaking of bird netting: I've tried using it on my soft fruits to keep the birds out and was disappointed and upset over the result when some little wild birds got under it and then tangled in it. It was horrible. Not to mention that it has no effect at all on things like Junebugs. Now I'm going to take a page out of Carol's book and use a sheer fabric like old sheer curtains to pin around the fruit and keep both the birds and the bugs away. I'll have to do it on the apples this year also, since my chickens will actually get up in the tree and steal them.

One more thing: my father tried planting gopher-bane (Euphorbia lathyris) in their veggie and rose garden in an effort to ward off the destructive beasties. I have mixed feelings about it, since I'm not really sure it worked, but they did have a very active gopher population. I'm probably going to try it here also. Some people claim that the plant smells, but I've never noticed that. It has an unobtrusive habit that looks something like the big lilies in form, and I don't find that it's a bother at all. Anything is better than trying to deal with the chewed roots and dead plants caused by gophers. I never have any luck with setting traps or using other means, so I'm ordering some more gopherbane seeds.

Pat

Well, Larry's Ken Hoe weeder is a real winner. I have something very similar, sold by Johnny's Selected Seeds and, I believe they call it a hand hoe. Anyway, it's great.

I would not be without my Lee Valley Spading Fork. It's a must for our heavy soil and rocks.

But I suppose my all time favorite tool is the Japanese Draw Hoe I purchased from Lee Valley Tools. I have both the long and the short handled versions. If I could only have one, I'd chose the long handled hoe. Often, I choke up on it and use it as if it were short handled. It makes very fast and easy work of the weeds, as long as soil moisture is adequate. This is not a tool for breaking up "concrete."

I purchased a collinear hoe, also from Lee Valley Tools. Perhaps I need to give it another try, with adequate soil moisture. Last year I tried it and put it away without taking it out again. It seemed too "wimpy" for our soil and weeds, though it made an excellent crutch when I first had hernia surgery!

While digging potatoes I have been reminded of the beauty of the Ho-Mi. This hand tool is not only great for weeding. It is also quite useful for planting and... for digging potatoes when you want to be extra careful not to spear any.

George
Tahlequah, OK

Here is a link that might be useful: Lee Valley Hoes

Hi George,

I took a look at the collinear hoe, and it's closer in design to the one I have, but not the same thing. Mine has shorter 'wings' on it and they are tapered on the ends so that it's more of nearly an oval shape. Also, mine costs about half of what you paid for yours. I think mine is running at $28.95 now.

Like you, I think I'd be afraid the collinear one might be too wimpy. Mine certainly is not. I wouldn't want to go chopping into hard woody roots with it, simply because I value the tool and it would be a foolish thing to do with it, but for just about anything else it's great.
The blade only measures 6 3/4" from end to end, and it's sharpened on both sides, so it cuts backwards of forward. These photos are pretty poor, but maybe you can see how it's angled so that it sits flat on the ground when it's held from a standard upright working position.

{{gwi:1117436}}

Darn it! There was something else I was going to mention, and now I've forgotten what it was. I'll probably remember it later.

Pat

I think this must be the Lee Valley version of the same thing and they call it Diamond Shuffle Hoe. Do you think they are the same?

I have considered ordering that one but I still have a pretty good hoe, and it doesn't get much use. I do most weeding down on my knees. I find most hoes make my back hurt.

Here is a link that might be useful: Diamond Shuffle Hoe

Carol, it does indeed look quite a bit like the Shuffle Hoe. There's a bit more of an arch in the neck to control the angle, but they are essentially very similar.
One of the things I like to much about it is that it does not make my back or shoulders hurt like any of the others.. Part of it is the weight, which is light, but most of it is in the design that is so effective.
I have a regular hoe, or maybe even two of them, that I can't use for more than 2 minutes, and a triangle hoe for cutting trenches when I'm laying out beds, but this is the one I use all the time with no strain or injury. It's my most treasured tool. I can get down on my knees okay; it's the getting back up again that's a problem. I try to avoid doing that.

Another of my favorites is my expansion spring rake with the adjustable tines. They used to be hard to find, but I think even Lowe's carries them now. The tines move from a tight little 8" wide group, to the full width of 20"+ with just a flip of the lever.

Someone mentioned garden carts a while back, so let me offer my humble opinion on those. We once bought a couple of the big high-wheel carts that have to be assembled with the wooden sides and what-have-you. Like the big ones sold by Gardener's Supply. They are pricey (very) and the shipping is expensive because of the size and weight, but all the ads said how easy they are to use. Compared to what? An ox cart?? Ha! Maybe if all you have is a perfectly flat and well-groomed yard, with smooth paved areas, maybe it would be okay. I say maybe because I tried using one in a big yard like that, and found I didn't like it much better than trying to use one on a slope, and that was in the days when I was an awful lot younger and stronger. Which is to say that I didn't care much for it at all. To my way of thinking it was a large waste of money. Roughly $300 worth (each), if truth be told. You can't even use them on a standard sidewalk because they are just enough too wide that the wheels keep running off the edge of the pavement.

One funny thing we did luck into were some little lightweight garden carts being sold at one of the Dollar Store type places. My folks instantly saw the benefit of them and bought the 3 that were still in stock. We ran the wheels off those little carts. In fact, my neighbor borrowed mine and overloaded it when he was hauling wood and he finally managed to break it. I was not happy with him. (This was the same clown who would borrow tools without asking and then not return them. I always had to go find them.)
I think my mother is still using at least one of the carts, if not two, and they were originally bought nearly 20 years ago for under $20 each. Wonderful little things. So lightweight that even I can pick one of them completely up off the ground, even now. They only measure about a foot deep by maybe 24" long and about 18" wide, and made of all nylon. The best little carts we've ever owned. If I happened to see any of them around today, I'd buy at least two of them to use on the place, maybe three, and that's despite the fact that we have the trailer for the Cub Cadet mower.

Pat

This spring I came across a pair of gardening gloves that are extra long, they come up almost halfway to my elbows. I love them because they do a much better job of protecting my arms from getting itchy when I'm digging through the tall leaves to find those veggies that are hiding out, particularly the zucchini.

Suzie

We have a craftsman or Sears cart which attaches to our riding lawn mower. It is a HUGE help, both with transporting manure and barn scrapings, and in moving firewood. I didn't mention it before because it's not something I actually, normally take into the garden.

Also, I forgot to mention my grub hoes. These look like picks, except on side has a narrow blade for digging. I have a 2 1/2 lb and a 5 lb grub hoe. The are indispensable for working hard rocky soil. Can't remember what it cost, but I purchased the 2 1/2 lb grub hoe at Walmart, and it was cheap.

George

I also dont like to hoe and so I weed by hand (I have mostly flowers not vegetables). But it kills my knees. Last year at Tuesday morning, I bought a seat. It's heavy duty plastic, about 18 inches tall, has a seat like a tractor, and a rocker bottom. I can use it for hours! My other favorite thing I also bought at Tuesday morning. My garden hat is made out if a thin cotton with a huge brim. The brim has a ring of foldable wire so that I can twist it up so that it fits in my pocket. But I rarely do that since it mostly stays on my head. One other thing I love is an old small flat-bed wheel barrow that my dad found in the garbage. My husband put new wheels on it and I drag it everywhere.

