Tag Archives: hoe

What a Tool

Spot the fork-in-compost
Spot the fork-in-compost

Not always being at home these days has meant that I get out of the little habits that make gardening easier. Like knowing where you left your tools so that you can easily get on with the right tasks. It’s frustratingly commonplace for me to walk down the end of the garden to do some planting to then find out I’ve left the trowel / string / canes elsewhere.  And to add to the complexity of detective work, with Mrs B doing much of the labour while I lounge around at school, I will have to assess where she has left items before I manage to acquire the right tools for the job.  (In much the same way that simple tasks in the house are made more complex when one has to first work out how the furniture or storage areas have been rearranged in one’s absence).

But the problems are normally self-made.  For example, the other day, after I had done some potting up, I simply could not find the small hand fork which I knew I had been using for weeding.  I couldn’t find it anywhere and made do with whatever else I had – trowel or big fork or whatever.  It wasn’t until a few days later that I found the hand fork, as I was moving the bag of compost: it was stuck in the bottom of the bag like a latterday sword in the stone .  I had obviously skewered the compost when I moved it previously.  I took the fork from the bag with no great ceremony and went off in search of my horitcultural Camelot.

Vorpal blade is shattered
The Vorpal Blade went snicker snack….then broke

We all have our favourite tools. My father’s favourite is the wonderful hoe which, like a wilkinson sword razor has a triple action (for a closer hoeing experience). Only it doesn’t even do a single action now.  I guess the ground was a little hard, but as I was using it the other day, the blade sheared off.  A sly glance over my shoulder to see if I was being watched, then a quick trip to Dave Marsh Hardware, and the situation was remedied.  I am not expecting the OM to volunteer to do any hoeing soon, so no need for any awkward explanations about my hoeing technique.  I guess I just don’t know my own strength.  But the new hoe seems just fine and, from a distance, looks just like the old one so TOM will not be too upset.

 

 

Hoe Hoe Hoe

The Vorpal Blade went snicker snack

The weather has finally turned drier this past few days and my father can get to do what he really finds most satisfying: hoeing.  He has always said this is his most rewarding job in the garden so I have had a few attempts over the last few weeks to see where the pleasure lies.

The ground definitely needs to be devoid of dampness to make sure that those pesky weeds are left high and dry.  When conditions are conducive I can easily see why this is such a rewarding exercise.  You are basically buffing up your garden without getting on your hands and knees to do it.  But you do have to be careful: that hoe is a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands and in the wrong bed.  At the week-end he decided to hoe some of the herbaceous borders, without realising that we had sowed some seeds in parts of them.   And for myself, when hoeing around the vegetables I am in constant fear of taking off a healthy broad bean plant at ground level through my enthusiasm.

The beans are climbing, with a little help from blue string

Our good old traditional hoe is a fine and trusty looking tool.  A blade securely attached to a solid pole by means of two sturdy metal arms with a crescent top.  This is a hoe that has seen many a row of beans and borders and the pole is looking increasingly rotten while the blade is a dull rust colour.  I had a go with it, and had some success, but then discovered my dad’s new hoe which is a light sabre compared to the dull claymore that is the old one.  This one has a shining steel blade – or should I say blades, as it is secured only on side, while the other side can be used to deliver a lateral swipe.  This is both useful and intimidating, as I now have the opportunity to destroy my bean crop with forward, backward AND sideways swipes.

I used it around my runner beans and broad beans.  In recent years we have been picking veg while trying to dodge nettles and I do not want this to happen this year.  My main weapon in this battle is the Vorpal Blade that is the old man’s hoe.

And what joy it brings.  My borders and rows are looking dry and weed free with the soil nicely turned and friable, showing the plants at their best. That is something to bring a smile to one’s face.  Perhaps even a little chesty chortle of joy.