Garden Tools and Tricks I Can't Live Without!

Gwen - I went on Sunday. There were still lots of people and there was still lots of stuff to buy.

Holly - I'll put Aug 1 on my calendar and let you know what it looks like as the date gets closer. I really do want to see some of Vashon this summer. Thanks!!

Hi Gwen, You can drive around to a lot of farm stands any day. Depending on the place, they have veggies, fruits, cheeses, eggs, herbal products, etc. I personally tend to go to the farmer's market on Saturday so I am unable to advise you about which farm stands are best stocked or most interesting (some near me only have eggs in a cooler). I think there are several farms close to the north end of the island if you are pressed for time.

Do you know which organization was offering the farm map? I'll see what I can do to figure that out. The library has a little tourist magazine (Destination Vashon) that has a map with island businesses listed, but I just looked at it and it doesn't appear to have farms marked. Any of the real estate places will have maps, and could perhaps mark places on there for you if you can't get an official farm map with directions.

Yep, you need to ride a ferry to get here. It is only a 15 minute ride and mid day is usually pretty easy, no long lines or overloads. The difficult times are mornings going off the island and evenings coming back on. You should have no trouble. But we usually leave lots of extra time for going to the airport just in case of the unusual event that the ferries are all off schedule.

Your cousin's daughter is a girl after my heart. I was a city girl like her. When I was 14, the neighborhood council put in a community garden near my house (read: dumped 2 inches of topsoil over a gravel parking lot and put a fence around it), I took a wheelbarrow and scooped up the extra topsoil that was around the outer perimeter of the fence to mound up my little 10 by 10 plot. There was a van of teenage boys parked in the alleyway laughing at me. Rude! Did not offer to even open the gate. But my little plot actually grew decent sized veggies. That was my first garden.

The Vashon Island Grower's Association (VIGA) website has some farm information, addresses and phone numbers, and a rough map. I'm going to attempt attaching the link. The map is kind of off on locations, so don't go by that. For example, The Pacific Crest Farm icon is on the wrong road. Close but would get you off track.
www.vigavashon.org/fs.cfm?id=100

Kathy, that great! I hope it works out.

Holly, I love that story of the little girl determined to start her own farm. Charming. I think you should write a children/young adult's book about that character. I think there are probably lots of city kids who only want to dig in the dirt.

Here's another link about Vashon farm stands. Greenman and Hogsback are close together and not too far from the north end ferry, K-Jo, Plum Forest, and Island Meadow are more centrally located. I'm pretty sure all of those would have substantial farm stands. Langley Gardens and Pacific Crest would too, but are farther to go, over on Maury Island.

http://www.stov.us/at/farmStands.html

Kathy, maybe when I am retired I will have time to write. Right now, I am swimming in a sea of stuff that needs to be put away in some organized fashion, and finding all the places where my kids stashed things around the room. What to do with the lego pieces you like best or a crayon that you don't want to go all the way across the room to put away...now I find it all.

This message was edited Jun 24, 2009 5:11 PM

I just love the idea of that little girl being so industrious and proactively creating her own dream. There are thread on DG of writers who each write an installation of a story. They are pretty good if you have the time to read . . .

Now that's an invention - a way to plug your laptop into your car radio speakers and then play your emails and Dave's Garden.

Holly, you sound so much like Ali! She's such a doll. She's 17. People who know her give her gifts like she got an apple tree for 8th grade graduation. She has her own little garden at home and it's quite impressive. She's pestering her parents to start a compost pile. She and I took a composting class last night. It's so fun to see a teen that enjoys stuff like that.

howdy, fun reading this thread,
my little contribution is a clam shovel, circa 1970's,
and is very handy for many digging duties and
showing off what is the best it can do. That critter
gave me fits but was alittle too confident plowing up
my lavenders

I have an old clam shovel that no longer has a handle. Now I'm convinced I need to get it refurbished and functional.

Gwen, what a great kid! I'm sure she is thrilled to have an aunt like you who can share her passion for gardening and help her get into a composting class on her vacation.

I am back from the trip to the Midwest and all of a sudden think I need some fleece clothing for my garden accessories as it was in the 90's back there and in the 70's for sleeping.
I had a chance to try out another Japanese garden tool, a long handled hoe that I thought would be a great addition to my Mejiri Gama Hoe. It was not long enough for me, as I find many hoes are for my 5'7", and the blade was squared off and angled wrong for me also. The friend who had it had paid over $70 for it and I was really glad to find out ahead of time that it would have been a very poor investment for me. I will add the real name once I can look it up.

Loved the idea of the "rock buckets" and will put them to use immediately. RJ was wondering how we could decorate them up a bit, but we don't think paint would stick??????????????

Glad to see you on this site Dirt. I'll bet you have other things we would all be interested in hearing about as well.