I don't even use a hoe. I didn't even have a hoe for the first 12 years we lived there. I bought a hoe for $2 at our VFD Garage Sale last summer and haven't yet used it. It is still sitting in garage in the same spot where I placed it the day I bought it and brought it home.

I do all my weeding on my knees in the garden, so my kneeling pad is my favorite tool. I generally weed the raised beds by pulling weeds by hand. To me, that's the great thing about raised beds---you never walk on the soil in the raised bed and it is relatively soft and loose and pulling weeds is simple and easy. And for anyone thinking that pulling weeds by hand only works in small gardens, my garden is roughly 100' x 100'. As long as I mulch heavily and pull weeds while they are small, weeding is a breeze. If I had to hoe, I'd likely give up gardening. I hoed enough when I was a kid and have no intention of doing it now that I don't "have to".

Since I'm not using a hoe in any shape, form or fashion, my favorite tool is my trowel. I use it for everything. If a really stubborn and deep-rooted weed like curly dock pops up in a bed or pathway, I just use a garden fork or spade to dig it out. The key to success with hand weeding is to avoid heavily compacted soil---otherwise you have to hoe or dig a lot.

Most of my gardening is accomplished with my kneeling pad and hoe, and I have a 5-gallon bucket with an oilcloth organizer that carries all sorts of small supplies---a couple of trowels, a Cape Code weeder that I rarely use but always have handy 'just in case', garden twine, clothespins (to attach Agribon fabric or shade cloth to tomato cages), zip-ties for attaching tomato cages to stakes, pruners, my Fiskars garden shears, and my cell phone. I usually put my kneeling pad and trowel inside the center of the bucket, and usually a big bottle of water or Gatorade.

A garden cart is essential. I have one that is a yellow metal wagon with sides that drop down, and also use a little red wagon that once belonged to our son when he was little. It's pretty much held together by rust nowadays.

I use the Mantis tiller about every other year to rototill decomposed mulch into the raised beds. I don't use it every year because it is hard on the earthworms and on the structure of the soil. I'd like to get out of the habit of using it and convert to no-till but that's hard to do. My pathways have been no-till for years because tilling exposes weed seeds. I just dig out anything that pops up in the mulch in the pathways.

Overall the most-used item in my garden next to the kneeling pad and trowel are the tomato cages. I have a huge number of them and use them for a lot more than tomatoes. Any vining plant that will climb gets a tomato cage, so I also raise beans, snap peas, southern peas, refrigerator-sized melons, cantaloupes and muskmelons, and cucumbers in tomato cages and sometimes small-fruited winter squash too. I also use the little 3-ring cages sold in stores for pepper plants. Otherwise, by mid-summer they are so tall and have such a heavy load of peppers that they either fall over and lie on the ground, or limbs snap off.

Finally, most essential of all is my garden fence. Without it, the bunnies and deer eat everything. Nothing really repels them when they're hungry and I have found that most of the plants on those lists of 'plants that deer don't eat' are a joke----a hungry deer will eat almost anything. I rely on the tall fence to keep them out, to the extent that you can fence out anything. The fence doesn't keep the raccoons out because they climb it, but it pretty much keeps out everything else. Sometimes the wild things don't bother my unfenced flower beds around the house, but sometimes they do. Over the years I've learned to put anything the deer eat inside the garden, where I have a mixed border of flowers and herbs around the perimeter inside the garden fence. The deer still will eat anything that sticks out through the fence and even beans and ornamentals that climb the fence, but there's not much I can do about that. The other day, a friend of ours from Texas (he used to live about a mile up the road from us here) came by to visit and teased me about my garden looking like a prison because the fence is so tall--9' tall, raised from 7' tall this year, but he knows why it is that tall. Since he lived here, he's very familiar with our problems with deer and also with the trouble I've had with predators.

I don't spend a lot of money on tools or gadgets, but one of the best investments I've ever made is Agri-bon floating row cover fabric. I have the heavy-duty frost blanket type that protects plants down to about 24 degrees and the lighterweight one meant more to keep insects off plants, although it does give 2 to 4 degrees of cold protection. By protecting plants from early and late frosts, I can extend my garden's growing season quite a bit in spring and fall.

Needless to say, a water hose is essential in any year and doubly essential this year.

Boy, there's some great stuff in there! I should probably say that, as much as it sounds like I've got a lot of stuff, I've had most of my tools for years and years. About the only things that are ever replaced are the shovels, because the handles don't last. Someone breaks one of them, or they hit a point where they won't stay attached any longer. My favorite is a short one with the built in grip, but I also have a small round-blade one that's great for small areas.

Suzie, do you remember where you found those extra-long gloves? I'm thinking they might be a great thing to send to my mother. Her thin skin tears so easily. She's always getting scratches around her lower forearms when she's gardening.
I really like the nitrile gloves, and have several pair of them in different weights for different jobs. No seams, completely flexible, and thin enough to do a job without needing to take them off. Wonderful things. My daugher does the heavy work around here and I got some for her also, to wear in summer. In the winter she has sheepskin gloves, treated with water repellent.

George, I don't think I've seen the hoe you're talking about. We have a mattock with a pick on one side and about a 3" blade on the other. Is that what you mean? Ours is heavy. It's all I can do to lift the thing and swing it more than just a couple of times, but it's a serious tool for breaking up compacted soil or prying rocks. Not that we have any rocks to pry, but if we did, it would work.
Yes, I love my mower trailer. I was looking for one of the high-sided carts to tow behind the mower, but we got a special on this one when we bought the mower. It's an actual trailer. I don't use in IN the garden, but sure do use it for hauling away limbs and heavy prunings, cleaning out the animal pens and hauling it to the compost heap, gathering up the mower clippings and hauling mulch, and a whole lot of other stuff. The tailgate drops down and a flip of a lever releases the trailer so it tips up in the air like a dump bed, as long as the load isn't too heavy.. It's fabulous.

Ladychips, where did you find that fold-up hat? Do you remember? That sounds like another gift idea for my mother. She may be nearly 90, but she still maintains her huge garden mostly by herself. And runs the tractor!

Dawn, you using the divided bucket reminded me of another thing I use. I do quite a bit of stuff with drip irrigation, and I use one of those rectangular divided totes for all my stuff. Extra pencil tubing, nippers, spinner heads and connectors, goof plugs, a few riser stakes and any other parts I might need, all live in that carrier so I have everything I need and don't have to make 14 trips back and forth to find something. I have a separate one for the heavier things like hose connections and repair kits, and pvc parts if I need to be working on the permanent lines.

