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Favorite tool of the year:
(Photo above). 5LB Kobalt Fiberglass pickaxe: my upper body strength is not impressive, but the weight and slicing ability of this thing makes digging through impacted soil a thousand times easier. I couldn’t find it on Amazon; this is the one I bought at Lowes‘. It is a bit intimidating for me at five feet four inches tall, but when you get used to the swing of it it is easy to control and satisfying to work with, so don’t be afraid to go big on pick axes.
Jump to Tools
Jump to Books
Jump to Record Keeping
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Tools:
I have a bunch of hand-weeders from this company in particular, but this is my favorite – it slices through soil shallowly, so you can scrape at a 45 degree angle and reach beneath weeds with little resistance, and if you come down with the sharp point down with a slight angle without actually chopping the root you can pull out burdock, dandelion, and other deep roots by loosening the soil around them so it’s not so easy to pull out only half.
Love this hose. Lightweight, crazy long, drinking water safe, doesn’t get tangled. Maybe I shouldn’t say love, as I feel as if I’m doing something wrong when I drag hoses around, but if I had to…marry….a…hose, oh never mind. Anyway, I consider this ‘my’ hose. When you live with a family and identify a specific hose as ‘my hose’ it’s safe to say you really like that hose. Plus, I had to go out of my way to get it.
Provides a high pressure spray as fine as a needle. Excellent for knocking aphids and spider mites to satisfying oblivion.
Sharp tools are safe tools–they require less force and are easier to control.
Ph meter/moisture meter/light meter in one:
I use these growlights as well as a shoplight set up with 4 T8 inflourescent bulbs – two cool and two warm (I think they are 3000k and 6500k; they provide enough for plants to bloom beneath them.) I use the shoplight set up for seed starting and these to give tropicals overwintering an occasional light bath. I should probably do it more but it’s quite bright and and it’s hard to be in the same room as the sun.
Books:
Anything by Ken Druse: approachable, fun to read, beautiful, inspirational photos.
Anything by Lee Reich: highly knowledgeable, plenty of good books. This is a favorite because it is where I learned to put a paste of wood ash on my peach tree to deter borers.
Anything by Nancy Ondra, and especially with photos by Rob Cardillo. I mean, look at this:
My favorite encyclopedia-style overview of Perennials:
Clothing:
Had these for two years, holding up to a lot of abuse. Tougher than the Atlas ones, better for grabbing at heavy logs or rocks.
Love these. Lightweight. They fit. They’re a set so when one gets wet or gross you can switch off. I bought these in 2018 and I’m just getting around to thinking I need to get a second set. I don’t always treat my tools as kindly as I should, for a more careful person they may last longer but I feel like I got my money’s worth.
I use these for seed saving for winter sowing.
I start a new journal each year to include maps of beds and borders, orders placed in the winter, and all of the plans I have for specific beds or borders.
I love these. They look nice in the house in the winter (and keep the plants off all of the surfaces) and are lovely outside hanging houseplants in the summer.
You know what’s great? Pens with waterproof ink. I like these and the same ones in black.
Last but not least, Water Wigglers, mentioned in this post,
The Water Wigglers go for ages on standard brand name D cell batteries. I’m wary of endlessly going through batteries and throwing them in landfills, so I’ve been using these. They definitely require changing more often, but other than that are maybe a more environmentally friendly option.