Workout Equipment

My husband somehow conned my BIL into a long term loan on this little machine. I don't know how he did it and I am actually pretty surprised that he did! You see, I am constantly being accused of always doing things the hard way. Hanging laundry out, planting buffalo grass, riding my bike, using old school pencils....you get my drift. So, I was a little shocked to see him out there pushing this fine piece of equipment through the lawn. Its quiet. You don't need to run the kids or the dog inside to use it. You can listen to your favorite podcast and burn some extra calories in the process. My husband actually called the process "pleasant" and declared that it did not take any more time than the loud little gas hog. If your thinking about it, come on by and I'll let you take it for a whirl....Tom Sawyer style. I think you'll love it!

Wheel Hoe

My husband and I really wanted a rototiller to help us keep up with the garden weeds. When it came down to the purchase, we realized we couldn't pull the trigger on a gas guzzling machine for several reasons. 1) You rarely need the force of a full blown gas powered machine 2) pollution 3) gas prices are going up 4) we need the exercise! After much research we decided on the Hoss wheel hoe. After about a weeks wait, the box came in the mail.

There are two types of wheel hoe. The high wheel and low wheel. Everything we read indicated the low wheel hoe to be the most efficient at getting work done. They say you can do ten times the weeding in an hour that you can do on your hands and knees. I'm going to venture to say what would previously take four people 2-3 three hours will be done by one in 20 minutes!

It took a little bit of assembly and the handles are going to need several coats of linseed oil but I think this is going to be well worth it! You can buy several different attachments for this garden machine to make your gardening experience worth while. The investment was a bit hefty but since we don't have to add gas, I think it is going to be worth it. We used the cultivator teeth to till in the compost.

We would still be hand digging 1,800 square feet of garden if we had not purchased it! Maybe this year my garden will look more like Martha's....probably not!

Must Have Tools

Figuring out what you need to tend your garden can seem futile. I myself have purchasesd some of those "promising" tools only to realize that they don't actually remove weeds on their own! I now feel like there are an essential three to making life easier. The first is a good trowel for planting, digging, weeding etc. The biggest problem with most trowels is that they are week at the neck. They cannot take the force of deep digging dandelions or compacted earth. I have found one that has yet to whimper at what I have put it through. It even comes in a super cool pink! Average cost is about $18.00. You can find them in select garden stores but they are also available at diggersusa.com. The second item is the nejiri gama hoe. I love this hoe for working on your knees and eradicating weeds close to your plants. It cuts the soil nicely and is great for precision work. It helps keep hand weeding to a minimum. You can expect to pay about 12-18 dollars. The third item is the scuffle hoe. Since I am a farm girl I was pretty convinced the old standard was the way to go. My husband read about this item and brought one home. I was resistant as first but alas I am now a big fan. The best part about this hoe is that you can cut the weeds just under the surface of the soil on the front stroke and the back stroke with much less effort than the standard model. This one is truly a shoulder saver! Expect to spend about $20.00. You can find them at most garden stores. All three take a little work and none of them will tackle a three foot weed. So weed early weed often! What are your favorite garden tools?