I laughed when I read that you use clothespins to attach the garden fabric. So do I. In fact, when the weather is cold, the wind is blowing and I'm in a real hurry to get stuff covered, I've been known to carry a pocket stapler to anchor the fabric in place, stapling it to itself. It's harder on the fabric and more difficult to get it off later, but it's sure easy on me. Where do you get the Agribon fabric? I've been using Garden Quilt from Gardener's Supply, but it has to be ordered. It does last for years, but if there's something I don't need to order, it would sure be nice. Is the Agribon pretty durable?
I agree that zip-ties are wonderful things. I use them the same way you do.

Where do you find tomato cages that are big and sturdy enough to hold a cuke? Do you make them, or do you have a place where you can get them? I have some pretty heavy cages, but nothing that would ever support a cuke or a melon for any length of time at all. They'd be falling over in a heartbeat. That's why I'm going with the cattle panels next year, but really good, heavy tomato cages would be awfully nice to have.

Hoses (and sprinklers). Ah, yes! The value of a good hose, and one that does not want to kink at the drop of a hat, is beyond measure. Because we have so much space to cover (like you, we measure in 100s of feet) I also have a lot of the inline shut-off valves strategically placed. It saves a whole lot of walking back and forth to turn things on and off and move from one section to another. I also use the Y shut-off valves, so I can connect more than one hose at a time and control them with a flip of the lever. The less time I have to waste in running back and forth, the happier I am.
When it comes to sprinklers, I think my all-time favorites are made by Nelson. They are all but indestructible and they don't clog. If I'm not using the drip system and want to get something watered, I don't want to mess around about it. I want something with a good pattern that isn't going to tear up the plants or leave dry patches. I have a pretty decent oscillating one, but the really good ones are the Nelson circular ones. The little round flat job that you can find at WalMart is good, inexpensive, and can be turned down to not much more than a bubbler for spot applications. They also make one called a "Whiz-head" that screws on to a pvc or metal riser with a stake on the bottom, to be pressed down into the ground. The stakes have openings on both sides. One side has a cap for a single sprinkler, but it can be removed to hook them up in line. During some of our close calls with fire, we've had as many as three of them connected inline and running at once, to wet a big area.
The Whiz-head is all but impossible to find in a store and must be ordered online, but there's one that works much the same way that can be found at Lowe's. It comes with the spike and riser already attached and stands about 30" tall.

I was glad you mentioned that you do no-till in your pathways. That's the way I'm going to go with the garden next year. Well, I actually already am doing it that way, but next year I hope to make it permanent. To me, it's just silly to be turning the soil up and disturbing it all the time. And the Mantis is light enough to lift and manage in the raised beds? I certainly agree that, if I've got good beds with good soil, that last thing I want to do is to be putting my feet in them.

Like you, I love the Fiskars loppers and nippers or shears. Fabulous.
Oh, and that brings me to something else. We all know how hard it is to sharpen the curved blades on the nippers, yes? I learned a trick that makes it a cinch. I have a tiny little diamond file that's made to sharpen fish-hooks. One side is flat and the rest is round. It lives in its own little case that looks like a very short ballpoint pen. Talk about making easy work of sharpening! It fits clear down toward the hinge on the shears, since it's only about 1/4" wide, and will put an edge on them really fast. My old nippers are the same ones I've been using for about 25 years, and they have my name on them so nobody goes running off with them and forgets to return them. I have others that people can borrow, but not those. I'm not positive, but I think my DH found it in the fishing supplies section of a drugstore, but a lot of places might carry them.

I don't mind about the kneeling to pull weeds, but getting back up again is a real problem for me. Has anyone used one of the little kneeling benches with the handles on the sides? I wouldn't use it as a bench, but those handles look like they'd sure be nice for some leverage in getting up off the ground.

And my favorite reference tool for gardening is . . . . my computer! For things like this group, where we can share information, Q&A, and just talk about stuff; I can quickly look up a plant or a source, read reviews on plants and companies, find the equipment I need, and a whole lot more. I have the books (quite a few of them) and even some of the hard copy catalogs, but the computer is my main source of information these days.

Off to do some watering now.

Pat

I really like my push mower. I got it back when I was single and had a tiny yard because I have a hard time pull-starting gas mowers and I hate noise. I've never had to sharpen it in the 15 or so years I've had it.

A lot of people think they're hard to push but I don't think they're any harder than a non-self-propelled gas mower. I like that I can just grab it out of the garage without worrying about gas and take as many breaks as I want because I don't have to re-start it and that sort of thing.

Speaking of which, I really need to mow the backyard right now, but it's just too darn hot. I don't know why my grass won't just die like everyone else's;). I think it's because the dogs fertilize it so much--the front yard looks pretty dead.

My kneeling stool is probably my most used tool. I have two metal wagons which I use a lot, especially in Spring to take things to the garden and even earlier to move all of those seedlings that need night time heat but are ready for daytime sunshine in the harding off process. My family always thought I was a hard person to buy a gift for, but both the stool and first wagon were gifts from my daughter and I have used them for years.

My husband insisted that I buy good quality tools that I would be comfortable using so I ordered a new spade, shovel, and spading fork from Lee Valley tools. They are stainless steel and should last forever. They weren't all available when I ordered so it took several months to get them all, but I waited. Of course, I had other tools to use while I waited. They are wonderful.

I became interested in Lee Valley three years ago when George brought one of his new LV tools to the Spring Fling for us to see, and Dawn wrote a glowing review about their products. I have been pleased with the products I have gotten from them.

I use small hand tools a lot because I work on my knee bench, but I go through a set in about a season, so I ordered a much better set from Lee Valley this year. So, I guess I do use something like a hoe, but it has about a 12 inch handle and about a 3 inch blade. LOL It has three pieces in the set, but I mostly use two of them. The other is a small weeding fork with three forks that are vertical. I like the ones where all the forks are in a single line, not the one with the center fork pushed out longer. It is probably my most used tool.

I like several clips and small cheapie things I have recently discovered, like the one I wrote about for Diane. There are several others that I find helpful.

My garden is just outside my back door so my tools are either just inside the door, or in the two rubbermaid cabinets just outside. Both are convenient to reach. My tiller isn't there, but I don't need it that often.

I have Fiskars trimmers and I use them a lot for the wild things that insist on growing in my garden fence.

I hate wearing garden gloves and wear them very little. A hat just burns me up so I never wear one. Maybe because I have enough hair for about three people anyway, but adding a hat to that just makes me too hot.

I like having seeds on hand for anything I might want to plant, but we won't go there, because that may be an addiction. LOL I buy mostly from Baker Creek and Willhite.

I have shovels and two wheelbarrows but they are more often used by my DH who is kind enough to bring in the fertilizer and put it where I want it.

Carol, I also hate hats and almost never wear one of them. I have a soft floppy sort of canvas one I got when we went out in the country south of Tucson one summer, but I always forget to put it on.

I have to take a closer look at the Lee Valley tools. I didn't really go through their whole site. That little hoe sounds like a winner. Like you, my kids buy gardening stuff for me when they don't know what else to do, and they usually know what I'd like.

