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Homeowner Forum / Lawn and Garden / July 2009Non-Garden tools
As I was cleaning cobwebs off the edge and underside of the verandah this morning, I realised that the tool I use for the job was a bit unusual because it's a toilet brush. It works brilliantly as the bristles are strong and the long handle keeps me away from the spiders. I also used my old kitchen knife with it's bright orange plastic handle and this set me to wondering about what sort of other unusual/unexpected tools other people use in the garden. > As I was cleaning cobwebs off the edge and underside of the verandah this > morning, I realised that the tool I use for the job was a bit unusual [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > and this set me to wondering about what sort of other unusual/unexpected > tools other people use in the garden. My garden shed is a one car detached garage located 150 feet from my vegetable garden, so I have a rural mailbox in my vegetable garden for storing small often used hand tools like pruners/knives/trowels and supplies like string/twistums/pencil-paper, roll of paper towels etc... inexpensive, weatherproof, and saves a lot of steps back and forth to the shed. "brooklyn1" <gravesend10@verizon.net> wrote in message > My garden shed is a one car detached garage located 150 feet from my > vegetable garden, so I have a rural mailbox in my vegetable garden for > storing small often used hand tools like pruners/knives/trowels and > supplies like string/twistums/pencil-paper, roll of paper towels etc... > inexpensive, weatherproof, and saves a lot of steps back and forth to the > shed. Now that is an absolutley brilliant idea! I think I'll steal it as I have a situation where your idea would work well. Thanks for that. >"brooklyn1" <gravesend10@verizon.net> wrote in message > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >Thanks for that. If I recall correctly, Bill W. posted this idea at least a year ago, maybe longer. Perhaps a convergent idea, but damned if I'll see shel, mackie's soul/butt buddy, take credit for Bill W's post. Charlie >>"brooklyn1" <gravesend10@verizon.net> wrote in message >> [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > If I recall correctly, Bill W. posted this idea at least a year > ago, maybe longer. it pops up frequently in magazines like Hobby Farm or those pretty pictures type garden magazines. the first time i recall seeing it was in the 80s... it's certainly not original to Shelly. lee > >>"brooklyn1" <gravesend10@verizon.net> wrote in message > >> [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > in the 80s... it's certainly not original to Shelly. > lee I found it in Organic Garden Mag circa 1970 ish. Have never had and original thought. But this does not trouble me. Book "The Anxiety Of Influence" Subtitled "A Theory of Poetry". By Harold Bloom <http://www.amazon.com/Anxiety-Influence-Theory-Poetry/dp/0195112210/ref= sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246459329&sr=1-1> Bill who wonders if Bloom ever gardened but with a last name like that who knows? The Reviews are worth a read and a tiny shed aka mailbox is handy !!!  SignatureGarden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA http://www.youtube.com/usnationalarchives >>"brooklyn1" <gravesend10@verizon.net> wrote in message >> [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > Charlie Butthole Don't be such a Butthole... I never said it was my idea, I said it's something I have and do. It wasn't your Butthole buddy Bill's idea either... folks have been using rural mailboxes for weatherproof storage for nearly 100 years. I'm just surprised that some nappy wearing infantile pinhead didn't whine that a mailbox is not a tool. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_box <Charlie> wrote in message >>"brooklyn1" <gravesend10@verizon.net> wrote in message >> [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > Perhaps a convergent idea, but damned if I'll see shel, mackie's > soul/butt buddy, take credit for Bill W's post. Credit where credit is due. Sheldon stayed on topic and it IS a good idea regardless of whoever first had the idea or who first posted it here or anywhere else. I very much doubt that any of us have come up with truly 'original' ideas in our gardens. In fact one of the reasons I specifically go to visit Open Gardens each year is to look at what other people do and how things work in their gardens. A friend was here about 9 months ago and loved the way I'd lined the edge of a flower bed with thyme and asked if next time I was tidying up the area, I'd pot up some thyme so she could do the same thing. I eventually gave her a whole broccoli box of rooted thyme and was glad to do so. It's no skin off my nose if someone copys my ideas. In fact I see it as a compliment. > "brooklyn1" <gravesend10@verizon.net> wrote in message > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Thanks for that. Also what I like is that it's so portable, for winter I can simply store it in my shed. At first all I wanted was a small weatherproof toolbox but after searching the various hardware stores those that would have done the trick were too large and expensive. In article <4a498e8b$0$2612$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au>, > As I was cleaning cobwebs off the edge and underside of the verandah this > morning, I realised that the tool I use for the job was a bit unusual [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > this set me to wondering about what sort of other unusual/unexpected tools > other people use in the garden. Got be thinking about what other tools are about that can have garden use. First was a small masonry trowel. Small and very pointed and it could take and edge. Then looking at my caulk gun wondered if a mix of soil and very small seeds could be used as a delivery system tool. I sprinkled carrots seeds by hand and seem to be a bit heavy handed. Even got a tool with a wheel that can be used for seed planting but even with size control it is heavy handed too. Bill whose food garden is no longer due to shade and shifting family stuff. Still got herbs and many plants here but shade issues give me concerns for tomatoes. SignatureGarden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA http://www.youtube.com/usnationalarchives "Bill who putters" <b2forewagner@snip.net> wrote in message > Got be thinking about what other tools are about that can have garden > > use. First was a small masonry trowel. Small and very pointed and it > could take and edge. I did have an old trowel at one time but found that it got rusty quickly as I kept leaving it stuck pointy end down in the soil. It then got lost completely being such a beige tool. I have a friend whose husband painted all of their tools a shocking fluorescent pink which I thought