Saturday, May 3, 2008

Getting To Know My Hoe


This post is my RSVP to Carol of May Dreams Gardens' "Garden Bloggers Hoe Down".

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I have a confession to make. I'm not a hoer. Oops. That doesn't look right and it sure doesn't sound right when you say it out loud, so let me rephrase that. I don't use a hoe. Carol is shocked, I know, but I've never really felt the need for one. Why use a hoe?

I know there are a couple of good reasons - to aerate the soil around plants and to remove weeds. I don't have a weed problem since I use mulch everywhere except the vegetable gardens, and we use Preen there, prior to planting the veggie seeds. But cultivating the soil might be reason enough for me to think about hoeing.


Now that I do think about it, I've used a different garden tool to accomplish the cultivation task. It's a long-handled forky thing.

I know it has a proper name - something like a "4-tined cultivator" - but I just call it a forky thing. I've got a short-handled one, too. These come in really handy also when I want to plant something and the soil is really too wet for it. They let me dig a hole without compacting the wet soil.


We have an old hoe that I have no idea where it came from. It might be an old one passed down to me by my parents. I'll have to ask them. Romie uses it once in awhile between the corn rows throughout the growing season.


But this past Christmas, my mom gave me a Winged Weeder. I haven't used it yet, so it still looks brand spanking new. In fact, I had to take off the packaging to take photos of it for this blog post.


It's shaped in such a way that it actually looks like it might be fun to use. Maybe I'll try it. Maybe I'll even like it enough to keep using it.


8 comments:

Carol Michel said...

I know there are a lot of gardeners who don't really hoe. It's a lost art, I guess. Sigh.

But you do have some hoes, so there is hope.

Thanks for coming to the Hoe Down!

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Your winged weapon looks intimidating. Tee hee... at least I bet that is what the weeds would think. You should at least get it dirty Kylee.

Those claws look like they would do the trick too.

Meems said...

Kylee: You're forgiven. I just read Friday's post. I find it challenging to keep up with my blog and all the reading and commenting I'd like to do. I try not to stress over it and do the best I can. Some of the things you have going on are temporary so there should be time later you don't have now... maybe.

I like your fork thingy... I need to get one of those.
Meems @Hoe&Shovel

Rose said...

I don't really like to hoe either, and now I see that what I really need is a long-handled forky thing just like yours. Besides, I like your name for it!
Just read yesterday's post: love the shoes, and frankly, I wondered how you had to time to write, run, and plan a wedding! It's amazing you have time to write a blog at all. Don't wear yourself out.

garden girl said...

I like the forky things too. They're good for moving mulch out of the way and for cultivating.

Aiyana said...

Interesting info. I've never seen a winger weeder before. I wonder how it works. Happy GTS,
Aiyana

Shady Gardener said...

Don't think I'd get in your way! ;-)
It looks effective.

Sylvana said...

I use the forky thing to. It is one of my favorite tools and one that I spent the most money on -- had to have the fiberglass handle with reinforced tines!

The only hoe I have isn't even a true hoe -- it looks kind of like the Winged Weeder with a more compact head. That is my second favorite tool. It is really good for getting in between plants and cultivating in small, hard to reach places.

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