Speaking of gloves, I must have an entire shelf of right-hand gloves, because I have a habit of only using the left one to do my weeding. I don't know why. Maybe because I don't like gloves as a rule, so I've decided to meet it halfway. Maybe it's because my nippers are usually in my right hand. Whatever. But when I do need to wear one, the nitrile ones are really great. They don't get in my way nearly as much as the other kinds.

I just got in a bunch of seeds from Baker Creek. Let's not even start talking about seeds! Talk about a seed addiction!! I really have to go through all of mine and sort them out, so I know what I have on hand for next year. I just went out after the mail and found that my new stock of tomato and pepper seeds for next year has also arrived.
Somehow I can't seem to pass up any ripe seed pods on a desirable plant, but have to stop and take a few to see if I can start them at home. Good grief.

I also tend to stash away anything that can be used for starting seeds, such as the aluminum disposable cake pans with the clear dome lids, gallon water jugs, and the big domed containers from the deli. I've asked everyone who uses them to please save them for me and not throw them away.

Of course we also have a pair of wheelbarrows, one large and one smaller, that I use when I absolutely must. Usually it's for piling on stuff that's headed for the compost heap. As I'm weeding, I have a bad habit of tossing it on to a big pile and then scooping it all up later. I'd save myself a job if I'd just toss it into the wheelbarrow to begin with. I habitually forget to get the wheelbarrow before I start weeding. It's one of those things of going out to water, and while I'm here I'll just pull this, and maybe that, and . . . You know?

All I can say is that it's a good thing gardeners are not compulsive. Grin!

Pat

The thing that amazes me most about this thread is the fact that Dawn does not use a hoe. In fact, I am stunned! If you don't use it for weeds, wouldn't you like to have it on hand for snakes? I think that is essential, although I had one the other day that i could not consider using the hoe on. I used a shotgun on him since I felt he was long enough to make me not want to approach the business end. So I put the hoe beside him to estimate how long he was. The hoe was not long enough. I got the tape measure and he was 75 in long. Note emphasis on "was".
mo

I too prefer weeding by hand, though there are times when the bermuda gets so out of control around my trees that I need tools to do the job. I'm definitely trying the cardboard-under-mulch trick next year, because I've had my fill of ripping out grass.

Anywho, I'd like to have a hoe just for cultivating the soil in the beds and digging in the organic matter. Are those claw-shaped hoes better for that kind of work than the blade ones?

Snakes give me the heebie-jeebies. I'm not sure I could even get close enough to whack one with a hoe. Thankfully the only one I've seen in the five years we've lived here was a little garter snake who found its way into our garage. I'm okay with green snakes. Brown and black ones, not so much.

Pat,

I bought my first Agribon in a package in a garden center in the Forth Worth-Dalleas area a few years back, and it was pretty expensive compared to buying an entire roll from a garden or farm supply store.

Being shopping challenged here in Marietta, I order mine online from FarmTek and have it shipped. I usually buy it by the roll---I think the rolls I buy are normally 500' long x 10' wide. I need them that long when we have the inevitable last frost/freeze on May 3rd/4th every year despite our 'average last frost date' of March 28th. By the time that last frost hits, I have tomato plants that are about 3' tall and are caged, so it takes a little finagling to cover up a double row of cages 6' tall. Clothespins help a lot. I also use the U-shaped earth staples to hold the fabric down at the ground level. Without that frost blanket strength Agribon to protect my plants, I'd likely lose them if I planted them before May 3rd or 4th. We've only had the late frost in early May for 3 or 4 years so I'm still learning to cope with it. I don't know why it is happening.....

The heavier the weight of the Agribon, the sturdier it is. However, none of it is sturdy and it rips easily. With care, I think you can get up to 5 years of usage out of it. The very qualities that make it helpful---it is lightweight, allows light transmission and allows moisture to enter---ensure it will tear easily. They could make it tougher, but it wouldn't allow as much light and moisture to penetrate, and it might have a heat build-up underneath it.

I make my cages out of welded wire fencing that I buy in rolls wherever fencing is sold. I found the CRW to be heavier than I wanted to cut and bend, and my DH was at work all the time back then because he was a detective and was on call all the time. He would have found time eventually to make them for me from CRW, but I just figured it was easier/quicker to make them from a more lightweight wire myself whenever I had time to work on them. I have them in all sizes, and most are 3', 4' or 5' tall. I can create taller cages by stacking one on top of the other and attaching them to one another with zip ties.

The Mantis is very light. I don't know its exact weight, but I'd say it is less than 20 lbs, and certainly (if I am guessing wrong on the 20 lbs.) no more than 25. We have a big, powerful rear-tine tiller and we haven't taken it out of the garage in years---ever since we bought our first Mantis-type cultivator. My first one was a Troy-Bilt and it broke down all the time. The Mantis is much better.

Julie, My uncle always had a push mower when I was a kid in the 1960s and he loved it. I'd have one if we had a normal city lot, but using it here on acreage would be insane.

If only the dogs could fertilize the front as well as they do the back, your front yard could look as good as your back yard. Our dogs have been staying inside so much to beat the heat that I have to push them out the door to get them to go outside and do their doggie business in the yard. All of us, dogs and cats included, are hibernating inside the air-conditioned house like bears in their den in the winter.

Carol, I love Lee Valley Tools and would like to have one of everything they make, but that would be overkill, wouldn't it? I'm going to link their virtual catalog so everyone can drool over their quality....and the less common items one can find there.

Buying high-quality tools pays, I think, because you aren't having to replace them after they break. Also, they "feel good" in your hands---not too heavy or too light or unbalanced. I used to think Lee Valley Tools were expensive (and they are, compared to stuff from Big Box stores) but then started looking at the prices of fire rakes and other fire hand-tools, and now Lee Valley seems pretty inexpensive by comparison.

I'm not a hat person either, but I've learned to wear them. I prefer lightweight straw hats that allow good air flow. We use those gel-filled cool-collars at fires that you soak in water and they plump up. If I put one inside my staw hat like a liner, it really keeps my head, and me, cooler too.

I won't comment on your seed-buying habit, or mine either. Let's just say that some women buy shoes galore, some buy tons of purses.....and you and I buy seeds, seeds, seeds! (Seeds take up less storage space!)

I like wheelbarrows too. One of ours is so old and corroded that I'm about to take it out of service. I think next year I'll fill it with soil and compost and plant something in it. Tim usually fills up the really big wheelbarrow with grassclippings he catches in the grasscatcher while mowing and wheels it down to the gate. Then I take the grass and put it on the raised beds as mulch. Other than that, we might use the wheelbarrow to move compost from one of the compost piles to one of the garden beds.

Pat, If you spend enough time on the Lee Valley website, you'll soon discover you 'need' things you never even knew existed! That's one reason I love it so much.

I love nitrile gloves, and also keep a box of disposable nitrile-type medical gloves in my garden bucket. I buy the boxes at Costco or Sam's and one box lasts for months. I wear them for yucky jobs like hand-picking bugs, and then I throw them away. I also keep a box of the medical gloves in my kitchen to wear while cutting and seeding hot peppers. I never, ever handle hot peppers (particularly if processing dozens or hundreds at one time) without gloves.

