It wasn’t until I was planting my first seeds of the season that I caught myself looking fondly at my favourite tools. Yes, all gardeners have their favourites. The two I will be showing today may not be ones you are familiar with so here goes.
This first tool is a widger and I couldn’t do without it. If you like to grow plants from seed, this is one tool you don’t want to be without. This widger is made from stainless steel and will last a lifetime unlike many other tools. Of course, that’s hoping you don’t lose it as it is quite small, only about six inches long. So what do I use it for? I use it to make tiny holes in the soil for seeds. The real use for this tool is when potting up tiny seedlings. Each end has a dibber which I can use to gently lift tiny seedlings out of the cell packs. It works wonderfully. You will find this tool at all garden centers.
My second favourite tool is this feed scoop. I bought this at our local feed and farm store. It is sold as a grain or feed scoop but I had plans for this from the first time I saw it. If you are like me and empty countless bags of soil over the growing season for containers and greenhouse growing, this tool can’t be beat. No more using a 4″ pot to scoop soil, losing part of that valuable soil on the ground. This scoop holds a larger amount of soil and makes filling containers much easier.
Of course, don’t have this kicking around if you have a horse lover in the family. My scoop went missing for a while and I just figured I misplaced it. One day, dear daughter told me I could have the scoop back since she had bought her own. Turns out it had been in her horses grain bin all that time. I was happy to have it on hand today as I filled my seed trays in the greenhouse. Its time to start seeds!
I’ve never noticed a widger before. I’ll look for one, thanks. My scoops are stainless steel with a long handle so I don’t have to put my arm in the potting soil bag. Some kind of scoop is definitely necessary. I’ve seen neat improvised scoops from things like detergent bottles but a sturdy scoop is worth the investment.
Your widger is interesting- it looks rather like a trowel for smoothing mortar jointing between paving stones – is it sold as a garden tool? My wider is a plastic affair with a twin pronged fork at one end and flat blade at the other. i tend to use wooden BBQ sticks for pricking out!
Yes, Nigel, here they are sold as garden tools. I wish we could buy the forked one here but I haven’t seen it.
Maybe I can send you one?
Her’s a link to
Amazon- maybe can you get it here (looks like delivery is more than the product cost!)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gardman-Widger-Dibber-Label-Set/dp/B0051WSPKY/ref=sr_1_5?s=outdoors&ie=UTF8&qid=1362767060&sr=1-5