Week 48 Tips for the Zone 9 Garden

Posted on December 2, 2015 by Jay White

Since we are so close to Christmas I thought I would use this week’s post to give you some great gift ideas for the gardener in your life. I use the tools highlighted below extensively in my own garden. Not only are these tools extremely useful, they are extremely durable. Plus, with the exception of the Felcos, they are all made by hand. I really like that and I really like supporting artisans and local entrepreneurs. FYI, I get nothing from any of these companies from recommending these products. I am just a very satisfied customer that is happy to recommend these products to you.

My favorite pruner is the Felco F7. The F7 is $58 and worth every penny!

Felco Pruners – I have heard some folks say that Felco pruners are expensive. While they may be a bit more expensive than the average pruner, their quality is head and shoulders above the others that I have tried. I take my Felcos with me each and every single time I go into the garden. On my most recent trip to the garden I used them to prune roses, clip crepe myrtle suckers, take cuttings from my geraniums and begonias and then clean up dead tomato and cucumber vines. I also used them to cut twine, open several bags of compost and my chicken feed. In short, this is the single most used tool in my gardening arsenal. I like them so much that I have two pair. I feel like the $58 that I paid for mine is the best money I have ever spent on a gardening tool. If you are going to buy pruners for yourself (or as a gift) I recommend the Felco 7 Pruner (F7). This pruner has a rotating handle that allows you to use the tool all day long and never develop a blister.

The CobraHead Hand Hoe is the best weeder/cultivator I have found. At just $24.95 it is a useful gift that won’t break the bank.
CobraHead Weeder and Cultivator – The CobraHead Hand Hoe is a marvelous little garden tool that is produced right here in the USA by a small family owned business. My wife ordered it for me from another family owned business that we often shop with; Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. I am not a big buyer of garden gadgets. However, when I saw the CobraHead in the Baker Creek magazine I knew it was something worth having. The CobraHead is a 13″ long, curved weeder, cultivator, planter, etc. It has a thin, curved, football shaped head that allows it to work in even the heaviest clays. When I go into the garden my Felcos are in my right back pocket and my CobraHead is in the left pocket. I simply cannot garden without these two tools (ok that was a little melodramatic but I really do love these two tools!)

This dibber and row marker is as beautiful as it is functional. If you would like to get this hand made gift for your own gardener you better hurry. Martha Stewert has picked this up as one of her holiday recommendations.
StumpDust Hand Made Dibber and Row Markers– Here is something that is as beautiful as it is useful. My wife gave me the Combo Set ($45 at http://www.stumpdust.com/shop/) for my birthday. I usually use my fingers to make my holes for planting. I cannot wait to use this beautiful, handmade tool that is made from salvaged materials when it comes time to plant my beans and peas.
MiteyFine Mister – While the CobraHead helps keep my weeds at bay, the MITEYFINE Mister helps me wash my bug problems away. The MITEYFINE Mister is an ingeniously simple tool, made right here in Texas, that does a great job keeping aphids, spider mites and even some caterpillars at bay. The MITEYFINE is a wand that attaches to your hose. The tip at the end is specifically designed for pest control. It applies just enough pressure to knock off the bugs without damaging the plant. Plus, it uses no chemicals, which is really important to me.
Soil Test – While this may not be the sexiest of gifts, it is one of the most important. Most gardeners I know (me included) always plan on doing a soil test. However, they never seem to make it down to the extension office to get the bag. Well, do it for them. All extension offices have these in stock (or they will mail you one. Click here to order). Go get it for your gardener and wrap it up. Once they open it take them outside and gather the sample with them and then take it back to the extension office. I promise they will thank you! A good test will cost about $25 and a great test will be about $100. The information contained in the test results will make you a better gardener!

I share these posts on Our SimpleHomestead Blog Hop. Be sure to stop by. The “hop” has tons of great information from gardeners and homesteaders all over the world!

Tip of the Week – Week 17 in the Zone 9 Garden

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Jay White

Happy Earth Day! 45 years ago Senator Gaylord Nelson decided to raise consciousness about the environment after witnessing a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. His efforts started the modern environmental movement and led to a worldwide celebration and network dedicated to raising consciousness about a wide array of problems and issues facing our planet.

