Gardening and Tools

Once upon a time, my husband bought me a fancy little cultivator Echo machine thingy. He said it would be so easy to use between the rows of the garden and even the ad looked fantastic. Wow, just with a piece of machinery, I could keep a perfect garden.

Yep. It worked once and it was hard to control and it rattled and vibrated my hands so they hurt. It was nearly impossible to pull start and it took a mixed fuel combo.

And it was so noisy!

A friend purchased a Hula Hoe for me and I really liked that too for a bit. I still use it along with the standard old fashioned hoe.

But this old fashioned cultivator works so much better.

It is quiet, easy to start up [yeah I'm kidding] and so easy to control. It does a wonderful job. And the only part that would need fixing would be the handle if I broke it.

Sometimes simpler is better.

The war on Burdock

For the last several years I've had the Dexter cattle to keep the burdock down in the woods. They loved to strip the plants of leaves. This year I didn't pay attention to it. I was after the large patches of thistle in the meadow and oops...forgot about that pesky nasty Burdock.

My weed whacker won't handle them, and at the size they are right now [some as tall as I am] even a blade on the week whacker wouldn't do. They are in a tangled mess of some blown down branches and young elderberry trees [I'd like to wage war on them also].

I did get out the old scythe and with a special whetstone, I did get it properly sharpened.

I may go with a proper new one next year as the blade and handle will be much lighter. I am able to take big sweeps of weeds down with this beauty. Alas...
Not the thick burdock.
After doing quite a bit of research I found references to brush scythes! Happy dance!

For places that are 'tight' or boxed in by trees and rocks, I got a new type of mini scythe.

I like it a lot. It is faster on tall weeds than the weed whacker as it doesn't get bound up. It has no shaft!
This is a cheaper version of a brush scythe. It works very nicely. However this too can't hack the thick burdock.

And I'm having trouble with a plant called smartweed.

It has a shallow root but really likes to spread out. Apparently the Dexters ate them also. Sven loves to eat the tops of the plants so he is a good smartweed controller in very small areas.

Yes, goats would be great to have but that would mean I'd have to rethink and redo fencing. Not sure I am up for that and I don't want a herd of goats to feed just for weed control.

I've also thought of just fencing that area off and letting it go. But you know, I don't like to give up on things. So tonight I brought out my special Fiskars Brush Axe 'thingy' and started cutting at the bottom of the Burdock. Apparently if they are cut as they are flowering, they should not regrow.

Old shot of my handy tool I've used for tough jobs over the years:

Well.
We shall see about that.

Don't even get me started on the Dock weed.
Sigh.

Let the fall Weed Wars Begin!