As with any profession or hobby, gardening has a set of tools that is universal across all forms of growing food. We have gone through the entire list of tools to narrow it down to the primary tools every gardener should have.
Let's begin with the smaller tools: hand trowel, hand spade, hand rake. These can be found as a set, or directly near one another at most big box stores that have gardening essentials. We have to admit that we do have our favorites and prefer to shop online. This is the set we prefer as it is a complete set and it comes with a handy storage tote bag. The storage bag has an external pouch for each item with an inner pouch for additional items such as a pair of sturdy work gloves meant for gardening.
They are light weight, durable, and work well with almost any hand size we have here.
Many get the Hand Rake and Cultivator a bit confused on what task belongs with what. Think of the cultivator as something that prepares something for us. Cultivates, turns up, the ground for planting. The Hand Rake is just what it sounds like. We use ours for raking away mulch to plant or dig up an existing plant. The weeder is used to get some of the more stubborn weeds that have a deep root system or have mini daggers meant to deter you, and hungry animals, from touching. The Pruner is get for clipping off some of the smaller branches to encourage height when growing or to trim off a stem that is rotting or dried up.
The Small Trowel is for digging a hole with steep sides for plants that are being transferred from germination pots into the ground. Whereas the Soil Scoop clears away, or scoops, the soil out of or into.
On to larger tools!
We're not gonna lie. We always have a set of kids rakes, hoe, and shovel. Why? One, we never know when we are going to have extra little helpers. Two, Ms. Robin frequently does her best gardening when she doesn't have to bend over to use gardening tools in any of the raised beds. Her favorite set can be found here.
Going to a local hardware or big box store to find a full size set that meet your height, strength (too heavy can get tiring faster), and a handle material that works for you. We have found buying one piece at a time is more budget friendly than buying everything at one time.
Stay tuned to our next discussion about knowing your growing zone.
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