Vegetable Gardening (133 page)

Hand trowel blades usually are made of steel or plastic. Steel blades are more durable, but plastic blades are lighter. Although stainless steel versions are more expensive than plastic ones, they're easier to clean and easier to find if you lose them. The handles may be steel, wooden, or plastic. Choose a trowel that's forged as one piece of metal or that has secure attachments between the blade and handle.

Try different hand trowels before buying, choosing one that feels comfortable and that fits your hand well. Ergonomic versions of hand trowels have forearm supports and cushioned grips.

Hand Cultivators

A
three-pronged hand cultivator
is a handy tool to break up soil clods, smooth seed beds, and work in granular fertilizer. Plus, after you plant your small container or raised bed, the weeds will come whether you like it or not; a cultivator serves as a great tool to remove these young weeds as they germinate. When you're digging a planting hole, a hand cultivator breaks up the soil more easily than a hand trowel.

As with a hand trowel, be sure to choose a hand cultivator that feels comfortable in your hand and that has a handle securely fastened to the blade. The steel-bladed types are the most durable.

Garden Hoes

Hoes are available for all occasions — hoes for digging furrows, hoes for weeding, hoes for wide rows, hoes for tight rows, hoes that scuffle, hoes that oscillate, and even hoes for specific vegetables such as the onion hoe. What you need largely depends on the design of your garden. The best hoes have long hardwood handles and single-forged steel blades strongly attached to their handles. Here are three favorites:

Common garden hoe:
This classic hoe has a broad, straight, 6-inch steel blade that's good for all types of gardening, including digging, weeding, chopping, hilling, and cultivating. Longer- and narrower-bladed versions, such as the collinear hoe, are good for weeding in tight spots.

Oscillating hoe
(also known as a stirrup hoe):
This hoe, shown in Figure 20-1, is primarily used for weeding. Unlike other hoes — which cut weeds on the pull stroke — this hoe cuts weeds on the pull stroke
and
the push stroke, enabling you to weed faster. The 4- to 7-inch-wide steel stirrup is hinged so it moves back and forth, digging about 1/4 inch deep into the soil and scalping off young weeds. This hoe works well in gardens with clearly defined rows and spaces between plants. Like all hoes, the blade works best when it's sharpened regularly.

Tined hoe:
This hoe is my favorite. It has 3 or 4 steel tines attached to the bottom of a 5- to 6-inch-diameter steel head. Tined hoes are good for weeding, cultivating, digging, chopping, hilling, and breaking up soil clods. They're lighter, more versatile, and easier to use than common hoes.

If hoeing gives you a sore back, try the Swan-Neck hoe. This wooden-handled, metal-bladed hoe is curved at its neck in such a way that you can stand straight up (not bending) as you work your way down those rows of beans.

Spades and Shovels

Spades and shovels are two of the most commonly used gardening tools. The difference between the two is simple: A
spade
is designed for digging, and a
shovel
is designed for scooping and throwing. Shovels traditionally have rounded and pointed blades, whereas spades have flat, straight, almost rectangular blades. A good shovel is essential in any garden for spreading compost, manure, or fertilizer. A spade is essential for edging or breaking new ground. However, many gardeners use spades for anything from cutting open fertilizer bags to hammering in stakes. Good spades are rugged.

Both spades and shovels come in short- and long-handled versions. A long handle gives you more leverage when digging holes, so keep that in mind if you're purchasing a new spade. I find that I use a short-handled shovel with a D-shaped grip more often in my garden than a spade. Choose a spade or a shovel that has a single piece of metal attached to a wooden handle with either a single socket or a single socket that runs 1 foot up the handle (referred to as a
solid-strap
connection). These models are heavier, but they're much more durable.

To get a more comfortable grip on long-handled tools like spades and shovels, try low-cost foam grippers that fit on the handles. These grippers make the diameter of a handle larger and more cushioned, reducing the amount of blistering and cramping in your hands. They're available at local garden centers or on the Internet.

Garden Forks

As handy as a spade is for turning fresh garden soil, I find that an
iron fork
is a better tool for turning beds that have been worked before. The fork digs into the soil as deep as 12 inches, and at the same time breaks up clods and loosens and aerates the soil better than a spade. Iron forks look similar to short-handled spades except that they have three to four iron tines on their heads. The best ones are those forged from one piece of steel with hardwood handles firmly attached. They're great not only for turning soil but for turning compost piles and digging root crops, such as potatoes and carrots.

Garden Rakes

After you dig soil, you need to level it, break up soil clods, and smooth the seedbeds (especially if you're growing raised beds, which are described in Chapter 3). An
iron rake
is the right tool for the job even though you may use it for this purpose only a few times a year. A 14-inch-diameter, iron-toothed rake should have a long, wooden handle that's securely attached to a metal head. You can flip the metal head over to really smooth a seedbed flat. For a lightweight but less durable version of an iron rake, try an aluminum rake.

Buckets, Wagons, and Baskets

Okay, you don't have a 1,000-square-foot garden. But you still need to carry seeds, tools, fertilizer, produce, and other items around. I love talking about storage containers because this is where the tools of the trade get really simple. Here are three essential containers:

Buckets:
For fertilizers, potting soil, and hand tools, a 5-gallon plastic bucket is the perfect container. You can probably get one free from a construction site; just make sure to clean it out well. For a more durable but smaller bucket, buy one made from galvanized steel.

Wagons:
For bulkier items, such as flats of seedlings, use a child's old red wagon. Wagons are great for moving plants and small bags of fertilizer in your garden, and the lip on the wagon bed helps hold these items in place when you cover bumpy ground. If you're interested in a wagon to move yourself (and not just equipment) around the garden, a new invention is a wagon with a seat. This type of wagon usually has a swiveling seat and is perched on four pneumatic tires, allowing you to sit and push yourself through the garden as you work (see Figure 20-2). It has storage space under the seat as well.