I'm not compulsive either (grin) or obsessive, except when it comes to all things related to gardening.

Mo, I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate hoing, so why have a hoe? Some of the country women who live around me will chop up a snake with a hoe, but that requires getting about 50' closer to a snake than I like to be. We use guns for snake control. (My DH is a police officer, after all, so there is some logic in that.)

I was such a city slicker when we moved here. I'd always had country relatives, but visiting them for a week or two every summer just isn't the same as growing up in the country. So, being silly, the first few times I encountered a venomous snake, I ran into the house to get a gun, only to discover the snake wasn't just sitting there where I left it! lol I had no idea they'd run off and hide. Now I just stand there keeping an eye on it while calling someone to come and shoot it. If my DH or DS are not around, I call a neighbor. They're all happy to come shoot a venomous snake for me. I just ignore the nonvenomous ones.

This year our main problem is with cottonmouths getting in the lily pond and eating our frogs. The screaming sound the frogs make is just hideous. We had the same problem last year. Both years the ponds and creeks dried up, so the snakes moved to the next-closest body of water which is our lily pond. Of course, it only has water in it because I fill it up every week.

That was a big snake you shot! Other than the Cottonmouths, we aren't seeing much except racers and a couple of rat snakes and copperheads. We usually have a lot of rattlesnakes and copperheads, but I'm not complaining. And, since I said we aren't seeing many of them, I'll probably start seeing them everywhere now.

Miraje, I really don't mind the green snakes either. We have the green tree snakes here and also the black and green racers. I don't mind them. I have a big issue with the three kinds of rattlers we have here: diamonback, pygmy and timber, and don't care much for the copperheads either. The copperheads aren't very aggressive, but we've lost a couple of cats to copperhead bites, so we shoot every one of them that comes up close to the house.

Dawn

Miraje, as I said earlier, I have a regular hoe and never use it. I use the little glide hoe all the time. Carol says she uses her similar one from Lee Valley all the time, after she saw the one that George has. I can't recommend them enough. I don't think I'd want to kill a snake with mine. For that we do use the big one, but only if it's a small snake. Otherwise it's a gun, every time.

I really don't mind snakes if they're the good kind. I really wish we had some nice kingsnakes around here, or the big old western gophersnakes. They can look something like a diamondback in color, and can startle people, but the pattern and the shape of the head are really not at all alike.
Speaking of killing snakes, I once got so excitable over a young rattlesnake in the bathroom that I beat it to death with a broom. Truly! I did not want him in the house!

I've never seen the nitrile-style medical gloves. I'll have to ask my kid to look for them the next time she goes to Sam's. She gets burns on her skin if she tries to handle peppers without gloves, so something like that would be good for her also.

I do exactly the same thing in gathering the grass clipping from the bag on the power mower, except that we put the trailer up against the 'yard' fence and empty the bags into it.. I really liked an old riding mower I used to have with the collection bags on the back of it. I could not only mow, but could also go out and use it to bag and mulch leaves in the fall. With about a zillion oak and maple trees around, it was a really nice thing to have. The whole leaves weren't very useful. Chopped up, they were great.

Speaking of seeds, I was a trifle annoyed with the seeds I just got from Wildseed Farms. The package backs are identical on all of them, and say "If you want to know the germination times, soil temp, and planting depth for the seeds, look them up in our catalog." I know they're saving money by not printing that stuff on the back of the packets, but good grief. I thought it was a bit much for a company that is a company and prints a catalog.

Pat

A hat! I never thought of a hat as a tool. That's not a tool. It's just one of the most important clothing items a person can have! I will hardly go outside without a hat, unless it's twilight or dark. Back when we lived in Mexico I could purchase a light woven palm hat for about $2.50. They were my favorites. Anyway, on one of my trips down there, I bought about ten of them. Caps are only half a hat. I wear caps in the fall and early spring when it's not too hot or cold and I just want to shade my eyes.

Pat, "mattock" is the correct term for the tool I was describing. I grew up where soil was exceedingly light and sandy. So I never used a mattock. But here...well, it's a necessity.

It's funny how we all develop distinct preferences. I wouldn't be caught using a trowel. A Ho-mi does most things a trowel does... only better (in my opinion). But I would chose a Japanese draw hoe as my only tool, if I could have only one. Though, come to think of it, if I could only have one tool, a 2 1/2 pound mattock might be better.

George

Pat, I don't own the LV hoe, I just knew they had one. I probably have 4 hoes around, but one is a trianguler one, and the others are just regular hoes. I was talking about the tiny little hand tool that is a little bit hoe shaped. I have 9 inches of steel down both sides of my spine, so I don't do chopping things very well. I rarely use a hoe.

I laughed when you ask Dawn about the tool she uses to kill snakes. I was going to tell you it was her cell phone, but she answered before I got the chance. LOL

For years I just used whatever garden tool I happened to have, but my DH thought that was nonsense. He always tells me that the job won't be as hard if I have the right tool, so for the past year or so I have been simplifying my kitchen and my garden by getting the right tools. It has cost him big-time. LOL

George, maybe I tend to think of a hat as a 'gardening aid' because I'm not particularly a fan of hats if one needs to be on my head. Some folks think of them as a fashion statement, and that's fine, as long as it's for someone else. There are people who are not comfortable without a hat, and I'm not comfortable with one. Just personal preference. for me, they are purely a necessary aid to keep my head from broiling in the sun.

So far the snakes I've found here have been quite comfy where they were, and obligingly stayed there until I could trot in and get a gun, or yell for a person to get a gun. The most exciting time was when it was dusk and I reached up into a big nest box to gather eggs. I got a big handful of something that was most definitely not eggs. I yelled for my daughter to come out. She took a flashlight and peered in there (she's taller than I am) and then managed to grab the entire box down and sling it out the door before the snakes had much chance to move. I said 'snakes' as in plural, because there were two huge rat snakes in there. After we managed to shoot the pair of them, one measured 6' and the other was 7' long.

Carol, we're some kind of a pair of gardener's aren't we? You've got a steel backbone, and I've got a whole bunch of pieces of ribs that go every which way except where they're supposed to be. It's why I don't swing a hoe or a mattock. I know just what you mean. Rather than that book title "The Undaunted Garden", maybe we need to form a group of "Undaunted Gardeners". You think?

George, I do own trowels, but I tend to share your aversion to them. I don't know why. I use them when I'm moving things into pots, and that's about all. Otherwise they just seem to be a waste of time. For anything out in the garden, I use the glide hoe or a shovel.. . . and my hands.
One of my daughters has bought several tools for me that are supposed to make weeding or weed-pulling easier. I don't have the heart to tell her that they don't do a thing for me. To me, they're more work than they're worth.

Pat

My four favorite but essential tools for gardening are;

Grub Hoe
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Pickaxe or digging hoe

Chandra

Oh, darn it, Chandra, you had to post a photo of that pretty Mantis tiller! Now I'm drooling and wanting one of them! I guess I just have to put it on the list of things for the future. We finally managed to get rid of the horrible and ancient old JD mower and got a new one with a trailer, so the Mantis will be next on the list.