I just went on a garden tour on Saturday and instead of rock buckets, she had pieces of wire, like chicken wire type of wire, wrapped in a bucket shape and then the rocks piled in that. She kept them in places as hose guides. They looked great. Eventually I'll put my pics on the computer from the camera and will post pics.

Looked up the hoe and only description from her source said "long handled Japanese hoe." ($74.00)

Love using the latex gloves when the weather is cool. Gives you great control when taking care of seedlings, and keeps your hands nice and dry when you are working in damper areas. And you have no problem throwing them away once you are done for the day!

Okay folks, It took me a while to find the thread where we had discussed this, but here is the scoop about the 2009 Vashon Farm Tour:

http://www.vashonchamber.com/documents/FINAL3.pdf

There are 3 farms featured all fairly close together, on Maury Island actually, and within a couple miles of my house (easy for me). There is no cost for the tour that I could see. It goes from 10:00 to 4:00 on Saturday August 1st. A catered lunch is available for a reasonable price.

Of course any DGers are welcome to stop by my house too if you wish (d-mail to arrange), though my garden has become excessively weedy and overgrown. I've been entertaining out-of-town family for the past week (and getting the house ready beforehand) so I have done nothing about it recently.

I do have one complication for this event, which is that I am participating in the Relay for Life (a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society) and will be up all night taking turns walking the high school track with my team. I plan to be sleeping when I get home in the morning, but be up for an afternoon visit to the farms. I just can't miss it again!



This message was edited Jul 26, 2009 4:45 PM

I hope to go. Is anyone else besides Mauryhillfarm going? I'm coming by myself (from Whidbey) so would love company!

I just discovered using non-skid (non-slip) clear spray paint to spray the handles of certain tools to make them easier to hold onto, mallets, hatchets, axes, etc

Here is my usual setup to go out in the garden. The bucket holds the tools and stuff, the weeds go in the red trug. My pruner now is a Fiskars that has a rachet so it is easier, and the handle spins so fewer blisters. My prior one lasted about 5 years, I just got this one. The yellow handled thing is a Diggit made here in Seattle. I think you could lever up a tree with it. The long handled dandelion weeder is used a lot. Also my Flame Weeder which I use quite a bit.
I think I will check out the non-skid spray. Fluorescent paint is also a good idea.

>> I just discovered using non-skid (non-slip) clear spray paint to spray the handles of certain tools to make them easier to hold onto, mallets, hatchets, axes, etc

I rub handles with beeswax to make them non-slip. I'll rub wooden handles with paraffin if I want them to slide (like the handle of a rake). Heat helps the wax sink in, for example tilting and propping the handle above an incandescent lamp.

For even more grip, like the plastic handle of a hatchet, I'll tie rings of waxed twine around the handle, or make a "criss-cross" pattern of waxed twine. The wax is even stickier than beeswax, and the thickness of the twine, with cross-overs and knots, gives a very textured surface.

Does anybody know, offhand, what kind of oil is good to rub into the wooden handles of tools ?

Corey- I like the beeswax idea, and the sliding paraffin too.
mhf- Historically, the recommended oil is boiled Linseed Oil. You can buy a quart at Lowes. More than a lifetime supply! I suspect other oils might work too, but I would hate for my hoe to smell like rancid oil or motor oil, so I might stick with the linseed (made from flax seeds so I suppose it will keep my hoe from having a heart attack).

Linseed oil might be much better, but when I looked into it, I didn't think it mattered very much for "outdoor wood".

Now I use mineral oil since it can't ever go rancid or oxidize.

I never got around to melting together paraffin and mineral oil, or paraffin and mineral spirits, to increase the penetration of the wax deeper into the wood and make the wax softer and more "smeary" so I could lay down a thicker layer on the wood. But I do sometimes put a little mineral spirits on a waxy rag or paper towel to rub with and "encourage" the paraffin to sink in.

Mineral oil is a good idea. I have a little bottle in the kitchen for the wood cutting board. It is labeled "food grade". I have often wondered why I would want to eat a petroleum product.

>> I have often wondered why I would want to eat a petroleum product.

If you take enough, mineral oil is a laxative. A couple of tablespoons-full?

Now you mention it, I do recall being given a tablespoonful occasionally as a child. It was oily, tasteless. I also recall my mom putting some in my ear to loosen earwax.

Great thread! How is it I just now am finding it? Anyway, I am with katie59 on the hori hori knife, I couldn't live without it. Besides a shovel it's pretty much the only tool I use. This one on amazon is an excellent deal: http://www.amazon.com/Joe-SJHH1901-Hori-Hori-Landscaping-Digging/dp/B007PQNNJM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1417982123&sr=8-3&keywords=hori+hori

I bought 3 hori knives, just so I would always have one at hand. While looking around to check out prices at several stores, I found quality is quite variable, with some having sharp pins poking through the wood handle on the other side. Others have a double sided pin holding the knife in the handle, and this design seemed much better.