The Seed Volume 33, Garden Tool Review!

Toolin' Around

"Give a boy an apple and he will eat for a few minutes, teach him to garden and he will eat well his whole life! When we teach our kids about organic gardening we give them the tools to build a healthy future!"

While it’s true that a determined gardener can do more with a rusty shovel then a lazy gardener can with a whole shed full of tools, it’s also true that when given the right tools for the job, determined gardeners are unstoppable. Coming across a tool that makes my work easier is like meeting a new friend, I’ll often find myself wondering how I ever got along without them.

The blanket of snow adorning our fair cities gives northern gardeners time for reflection on the seasons’ success and lessons so that we may continue profusely sharing our profound passions. In this spirit of sharing, Giving Tree Gardens would like to present this years cream of the crop from the world of garden tools. This month’s volume of The Seed celebrates with all our gardening friends a few of the handy tools that helped us achieve this season's garden accomplishments. 

Talkin' Tools! A Few of my Favorite Things...

Having the right tools for the job makes life so much easier!

The Sod Cutter

 
  Never do I feel like more of a superhero as when I brandish my freshly sharpened sod cutter and peel away at sheet after sheet of useless boring sod grass.  I’m fond of telling folks new to using a sod cutter that this is one implement that turns a man into a mule.  Though gasoline powered versions of this fantastic tool are available for rent or purchase locally, there’s nothing quite as satisfying to a gardener as using one’s own power and strength to cause a healthy landscape makeover to occur.  Reddy Rents on Hiawatha is the spot to find both the human and petroleum powered versions of this fine tool. 

Utilikilt!

"The Utilikilt offers a man freedom, comfort, and rugged durability, not to mention a nice fresh breeze through the hot summer work days.  Hard working guys need to treat their tools with care, the Utilikilt is here to help!" 

    Freedom grows in this gardener’s gardens.  Freedom to eat healthy food, freedom to enjoy nature, and freedom to know that I’m treating the environment with respect and love are just a few of my gardens gifts.  With all this freedom flowing from the garden growth, it’s only appropriate that the gardener himself feels as free. 

  Utilikilts is a Seattle based company that brings freedom to men everywhere.  As soon as I donned my first Utilikilt, I knew I was in love.  I’ve never had an easier time jumping in and out of my truck bed, stretching through the garden for those hard to reach weeds, or attracting attention from passers by.  Folks seem either impressed or surprised to see a hairy burly man, proudly wearing a tough looking skirt through the city.  I couldn’t have guessed at the marketing power of the kilt, but after handing out hundreds of business cards to folks who approach me because of the kilts, I’ve become a firm believer. 

The Weed Wrench

   Perhaps the greatest time saving tool I’ve ever found, The Weed Wrench is less a miracle of modern engineering then an ancient, time tested design improved through the strength of hardened steel. 

  A little leverage goes a long way could be the work song chorus of anyone bearing this tool.  Simply clamp the vice like metal jaws around the base of any weed tree you’d like to remove then lean back and let the 6 foot metal pry bar do the hard work.  I remove a lot of buckthorn from Twin Cities properties, and this tool cuts a 2 hour tree removal down to 5 minutes.  The Weed Wrench is worth it’s weight in gold, and from it’s price you might think that it’s made of gold.  If however you’ve got a whole mess of buckthorn trees in the back 40, then this tool will quickly pay for itself in saved time and back pain.  Check with Reddy Rents in the early winter months to see if they’ve got any slightly used Weed Wrenches for sale.  You’ll save a good chunk of change and the Weed Wrench is so strongly made that even well used tools will still have decades of life in them.

I like this tool so much, I made an instructional video!

Felco #2 Pruning Shears

I never go anywhere without my Felco # 2 Pruning Shear.  These are the handiest and sturdiest cutting tool I've ever owned, this garden helper will hopefully become a family heirloom.

Let me help you cut through the crap.  Using a poorly working pruning sheer can wreak havoc on your woody garden plants, and frustrate the heck out of any busy spring gardener.  The best pruning tools on the market are made by Felco.  Their designs have blades that can be sharpened and replaced, steel springs that can be easily removed for cleaning, and they have slickest by-pass anvil design available.  Of all the Felco products, the Felco #2 is my faithful companion.  Every time I slide this tool out of it’s belt bound leather holster I trust that the branches I remove will be cut cleanly and without crushing.  This is a great tool that every gardener would love to find in their holiday stocking.  Felco tools can be found at any reputable local retailer of garden tools and supplies.

The Toughest Wheelbarrow in Town!

At Giving Tree Gardens we need the toughest wheel barrows around, and there's none we've seen tougher then the Brentwood Industries Pro-Boss.  This barrow is a real mover and shaker with it's structural steel chassis and hardwood handles.

In the battle for the better barrow my 6 cubic foot Brentwood Industries Pro-Boss model is by far the best of the bunch.  Before I met this beastly bucket on wheels, I was sure that I’d be buying a new wheelbarrow annually because of the abuse that I bestow upon them.  This well designed wheelbarrow has thick steel legs and a larger then average hard plastic basin that won’t rust out.  I fill my wheelbarrows with the roughest stuff, broken concrete, bricks, rocks, and sand, and I barely notice the wear and tear on this workhorse.  Available locally at Klier’s Nursery, I’d recommend anyone considering a new wheelbarrow stop by to give this one a test drive. 

A gardener’s work is truly never done, so we might as well equip ourselves with the tools that make our work go as smoothly as possible.  Mother Earth Gardens, Reddy Rents, and Klier’s Nursery are a few local stores that work hard to offer us the equipment that can make our green-guided lives a little easier. 

  Any tool is only as useful as the hand that holds it, and our towns are chock full of hard working hands.  If you’ve got a gardener in your life, consider giving one of these fine tools as a gift this year.  After all, outfitting a gardener with good tools will likely pay off with healthy, beautiful rewards for years to come. 

These young fellas hold the tools that will be used to build the future.  With the huge environmental  challenges ahead we need to make sure and leave our kids with the best tools possible.  Organic gardening knowledge is absolutely one of the strongest tools that we have to gift to our children.

 


“Anything you can do needs to be done, so pick up the tool of your choice and get started”

~Ben Linder

  "When the only tool you have is a hammer,

you tend to see every problem as a nail."

~ Abraham Maslow

  "A worker may be the hammer's master, but the hammer still prevails. A tool knows exactly how it is meant to be handled, while the user of the tool can only have an approximate idea."

~Milan Kundera 

Photos by Russ Henry  ©2009 ,Text by Russ Henry ©2009 by Giving Tree Gardens, all rights reserved.
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