Tools and Equipment

• Keep a sharp edge on spades, hoes, and other cutting tools. This makes cutting through weed roots and sod much easier.

• A piece of corrugated cardboard, such as the side from a box, forms an effective and portable barrier to use when spraying a non-selective herbicide next to desired plants. By changing the angle of the cardboard, it's easy to spray weeds growing right up to the base of a desirable plant while shielding the stems, branches, and leaves. Since some herbicide will get on the shield, the same side should always face the sprayer when moved from one location to another.

• Do you know how many ways you can use an old (or new) plastic laundry basket? When you're going out the "North 40" to work, use your basket to carry your hand tools, gloves, seeds, and fertilizer, and when you're finished gardening, haul all those weeds and clippings to the trash can or compost pile in your handy basket. When harvesting root crops such as beets, turnips, or carrots, leave your bounty in your basket while you wash it with a forceful squirt from the garden hose.

"Where but in a garden do summer hours pass so quickly?" -- Author Unknown

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