As a gardener, you know that April is the perfect time to celebrate the earth. Everything is blooming and growing. Unfortunately everything doesn’t just mean flowers and fruits. No, in April, everything is growing – including weeds and bugs! Because of this I thought I would take this opportunity to do something a little different with the weekly tip. Since we will all be spending a whole lot of time and effort battling pests over the next couple of months I thought I would tell you about my two favorite pest control tools. Before I start I would like to say that I get nothing for promoting these products. After much trial and error I have found these two tools to be invaluable and I just want to share them with you.

CobraHead

My most used and most loved garden tool is the CobraHead Weeder & Cultivator. This curved piece of steel with a little football shaped head goes with me every time I go into the garden. After trying many, many different tools throughout the years, I have found this inexpensive tool works best for me.

As the name says, this little tool does it all. I use it to weed and I use it to plant. Its sleek shape gives me enough leverage to pry up crab grass or scrape out Bermuda runners. It also allows me to quickly dig holes for transplants or dig a furrow for planting seeds in my black clay soil. I get all of this functionality out of a tool that only costs $25. What a deal!

MITEYFINE Mister

While the CobraHead helps keep my weeds at bay, the MITEYFINE Mister helps me wash my bug problems away. The MITEYFINE Mister is an ingeniously simple tool that does a great job keeping aphids, spider mites and even some caterpillars at bay.

Co-blogger Patty Leander introduced me to the MITEYFINE. Her brother is an engineer and he is the inventor of this organic pest control tool. The MITEYFINE is a wand that attaches to your hose. The tip at the end is specifically designed for pest control. It applies just enough pressure to knock off the bugs without damaging the plant. Plus, it uses no chemicals, which is really important to me.

The MITEY fine comes in two lengths – 36” and 48”. The extra ergonomic handle assembly adds 10” to the overall length but makes the wand much easier to handle. Patty likes the short one and I have the longer one. This tool has an all metal construction so it will help you kill scale insects for a very long time.

I share my posts on the HomeAcre Hop. Be sure to stop by the hop. It has tons of great information from gardeners and homesteaders all over the world!

Ellen Bosanquet and the CobraHead Hoe

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Jay White

Yesterday, while returning from lunch, I found what I believe to be an Ellen Bosanquet crinum bulb laying on top of the ground. Now I am not certain it is an Ellen Bosanquet but it was laying in a place where a large clump of them had once stood.

Ellen Bosanquet from SouthernBulb.com

I found this bulb while walking through a garden that I go through quite regularly. While strolling through it, I discovered that a large bed had been dug up and all of the plant material had been removed. While surveying this, I noticed the bulb. It was laying on top of the soil and had just a few roots still in the ground. I decided that it had been left there to die so I rescued it.

I love crinums and I have several varieties in my beds. Since Ellen Bosanquet is one I do not have, I was very glad to find this bulb. In my opinion, Ellen Bosanquet is one of the prettiest. It rosey pink flowers and slightly rippled foliage makes it an attractive plant whether it is blooming or not.

What I hope is a healthy Ellen Bosanquet bulb

Since I didn’t know how long the bulb had been out of the soil, I planted it as quickly as possible. This gave me the opportunity to try out a new garden gadget that my wife gave me for Christmas. The CobraHead Hand Hoe is a marvelous little garden tool that is produced right here in the USA by a small family owned business. My wife ordered it for me from another family owned business that we often shop with; Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

I am not a big buyer of garden gadgets. However, when I saw the CobraHead in the Baker Creek magazine I knew it was something worth having. The CobraHead is a 13″ long, curved weeder, cultivator, planter, etc. It has a thin, curved, football shaped head that allows it to work in even the heaviest clays. In my own garden, the tools I most often use are an old 12′ long Craftsman screwdriver and the claws of an old 20 ounce framing hammer. The thin and gracefully curving shape of this tool, combined with the overall length and large handle made me realize that I could finally put my hammer and screwdriver back in the tool box.

After using it to plant my new crinum in a fairly heavy clay, I give the tool two big green thumbs up! The tool performed just as advertised. I was able to quickly dig a hole with out wearing myself out. I was very pleased. (I make this next statement in a very light hearted manner) Thanks to my new CobraHead, I am actually looking forward to all of those weeds that will soon be popping up in my beds!