The Minimalist Gardener
Week #6. Three essential garden tools.
“Into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul” - John Muir
Hello Everyone.
It’s hard to say if it was a recipe or the fluted French tart pan that first inspired me to make a savory tart. Tart pans are easy to come by in any kitchen store, yet the trouble is deciding which size and shape to buy. I choose several, a decision I did not regret since I love baking tarts, yet has led to a bit of clutter in my pantry.
Kitchen stores and garden centers have a lot in common. We go for one thing, maybe garden gloves, and end up with a lot more, perhaps a rose arbor. Temptation is always lurking. After many decades as a consumer both in kitchen stores and garden centers, I am finally learning that unless something breaks, I don’t need more.
Like the tools in my kitchen, all I really need is a solid wood cutting board, three sharp knives, and a set of bowls. The Cuisinart and immersion blender are never far from reach, yet are tucked away to avoid clutter. I’ve found that what I thought was once essential has become less so, and the same is true in my garden shed.
Top Three Tools
My first garden tool was a watering can, that had been abandoned by a gardener who no longer needed it. She was an octogenarian, an experienced gardener, and preferred to use a hose instead. I was in my early twenties, eager to learn, and adopted the can as my own. It is the same one I use now, three decades later.
Never give up on a good watering can, which is ornamental as well as practical. Watering cans are better for plants since the stream of water can be directed at the roots, and not sprinkled over the leaves of the plants. It’s not easy finding a good can, although Garret Wade* has a classic design.
Back in the mid-80s, I purchased a garden fork and sharp-edged spade set from the former Smith and Hawken catalog. Since the set exceeded our weekly grocery budget at the time, I saved up all summer with money earned through cut flower sales at our farm stand. When the box arrived my excitement surpassed anything I have ever felt at Christmas. I knew instantly that we would be lifelong friends, and we still are.
In my garden consults, these are often the first set of tools I recommend, along with a Cape Cod weeder from Sneeboer.* The garden fork is useful to turn over the soil in the kitchen garden, and all summer to turn the compost. The spade is useful when peeling back turf for a new garden bed and edging along the lawn.
My obsession with bamboo started when my children were young, and I built a teepee for pole beans to climb. This led to the creation of other tunnel-like structures, that involved towers of sunflowers ( inspired by Sharon Lovejoy’s book Sunflower Houses) and other ways to escape the heat and add unexpected places to play.
My garden shed is full of bamboo poles in all sizes and shapes. Infinitely useful for staking long-stemmed annuals such as snapdragons and cosmos, supporting ornamental vines in pots, and an arbor to mark the entrance to the garden. (And yes, I still build bean teepees because gardening brings out the child in everyone.) Buy bamboo locally, if you can, or in bulk from HM Leonard*.
* links are not affiliated, purely as a resource.
It's easy to get carried away with too many garden tools, yet finding the right tool for the job will make your time in the garden more productive and tasks more pleasurable. Invest in quality, and take good care of your tools so they last longer than you do. That’s my goal.
From my garden to yours,
Ellen O.
P.S. Here’s my recipe for Caramelized Onion Tart.
Ellen Ecker Ogden is a cookbook writer, educator, and garden designer. Her books and articles have been featured in numerous national magazines. More can be found at www.ellenogden.com or link-tree.