was a good idea since most garden tools seem to have green handles if they are any colour - dumb idea is green. > Then looking at my caulk gun wondered if a mix of soil and very small > seeds could be used as a delivery system tool. I sprinkled carrots > seeds by hand and seem to be a bit heavy handed. Get an old jar with a plastic screw top lid and drill a hole in it near the edge. Mix your carrot seed with sand and shake it up and then just pour out the seed/sand mix to get a much thinner sowing. Even got a tool with a > wheel that can be used for seed planting but even with size control it > is heavy handed too. > > Bill whose food garden is no longer due to shade and shifting family > stuff. Still got herbs and many plants here but shade issues give me > concerns for tomatoes. Here shade in summer is wonderful but given that over our last summer there were massive bushfires (wildfires in USian) is areas where there had previously been none because of a moist climate that has disappearred as a result of climate change, shade near houses is becoming less popular. I now look with a more jaundiced eye at too much shade or tree/shrub growth close to the house. > I did have an old trowel at one time but found that it got rusty quickly > as I kept leaving it stuck pointy end down in the soil. It then got lost [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > fluorescent pink which I thought was a good idea since most garden tools > seem to have green handles if they are any colour - dumb idea is green. Flourescent paint is available in spray cans. I keep a can on my mower for marking rocks that begin to surface so I can avoid/locate them later and try to dig them out. This paint is very visible, even glows in the dark: http://krylon.com/products/fluorescent_paint "brooklyn1" <gravesend10@verizon.net> wrote in message >> I did have an old trowel at one time but found that it got rusty quickly >> as I kept leaving it stuck pointy end down in the soil. It then got lost [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > and try to dig them out. This paint is very visible, even glows in the > dark: http://krylon.com/products/fluorescent_paint :-)))) I hope those rocks are turning up in rougher grassed areas and not your 'lawn'. > "brooklyn1" <gravesend10@verizon.net> wrote in message >>> [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > :-)))) I hope those rocks are turning up in rougher grassed areas and not > your 'lawn'. The rocks that pop up where I mow are the only ones I care about, and every spring there are new ones. I keep a crowbar in my tractor just for the purpose of prying rocks out of the ground, but not all are pryable. Many don't budge no matter how hard I apply pressure. For those I have a bucket in the barn that contains an assortment of large chisels, safety goggles, and a four pound engineers hammer... I do my best to chip off enough so my mower blade doesn't hit it and put the chips into the bucket so they don't cut my tires, not so simple as most rocks around here are granite. With some I can try digging but once I realize it's a boulder and not just a rock, that's when the chisels comes in. I've pried a couple out with the bucket on my tractor but that's not always possible as they could be the size of a VW. The last one I was able to get into the bucket had to weigh over a ton, my tractor's front loader could barely lift it... when I first noticed that one the part sticking out of the ground was about the size of a saucer. I tried digging it out with a shovel so when I notied it moved ever so slightly I made a mental not to go at it next I had the bucket on the tractor.... once I got it pried up a bit I was commited, there was no turning back because it wasn't possible to push it back down. It took be the better part of the day to hand dig around it so I could get the lip of the bucket under enough to tip it out of its hole... then another struggle to get it into the bucket without sliding it accross the lawn making a worse mess. I drove rebar in to keep it from sliding, and finally it ended up in the rock wall in front of my barn. The hole was now a freebie and too nice to fill in and not use for planting a tree, so now a very healthy forest pansy redbud is living there. http://i41.tinypic.com/212bbme.jpg > this set me to wondering about what sort of other unusual/unexpected tools > other people use in the garden. My garden has been downsized from 'very large' to a third floor 6' X 8' balcony of containers so I had to do some rethinking of effective garden tools. My favorite is the three pronged garden claw with the two side prongs ground off. I probably now use 'the hook' 75% of the time a tool is needed. Three years ago I was swarmed by an infestation of aphids. Normally it wouldn't have been a big deal but I no longer had access to a strong blast of water since there is no garden hose available. I tried soapy water from a spray bottle with mediocre results and was rapidly loosing ground. Any sort of pesticide was out of the question since I have a bird bath and feeders that are in constant use on my balcony. What to do, what to do. I have found that a large gin and tonic brings on some brilliant ideas whilst pondering. I used my hand vac. I hooked up the mini tool hose attachment I use to clean out the gunk in my computer and sewing machines, freshened up the tall adult beverage and spent about two hours patiently sucking up hoards of aphids with the little chisel head type tool. When I was done I just rinsed out the 'crud cup' and sent the aphids and few other assorted bad guys down the drain. When I now see any unfriendlies that can't be quickly neutralized by the death pinch administered with thumb and forefinger I bring out the hand vac. Works like a charm! http://tinypic.com/r/1z3tstz/5 http://tinypic.com/r/mt2h3l/5 http://tinypic.com/r/2ujiall/5 http://tinypic.com/r/50o8c4/5 Val "Val" <ya-shur@yabetcha.com> wrote in message > I used my hand vac. I hooked up the mini tool hose attachment I use to > clean out the gunk in my computer and sewing machines, freshened up the > tall adult beverage and spent about two hours patiently sucking up hoards > of aphids with the little chisel head type tool. :-)) That sounds very therapeutic. I like to hand water when I need a bit of soothing down time but I think vacuuming aphids would do too. I get aphids every spring but luckily, I also get little Superb Blue Wrens who arrive and clear the lot within a week of theem appearing. One of the reasons why I try to garden organically as I dont' want to lose these tiny visitors. When I was done I just rinsed out > the 'crud cup' and sent the aphids and few other assorted bad guys down > the drain. When I now see any unfriendlies that can't be quickly [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Val |
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