Every gardener has a favorite tool or more. I happen to have 7 that are like old friends. They are as much a part of what I love about gardening....as the plants. There is something so comforting about grabbing an old tool and setting off into the garden for a good days work. The hand mattock pictured above, my dad gave to me. It is the tool I use the most for planting small plants and digging up weeds. I can't imagine gardening without it. I happened to be outside when mom and dad pulled up one day. Dad got out of the car with a grin on his face and pronounced to tell me he had something for me. You would have thought he had the Hope diamond! As excited as I was to receive the mattock, you would have thought, I also thought it was the Hope diamond! Being an organic gardener and weeding by hand, I have spent hours on end, sitting on the ground, digging with this mattock in my hand. Thanks dad.
My big mattock. I literally would not have a garden up on this old hill without my big mattock. Most of what I call soil, is clay and shale that even the best shovel won't budge. This was my constant companion while I was making a bare piece of ground into a garden. All of the trees and shrubs I planted, they can thank this old mattock for a nice, deep hole to spread their roots in. A mere tool could not have handled the job. How can one be sentimental about a piece of wood and metal? Beats me. But it has a special place in my heart.
These 2 guys usually go hand in hand when I grab them out of the shed. I used them all day yesterday, cutting "stinky trees" beside the drive. Don't ask me the official name of the tree. My nephew Ben told me once, but I forgot. They're an invasive tree that crowds out hardwoods, pines and cedars and I am forever cutting them down when they're saplings. These 2 tools have saved a whole lot of trees from getting choked by wild grape and out of control honeysuckle. Sometimes the grape vines are so big around I've had to use the saw. I picture the trees smiling and breathing a sigh of relieve when they see me coming with these tools.
Unlike most people, I use my spade and hoe the least. My soil just won't allow it. But I do use my spade for any edging I do and use the hoe to "hill" up dirt around potatoes and to shore up raised beds. I've had them both for so long that I can't remember when I got them. Whenever I need them, they're just what I need to do the job, though. Kind of cute, aren't they?
Even though it has a motor, this "tool" is probably right near the top of my most used. I don't even like to think about when it finally conks out on me. The old guy is 20 years old, I seriously don't think Stihl makes them to last like this anymore. There's hardly not a level place up here, so any grass that needs mowed is mostly mowed by the Stihl. It takes a few more tugs to get it going anymore....but then again, it takes a few more tugs to get me going too.....but once we get going we're usually good for the long haul. I hope it can handle mowing this uneven piece of land, as long as I can.
So there you have it. My constant gardening companions. I've left them out in the weather and probably used them for jobs that they weren't intended for, but they've held out pretty good. We should all age so well.
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