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- Bucket Seat: use a 5 gallon bucket - attach foam and fabric
to lid, to make a comfy seat that will also carry your tools.
- Mini Plant Markers - cut old miniblinds
into 6' - 8" pieces. Label with a marker or pencil.
- Vinyl Siding Markers - Scraps
from siding your house, can be cut into great plant markers.
- Stirring Plant Markers - Pain stirrers
make great markers.
- Clay Plant Markers - take those broken pieces, write the plant name on it, or
better yet, paint a flower on it and place near your plants.
- Depressing Plant Markers - tongue depressors
make great plant markers.
- Hanger Pins - Garden pins/staples out of old wire hangers. Use wire
cutters to clip the corners. Use those to hold down drip hose, landscape cloth, any number of things.
- Capillary
Mat - the goal is to draw water from a reservoir to water flats or individual plants. Cut a rectangle of quilt
batting or an old wool blanket, or an unused diaper!
- Cardboard Box - one season raised garden
bed and put in compost at end of season.
- Biodegradable Planters - temporary planters - got some smaller
boxes hanging around, put them to work. Make sure the soil goes all the way to the top edges to resist it wicking moisture
away. Then put them in your compost pile.
- Extend Growing Season - Sheer pleasure. Sheer curtains
can serve as row covers. Check out yardsales or your own stash. They also do well as covers over tomatoes to keep
the chickens at bay.
- Bookcase Bed - throwing away an old bookcase? take the back off and use it as
a frame for a raised bed.
- Cold Frame - old computer covers/printer covers had huge hoods
that are insulated and may even have the fan still installed. They are usually about 3' square with a hinged plexiglass
cover. Great way to recycle obsolete computer equipment.
- Soda Pop Irrigation - cut the bottom
off a 2-litre bottle, drill a hole in the cap. Bury the cap end in the soil (where the roots will grow). Fill bottle
with water and voila you can work on other tasks. Refill as needed.
- Compost Tea - take a 5 gallon
bucket, drill small holes around the perimeter outer edge of the base. Bury the bucket in your garden, root level. Fill
with compost, add water and it will leach the tea into your garden everytime it rains or you water.
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Care and Feeding of your Tools |
The most important
tool: Every gardener needs a sense of humor. Keep it oiled and not too sharp; you don’t want to hurt yourself.
Keep it handy you never know when you are going to need it. - Quick Clean Up - Dunk tools, shovels, forks and spades
in a bucket of sand and gravel soaked in linseed oil.
- Keep your tools sharpened -
maximize their effieciency while in use. Using a flat edged file will work with most tools.
- Wood
handle care - Sanding down a splintered handle then rubbing with linseed oil will restore it to a smooth finish.
- Check all Parts - nuts, bolts and screws to be sure they are tight and in top working order. Replace
worn or rusty ones.
- Storage - If possible, keep your tools off the floor, preferably
on a rack or hanging by nails. Especially if they are kept in a garage. The salt brought in on the car over winter
can corrode the metal.
- Rust removal - you can sometimes remove it by soaking
the tool in white vinegar; otherwise, use steel wool, and oil after
- Precautions - Remember
to always use safety glasses when working with files or power tools. One metal splinter can cause a lot of damage if it gets
in your eye.
- Fluid Film® works great on trimmers & clippers. Just apply a light film and let the trimmer run for a few seconds to allow
Fluid Film to penetrate effectively. Fluid Film® will not burn greenery on cutting devices and will keep sap from sticking
to blades. Love this stuff! available at the garden center.
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