just a tad scratchier (some might say unbearably scratchy) and only available
in a limited choice of colors... like beige.
Must be purchased by the bale
and applied with a pitchfork...
but the new sheets on these beds couldn't be finer!
I suppose it depends on ones priorities [grin].
If I can't outrun the weeds, maybe I can outsmart them this season...free up some precious time
for other garden endeavors...
like sitting in the shade under the umbrella.
See that orange-handled tool poking up along the side there?
That is the one garden tool I couldn't possibly live without. Called "hori hori" from some vendors.
Might wanna check 'em out.
Thanks to A. M. Leonard for the picture. That's where I purchased mine although they are available
from several sources. Leonard calls theirs a "Deluxe Stainless Steel Soil Knife" and that it is.
Basically, it's a re-design (more ergonomic) of an older style with a clunky wooden handle. Not only
were those models heavier & not easy to grasp once muddied or wet, but heaven help you
if you laid it down in the garden somewhere and forgot where it was...
the old brown handle certainly wouldn't let you know.
I haven't lost this one yet and it's been a good two years now.
The best of the weekend to everyone...hope it's brilliant wherever you are
and may all your weeds be damned.
HI Christi,
ReplyDeleteMade me chuckle! I could do with one of these babies at work! By the same token, if things carry on the way they are at work, I'm not going to be needing any tools at all! :(
aaaaacccck, Catherine, what's happening now?!? Sorry to hear that.
Deletenice to see a garden that can be planted! looks lovely. must look into the hori hori...thanks for the tip
ReplyDeleteThe prep seems to take f.o.r.e.v.e.r. I just keep thinking about all the swooning that's going to happen when the sweet peas climb that trellis....all worth it :>]]]]]]
DeleteIt looks good now but if it were mine i'd have to cover the whole with bird netting or some other as the bl***y blackbirds would have that mulch everywhere by tomorrow morn. I've not seen that tool, sounds like an Asian one.
ReplyDeleteDon't seem to have that trouble here, Kaite...with the mulch, I mean. Have trouble with the goldfinches landing in any bed with "edible" leafage & pecking the darn heck out of everything. Most of this mulch has been down since Oct/Nov. and nary a bird has disturbed it. I'll count myself lucky for something!
DeleteWow that's extraordinary, it looks so neat i thought you'd only put it there that afternoon. I have covered all my mulch airtight almost with either bird netting on hoops or tree guard flat on the ground. They are horrendous here - mainly the blackbirds, feral pests from Europe.
Deletehori hori? me want want! (I am battling some weed infestations myself.... must apply thicker layer of mulch!)
ReplyDelete4 inches of *****anything***** applied as mulch seems to really do the trick. Even IF anything takes root in it, very easy pull out ;>}}
Deleteyour garden bed looks like a lovely quilt
ReplyDeleteimagining
a quilt with lines of running stitch hinting at straw
...could be interesting to get that hori hori past Australian Border Security [they don't understand gardening at all]
looks like the sort of tool used for gutting corpses
or
rendering life into corpse for so that it is guttable
i like that it is stainless steel, especially as yesterday I found my favourite Japanese rice-cutter that had been lost for some years
in the composted base of the bunny house
where it had inadvertently been slung along with a bale of fresh cut grass.
there'll be considerable polishing with wet+dry sandpaper before it is restored to something approaching its former glory
I think the hori hori could do each of those things you named, India...it's very versatile...the cutting edge a definite candidate for corpses of all kinds. Best wishes with the long lost rice cutter. I've a small stack of similar "found" objects waiting for attention. Never seem to get to them tho. Would rather dream about quilts with running stitches....
DeleteMy hori hori is lost in the garden somewhere. :) I'll have to look for one like yours...this is the second one I've lost and they are a must-have tool for me. Pulled weeds most of today. I tried mulch last year. Helped with the weeds but invited the slugs.
ReplyDeleteOhhh, the slugs can be damned, too.
DeleteI have the older hori hori version with the brown handle.. lost and found a few times.. I have learned to buy clippers with bright red or yellow handles.. I have lost a number of them. have fun in your gardens and under the shade in a nice chair too.
ReplyDeleteWe have similar clippers, Donna. If you're a mind to, do treat yourself to an orangey hori hori. You absolutely will not believe the difference in how it feels & functions in your hand. It's much lighter and lightyears easier to grip & maneuver. It's almost like a completely different tool from the brown handled version.
DeleteIs that straw?? It looks much longer than any I've seen. I'm a plant so frickin thick the weeds don't stand a chance kinda girl. But! Tom got a new toy ...a powertakeoff chipper so I'll have mulch-a-mundo at my disposal. Yes!
ReplyDeleteAin't nothin' like a fine pile of mulch at ones disposal. I've been learning the hard way what happens when I'm without. My weeding fingers can no longer handle the abuse! Have fun with yer new gizmo :>D
Delete