I had never seen a grub hoe like the one you use. Where did you get it? It looks like it might be too heavy for me, but my grandson could use it.

Oh, and that brings me to another question. I said I have some barely used tools that have been given to me as gifts. Would it be possible to bring them to the Spring Fling and see if anyone else would like to have them? Maybe set up some sort of a swap? Trade a tool for a plant or something else? It's just a thought.

Pat

We call it a swap, but we don't really trade item for item. There are always lots of plants there so you can take what you need. We also bring things to give as door prizes and we draw for those.

I'd say to bring your tools for door prizes, and come select the plants you like. I suppose we could run short of plants, but it hasn't happened in the years I have been there.

Yeah, that's actually what I meant. I just didn't think to use the term 'swap'. It's silly for these tools to just be sitting in my shop when someone else might be able to use them.

When and where is the Spring Fling? Does it change every year, or is it always in the same place? It sounds like tons of fun.

Pat

I LOVE my cobra head weeding tool. Really LOVE it.

Moni

PS, mine is the short hand held version

Here is a link that might be useful: Moni's fav. garden tool

miraje

You say: I'd say the thing I want the most is a good, sturdy garden cart. Having all the materials you need right there next to you instead of making several trips to the garage will help tremendously, especially when it comes to bulky stuff like bags of mulch and compost.

I have an old one... perfect for a starter one... let me know, if you want it. Of course, if I knew, if you lived in Oklahoma County, that would be best.... Cause that is where I am.

redding you say: I use castor oil for mole control, and mix my own rather than pay the high price for the pre-mix.

Can you tell me more? How much and how do you apply it?

I don't use a hoe either, but I do wear a hat. Mine has ventilation all around the crown, but is solid on top and the brim.

You all make me wish I had a yard....

Moni, stuck in the apartment for now...

Hi Moni,

Moles absolutely hate castor oil. While it takes a while to drive them out of a big area, it actually can be done. A small garden is pretty easy. I refuse to pay the price for the pre-mixed stuff, so I just get a bottle of actual castor oil at WalMart or someplace like that. It's about $4. Sometimes you have to ask for it, since they may have it stashed in the back, behind the counter. Why, I don't know. The ones I get are 6 oz size, because a little goes a long ways.
I take a regular 1-gallon watering can or water jug (make sure you label it) and pour in about 1 to 1 1/2 oz of the castor oil, then fill it with water and add a tiny squirt of dish soap as a 'sticking' agent.
I try to figure out where I think the moles might be working (sometimes they leave visible runs and sometimes not) or where I really don't want them to be working. I just pour a little of the castor oil mix around that area. maybe a couple of cups in a stream around a particular plant.
If you have a small flower bed, it's fast and easy to walk along and dribble a line of the liquid around the edges, or pour some in strategic locations. The moles will leave. Truly.
I knew a guy who ran all the moles out of his yard and into the neighbor's by doing a small area at a time and sort of driving the moles ahead of him. He never got along with the neighbor, so he thought it was a fitting gesture.
I don't think I'd try that, but I have all the trouble I need from gophers. I don't need to fight with moles also, and I refuse to do so. Whether or not it will also work on voles, I really can't say. Never tried it.

Pat

I have heard that planting castor beans works, but then you have to be sure nothing eats the bean pods that you don't want dead.

After our discussion on Tansy today, I found a web site that said not to plant it if you had cattle around.

Yes indeed. My daughter did a whole college report on poisonous plants that you don't want to have around livestock. A lot of people are not aware of just how many of our most common plants are poisonous in all or part of their construction. Such as the old German bearded iris. Did you know it's one of them? Lily of the Valley? Don't go there. And a whole long list of others.
Some are just things you don't want to have around animals, but others that might have attractive berries (the Lily is one) that a child might put in their mouth to see if it tastes good. Bad planning to have them around anyplace where an accident could happen.

Some things are apparently attractive to animals, and I don't mean just catnip. I had a hippie neighbor on a houseboat one time, and the fellow was growing little pot plants on his deck. The key word there is was. My big Springer spaniel apparently found them, and discovered that she had a taste for them. She ate every single plant. Boy, was that guy ever ticked off! I had a pretty happy dog, and it didn't seem to hurt her at all.

Planting castor beans is not something I'd ever consider. To begin with, the plants can get huge and turn into a 7' tall thicket, and secondly, the beans are indeed lethal. Buying castor oil is much cheaper and easier, and far less dangerous.

Pat

I noticed that many plants growing naturally in our fields are rated as poisonous for livestock. But thankfully, they seem to know and ignore them. With one exception. Black Locust is rated as poisonous. But our goats eat it happily with no ill effect. Our son, the veterinarian told me that the goat has a liver four times larger than most critters its size. It can assimilate more toxins than most animals.

Moni, your cobra head tool probably works much like a homi, which I love dearly. I feel for you, being in an apartment. Jerreth and I were landless for the first 20 years of our marriage. We'd probably still be that way, but for the providential working of God.

Along the line of hats... I LOVE my knee pads. I've learned that, even when hoeing, the work often is easier if I myself am on the ground. My knee pads really make life easier and save on my pants. At work I wear them too. Some folks look at me funny. But I do a lot of work down low and with a good pair of knee pads I can actually "walk" on my knees comfortably, saving my knees and back. So, though I wouldn't normally consider them as a tool, I guess they might fit in because they make the work so much easier.

George

George, I think that the knee pads definitely qualify. Remember I said 'tools and gardening aids' to mean anything that makes the work easier, more comfortable, or more effective. If we expand it that way, then it can mean anything from plant stakes or cages and the cattle panels we've been discussing, to hand tools, to drip systems, power equipment, to an excellent insect repellent, and a whole lot of stuff in between.

One of my favorites that I forgot to mention is my little electric weed-eater with the swivel head. A push of the button swivels it around so that it's cutting vertically instead of horizontally and it becomes an edging tool. It doesn't weigh anything at all and is strong enough that I can use it for all but the heaviest work, when I have to get out the loppers. I like it so well that I got one for my mother when her old one finally fizzled out. She's small and pretty fragile, so she can't use any of the heavier ones, but she loves this one.

Oh, and there's another one I forgot. Not exactly a favorite, but something we can't do without. That's the pole saw tree pruner for reaching stuff up high. It's hard on my shoulders if I use it for too long, but I wouldn't be without it.

And how many of you have fruit trees and use a pole-style picker? I left mine behind in CA and apparently will need another one. They are invaluable.

Pat

I've started replying to this thread for days now but always get called away before I finish. I'm determined to finish today because I LOVE this thread! Lots of great ideas!

