Gardening tools:

There are what I call essentials when it comes to Gardening Tools, without these Organic Gardening can be a lot harder.

 The Burner,

This is a Propane Weed Burner, you can buy them at your local Hardware store, here in Australia we pay about one Hundred Dollars for the Burner and then a Dollar a refill after that so they are cheap to run. They aren’t as fast as weed spraying but then you don’t have to worry about getting Herbicide onto your precise plants. Weed seed is killed as well so the longer you use it the less germination will occur in the future. You will still have to hand weed directly around the base of your plants as you can’t get close for fear of burning them.

The Claw:

Whoever invented this Gardening Tool is a legend, nothing I have used or seen matches it for ease of use. Once the soil is tilled this Tool is great for working Compost, Manure, Fertiliser etc into the ground. You just push it into the soil and turn it, this ensures whatever you are adding to your Garden Bed is incorporated deep in the soil to start working straight away. A lot of Animal Manures and Compost don’t like sitting on top of the soil in the sun so using this preserves their usefulness by burying them straight away. You can work close to established plants because the spikes are less likely to harm the roots compared to a Spade or Shovel.

The Fork:

Like the Claw this Tool is useful for working additives into the soil without having to turn it over, just spread the Manure etc and then spike and twist the Fork. This is an absolute must for digging up your Potatoes, you get under the Spuds with the Fork and then lift shaking the soil as you go, this brings the Potatoes to the surface for picking.  As you can see the dirt is still on this one from digging up my last lot of Potatoes, Organic Spuds are like apples crisp and very tasty.

The Grubber/Weeder:

This little beauty is great chipping out larger weeds in a new patch, you hit the weed just below the soil level and that is the end of it. If you have a patch of hard soil that needs to be broken up then this is your Gardening Tool of choice. The spikes on the top are for dragging through the soil to draw out the weeds if you wish to remove them.

Loppers:

After your Secateurs these are an essential Pruning aid for your shrubs and trees, you can tackle some big tasks with these, as with all your pruning equipment keep them sharp so you cut cleanly not bruising the plant with blunt tools. I prefer the scissor action rather the anvil type as again they cut cleaner, remember when cutting something large or hard push the branch that you are cutting away from you as you cut, this makes the job a whole lot easier.

The Push hoe:

Again a great aid when weeding, best used when there are only light young weeds present, you work it backwards and forwards cutting the weeds off just below soil level. Best used in the warmer part of the day so the cut weeds will then dehydrate and die. Be wary around your vege’s as one overzealous push and you have a dead plant! This is also useful at working Compost etc into the ground.

Sprayers:

Pump pack sprayers are essential tools for applying your Liquid Foliar Fertilisers, regular applications of fish and or seaweed Fertiliser will see the incidence of Pest attack decrease dramatically. If there is the odd Gremlin about I use the smaller sprayer to apply Pyrethrum or White Oil just to the Insects rather than drowning the whole plant and potentially killing the predator insects as well.

 Hope this helps,

Barry.

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