Very true. When I did a search to see if I could find any info on Monty's Indian knife, I came across an article where he says you need two trowels, one wide and one narrow - hmmm!!
Monty does seem to be something of a gadgetoholic but that's really no different to somebody who always has to have the latest tech whether they need it or not. Each to their own.
I've got about 4 wheelbarrows somewhere around. 3 of them don't have a wheel and the fourth was full of cement last time I saw it, so I may be getting a fifth one soon.
I must have at least 6 pairs of secateurs. The in-laws tend to buy them for me as a default Christmas present. They are all rubbish - either they stick open or keep sticking shut - those silly springs just disintegrate. I'm saving up to buy a decent pair for myself one of these days.
I have two garden forks that still have handles - one inherited from my mother the other I had had before she died. Then there are oh, maybe 5 others with snapped off handles and the last tine bent into a sort of 'posh person drinking tea' kind of pose. They are generally employed as ad hoc plant stakes around the place. I also have a wide range of snapped trowels, generally dotted about to use for picking up dog poo. Heavy clay, stoney soil can be quite hard on digging tools.
I still have one working rake. The previous one was used in the pouring of a slab and the handle snapped so it has an old fork handle strapped to the broken bit. It's out the back somewhere, where the building work is still ongoing.
Then there's a mixed assortment of sledgehammer heads, rusted knives and weird things someone gave me or that I found buried and kept.
I actually use one spade, two trowels, two pairs of ropey secateurs, either garden fork (whichever comes to hand first) and a hoe. Yet my shed is full of other things. They mostly serve as decoration in a shabby shed chic sort of way (not). But I can't quite bring myself to throw them out.
Last edited: 17 November 2017 09:35:46
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
By contrast a plot neighbour of mine uses a spade for nearly everything, he has other tools. I have seen him with a trowel in hand, oh & secateurs for pruning but otherwise his trusty spade is used for nearly very other job.
Hosta you should try cleaning & sharpening secateurs it REALLY makes a difference worth the time spent 10X over.
As for Monty's knife I too have drawn a blank sorry.
From Cornwall Lyn but living as an ex-pat in deepest darkest Devon . I do fix the springy things and oil them and all that but they seem to just disintegrate. I use one of the lump hammer heads as a door stop for the polytunnel . And another as a sort of drop weight for smashing crocks a bit smaller and banging in the occasional plant support
Last edited: 17 November 2017 15:39:49
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Posts
Very true. When I did a search to see if I could find any info on Monty's Indian knife, I came across an article where he says you need two trowels, one wide and one narrow - hmmm!!
Monty does seem to be something of a gadgetoholic but that's really no different to somebody who always has to have the latest tech whether they need it or not. Each to their own.
I've got about 4 wheelbarrows somewhere around. 3 of them don't have a wheel and the fourth was full of cement last time I saw it, so I may be getting a fifth one soon.
I must have at least 6 pairs of secateurs. The in-laws tend to buy them for me as a default Christmas present. They are all rubbish - either they stick open or keep sticking shut - those silly springs just disintegrate. I'm saving up to buy a decent pair for myself one of these days.
I have two garden forks that still have handles - one inherited from my mother the other I had had before she died. Then there are oh, maybe 5 others with snapped off handles and the last tine bent into a sort of 'posh person drinking tea' kind of pose. They are generally employed as ad hoc plant stakes around the place. I also have a wide range of snapped trowels, generally dotted about to use for picking up dog poo. Heavy clay, stoney soil can be quite hard on digging tools.
I still have one working rake. The previous one was used in the pouring of a slab and the handle snapped so it has an old fork handle strapped to the broken bit. It's out the back somewhere, where the building work is still ongoing.
Then there's a mixed assortment of sledgehammer heads, rusted knives and weird things someone gave me or that I found buried and kept.
I actually use one spade, two trowels, two pairs of ropey secateurs, either garden fork (whichever comes to hand first) and a hoe. Yet my shed is full of other things. They mostly serve as decoration in a shabby shed chic sort of way (not). But I can't quite bring myself to throw them out.
Last edited: 17 November 2017 09:35:46
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
By contrast a plot neighbour of mine uses a spade for nearly everything, he has other tools. I have seen him with a trowel in hand, oh & secateurs for pruning but otherwise his trusty spade is used for nearly very other job.
Hosta you should try cleaning & sharpening secateurs it REALLY makes a difference worth the time spent 10X over.
As for Monty's knife I too have drawn a blank sorry.
No! Don’t throw any of those away RG, you never know when you will need a sledge hammer head, ?? (is it you that lives in Cornwall)
You may find if you regularly spray WD40 on the secateur springs they won’t jump out.
From Cornwall Lyn but living as an ex-pat in deepest darkest Devon
. I do fix the springy things and oil them and all that but they seem to just disintegrate. I use one of the lump hammer heads as a door stop for the polytunnel 
. And another as a sort of drop weight for smashing crocks a bit smaller and banging in the occasional plant support
Last edited: 17 November 2017 15:39:49
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
There’s always a use for something, we’ve got sheds like that, stuff left by dad, and our own collection.
unfortunately where we are in Deepest Darkest Devon the blinking frost hasn’t cleared all day, it’s freezing, literally.
Yup, here too. Lovely sunset sky but cold
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
No frost in this part of darkest Devon.
Well, not in my garden.
Harumph.
Well at least my parsnips will be sweeter. If the rat doesn't eat them before I get the chance
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Wow, you’re lucky, Hosta, I think it’s the altitude here, you’re a bit more sheltered, our frost haven’t gone all day and now it’s getting icy.
I‘m going to give the parsnips another week, still some green on them then they’ll be up and in the freezer.
From Montys knife to Cornish sunsets, it was indeed a beautiful one tonight.
Last edited: 17 November 2017 19:14:01