I don't do hats or gloves. Can't stand either. I do use a wet towel around my neck but don't refresh it as often as I should. I bet before too many more years, I'll be forced to wear gloves whether I want to or not. I have horrible reactions to touching any squash, cukes, and okra and it's only getting worse. I've now started getting reactions to touching tomato plants. If that isn't my worst nightmare, I don't know what is! I've always been allergic to eating tomatoes (and anything in the nightshade family) but I do it anyway. Lately, though, it's been getting worse, too. All of that to say that I may one day, soon, have to wear gloves.

I don't have many good tools and none from Lee Valley but only because I'm cheap. LOL Once hubby builds me a lean-to off the back of the chicken house (which is right by the garden), I'm thinking I'll invest in a couple of good LV tools, such as the Ho-mi George mentioned. Right now, my favorite tools are the cheap, standard hoe that hubby made into a smaller, V-shaped hoe with a flattened nose, sharpened on three sides, and my scuffle/hula hoe. The hula hoe makes it easy to run the weeds out of any unmulched garden spots, such as the corn patch.

Always with me when I'm in the garden is my garden bag. I was going to make a garden apron of some sort this spring but then realized it'd end up being like hats & gloves I've tried to use. I hate having to wear anything extra and would (and have!) gardened nearly naked. LOL So, instead, I realized I had the perfect garden bag already made. I'd sown up a pair of old green jeans someone had given me into a big, comfy bag with long, comfy straps. It's lined with cheerful, yellow fabric, has numerous pockets inside & out, and holds up nicely to the abuse I dish out. I can wear it over my shoulder like a purse to carry it out, hang it on t-posts, toss it on the ground, etc.

My garden bag carries seeds, snippers, an old tablespoon and butter knife, plastic bags of various sizes, blossom bags, construction tape, a couple pairs of scissors, a favorite hand tool of mine that is merely the handle and remaining metal stub of an old broken tool, grease pencils, Sharpies, pencils, different types of trowels, various sizes of nails (good for pushing seedlings out of those little plug trays), clothespins, pens & notepaper, strips cut from old T-shirts, paint pens, mini blind markers, fishing line, twine, and a few pounds of dirt. And whatever else I'm not remembering.

I also love buckets for so many reasons. Our poor wheelbarrow is on its last leg right now. It tore apart from the frame a couple of weeks ago but hubby band-aided it by screwing it back down in new places. On his honey-do list, I have him slotted to build me a custom garden cart but I just hadn't yet gotten around to figuring out the design. I guess it's time to do that, then I can store it in that lean-to I'll nag him to build later this year. ;-)

Diane

Diane, that garden bag is a terrific idea. I had never even thought of it. We have a bunch of old backpack-type things lying around, with all kinds of pockets, and I'll bet I could easily convert one of them into a garden bag. I'm forever needing to come back in the house or walk clear over to the 'garden shelves' in the shop to get something I've forgotten or didn't know I was going to need, such as a Sharpie to renew the lettering on a faded tag, or tape to anchor up a floppy plant.. Thanks for a great tip!

When it comes to repairing stuff, I'm a big user of 5-minute epoxy and fiberglass tape. My father had a kid take his new JD riding mower and somehow ran it hard into a tree, cracking the hood something fierce. (Dad was NOT pleased.) JD said it would be about $300 dollars to replace it, so I told Dad that I'd be there in a couple of weeks and would fix it for him. I just packed some of the tape in my suitcase and picked up the epoxy at the local hardware store. Popped the hood on the machine (carefully, because it was really badly broken) and smeared a bunch of the epoxy around the broken area, pressed the fiberglass tape into place and smeared more epoxy over the whole thing. Within 30 minutes it was all dry and good to go. It may not be pretty, but it's on the underside and can't be seen, and that patch will last forever. Total cost? About $6.
Epoxy can also be used to repair the loose handles on things that can't be screwed down any longer, such as a hoe or shovel that's had years of use. It would even work on your poor wheelbarrow, since it will stick to metal as easily as it does with anything else. Just make sure you use a wire brush and scrub loose any rust or dirt before you use it. Not the optimum solution of getting a new one, but it will sure extend the life of things you might have thought were beyond repair. I do always make sure to get the 5-minute one, because the others will not work the same. You don't want to get epoxy on anything you don't want it on, including your hands. When in doubt, wear disposable gloves. I just mix it on a piece of aluminum foil and spread it with an ice cream stick, so I can throw the whole mess away when I'm finished with it. It's a trick I learned a long time ago when I had to use it for my sculpture work.

With the new garden cart, for me, the easiest ones to use have always been the ones that have a sloped front so it can be tipped like a wheelbarrow. The big boxy ones, even with the sliding front panel, have always been a pain in the neck for me. I've used them plenty of times, and I don't like them. And I've found that a small cart can be just as efficient as a big one, and sometimes more so. The big ones are a chore to lug around because of the weight and often won't fit where you need it to be. If I could find any of the little featherweight ones we used in CA, I'd buy at least two of them. As small and light as they are, they can haul a 40# load and they will last for years if they are not abused. I'm pretty sure they didn't have a brand name on them, but I think I'll ask my mother to look for one, just to be sure. If I can find out what they are, you can be sure I'll post the information for others to see.

Pat

Moni, I live in Blanchard, which is close enough to Oklahoma County. :D How big is the cart? One of my biggest problems with any of the gardening stuff I've done so far is that I don't have easy access to a pickup truck to haul things around. If it's a smaller wagon-type cart that will fit in the back seat of my car I'd love to have it, but if it's one of the larger heavy-duty ones like I'm eyeing online I won't have a way to get it home.

The gardening apron/bag sounds like a great idea! It would save me from tracking all the mud and stickers into the house every time I realize I need my scissors or twine halfway through a project. I have tons of old bags and purses lying around that would do nicely! I also love the idea of installing an old mailbox in the garden to store all the handheld tools (I think maybe I heard that idea from someone here?), but our mailbox won't need to be replaced anytime soon. :)

The mailbox sounds like a great idea, but I wouldn't dare try it here. The first thing I'd be seeing in there would be mud-dauber nests! They do like to find a spot that is nice and warm, and they are partial to metal for that reason. I've had them build nests inside of flagpoles, the old clothesline poles, the tongue of the trailer, and anything else they can find that's a nice enclosed metal box. A friend of ours bought an old pickup to restore, and when he opened the hood, he found it packed with giant mud-dauber nests and clouds of big red wasps. I think I'll pass up the mailbox idea.

My mother did find a name on one of her great garden carts, but it looks like it's out of production now. A whole lot of people are looking for them. It's a Republic EZ cart, originally made in Carlsbad CA and then sold to Scott's, who produced it for a few years before discontinuing it. I'll be giving them a call tomorrow to see what it would take to get it back into production.
One lady on the web said "it's the most perfect garden cart I've ever owned" and I completely agree. Not to mention that it costs less than $25 and will last for years. I wonder how many requests they'd have to have in order to put it back into their line??

Pat

In running an extended search, the only cart I've found that looks like it might have any potential and not break the bank is a Gorilla tilt-cart that's carried by Sears. It looks like an over-deep wagon and the bed tilts up to dump it. It's not the wonderful Republic cart by any manner or means, and it's 3 times the price, but it does appear that it might be useful for some folks. It's currently on sale for $60. They say it will carry 600#. They've got to be kidding! Who among us is going to load a cart up like that and still be able to move it? Get real, people! I guess they mean that it's all but impossible to pile on too much weight. I would certainly think so!

Just thought I'd pass it along in case someone is interested. I don't know how long the sale will last, but it normally sells for $85.

Pat

Pat, I have mail boxes in my garden and have no problem with critters nesting in them. If there is too large of gap at the hinge area you can place a piece of sealing foam to fill the void. I am even installing a mail box in the garden to house my electric fence charger. I am a little concerned about heat is this case. I like mail boxes for small storage areas.

I also have a Duraworx 1200 4 wheeled wagon. It has a 5.5 cu.ft. dump bed on it and rated for 1200 lbs ( 500 for dumping). I cant pull that much, but the handle will rotate 180 degrees so it can be hooked to the lawn mower.
I haul gravel and dirt in my lawn trailer and wagon also, I would not take my money back on either of them if it meant I would have to do without.

Larry

Larry, I don't know which my mower trailer is without going out to look, but it's a regular real trailer with solid sides. It has a standard tongue on it, rather than the swivel model, and I agree with you that the swivel is really nice. It gives much more flexibility when you need to get into a tight spot.

Is yours one of them that has the open-mesh steel sides that can flip down if you want them to? Those are great trailers/wagons also. Know what you mean about "it's mine and I'm keeping it! Grin.

Pat

Pat, I had to "Beef up" my lawn trailer, sides, front, tongue, bottom and wheels. I wore the wheels out in about two years. I now have larger, flat-free tires on it. I also have a boat trailer winch that I plan to attach to the back of it to lift and move rocks. I hate rocks, but DW wants large rocks around the flower beds. I just cant lift like I did when I was younger.

My 4 wheeled wagon has not been modified in any way, it was made at the factory for the handle to rotate toward the bed and has a bracket to drop a pin through to attach to the lawn mower, but it is not abused like my lawn trailer is.

Larry

Pat I failed to answer the question about the bed on my 4 wheeled wagon. It is a Duraworx 1200, it is molded plastic with 13 inch tall tires. I put water in it when I am placing newspaper in the flower beds or garden, after the paper soaks a while I can place the paper without it blowing away before I can place the the mulch on it.

Larry

Slick job, Larry, and probably easier on your trailer than it is on my wheelbarrow! I do the same thing, but the poor wheelbarrow is getting pretty old and rusty. I need to get a can of good spray paint and go over it, but I always seem to think of that when I'm getting ready to use it. Maybe I'll put it on the 'winter chores' list of stuff to be done, or try to remember it when I'm sharpening the tools and working on the handles.

Pat

Pat,
I found the extra-long gardening gloves at TJ Maxx and they were seasonal so there's a good chance they don't have them any longer. But I did a search on Amazon and found a pair that is similar, in fact these may even be a little longer than mine. I'm posting the link to those gloves, and I hope they'll work for your mother.

Suzie

Here is a link that might be useful: Extra-long gardening gloves

That's great, Suzie. They really are long, aren't they. Thanks for posting that link. My mother's arms get so torn up. So do mine, for that matter. I've got the same super-thin skin, so I usually look like I've been in a war.

I think some others in the group mentioned having the same problem. Old skin does get thin and fragile, and it's no fun to have big tears in it. My daughter was shopping today and somehow ended up talking to a geriatric nurse, who put her on to something new. She recommended a product that she uses for all her patients and swears by it, not only for the immediate softening effect but also because she says it makes our skin much less prone to rips and tearing. Kate bought a container and brought it out to me. I tried it, and I must agree that the softening and moisturizing is nearly immediate. I think I have the driest skin on the planet, and nothing seems to help. I even order lanolin from Florida and it doesn't help. I've spent a small fortune on really good lotions for ultra-dry skin, but nothing works. This stuff looks like it just might do the trick. We showed it to her sister, who is also a nurse, and she was impressed with the improvement in my dry skin in only five minutes.

What's amazing about it is that it's made from olive oil. I had never heard of such a thing! It has coconut oil, wheat germ oil, and I don't know what all in it, and it's made by BioInfusion. They call it Olive Oil Deep Conditioning Treatment, and it's carried by Walgreen's. A big 12 oz jar costs about $9.
Hey, if it's going to help my skin, I don't care if it's made from a rubber tree plant!
I've only used it once, this evening, but so far I'm impressed. One quick application 6 hours ago and my skin still feels much better than it did. Once my arms heal up and I can get rid of the latest crop of bandaids, I should be able to give a better report on it. For now, I thought it was worth passing along.

Pat

After this summer, I have a new favorite gardening aid, and it is shade cloth.

I've used shadecloth a little here and there before, but rather sporadically---like maybe to shade peppers during an extra-hot hot spell in August or to shade lettuce in a hot April or May to keep it going a big longer. I've used it sporadically but not consistently to protect a few tomato plants.

After seeing how much happier my shaded pepper plants have been in this unbelievably hot weather, I'm making plans to have some sort of framework in place next spring to shade all the tomato plants and pepper plants---and I will start shading them whenever the highs start hitting 95 instead of waiting until it is closer to 100.

In a summer like this, even the okra is miserable and the leaves droop and wilt all afternoon. I've never seen okra so unhappy in the heat. I'm tempted to shade them, only it is too hot to stay out there long enough to put up shade cloth over them.

Amen to that, Dawn. Shade cloth is on my 'must have' list for next year also. I haven't figured out exactly how I'm going to put up the supports for it, since we'll be using cattle panels, but I know I'm going to have it.

One thing I did find is that, if you order the precut material, you can get it all stitched, taped, and the grommets in place, ready to go, for a fraction of the cost of a piece that you have cut to size. A 10' x 12' precut size in white 50% shade is $50 from the Greenhouse Megastore. A custom-cut 4' x 16' (to fit the cattle panel length) one in the same material is $53 for half the amount of fabric. I'll attach the link. Any of the other sites I found had considerably higher prices.

I decided on white because of the cooling effect it provides. It also comes in black, beige, and a pricey big (24' x 36') green one for $200. I wouldn't want to try to suspend something of that size over the garden. It could end up being a nightmare and require a lot of support. But whichever one I get, I will be getting one.

I don't know exactly how that price compares, but I looked at some that Lowe's had and did not buy it because of the high price. I haven't looked for any local outlets for it in OK, and I have no idea what the shipping cost would be for a shade of that size.

I'm sure that people will be concerned about the durability of the cloth, since it's a big expense if it's only for one season. I don't know what brand it is, but my parents bought a bunch of it to go over their patio trellis. They took it down each winter because of the snow, but they have been using the same one for roughly 20 years. And just think how nice it would be to go work in the garden if there's a shade cloth in place!

Here's an idea, for those of you who go to any of the nurseries in your area. You might ask them where they get their shade cloth. It might be ordered in, or it's just possible that there's a local supplier.

Pat

Here is a link that might be useful: Shade cloth ordering site