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Tools of many kinds and well chosen,
are one of the joys of a garden.
- L.H. Bailey, in The
Gardener -
see What's
Coming Up #76
A skilled workman may be able to make
poor tools do a good job but he would never consider purchasing
such, because no one so well as he knows the satisfaction and
possibilities of owning and using the best.
- from The Wise Garden
Encyclopedia, editor E.L.D. Seymour, 1936 -
see What's
Coming Up #90
30
years ago we retired that too-small wheelbarrow with its hard
rubber tire.
She rescued it from the curb. Who are we to say it's not a worthy
tool?!
Some tools are 
ancient, some
surprisingly modern.
In museums we see
Roman spades of
heavy iron and
wooden, iron-edged
medieval spades
along with many
forks and hoes. Yet the one-wheeled barrow was not around until the
1300's and the trowel not for another 300 years.
- Dr. D.G. Hessayon, The Bedside
Book of the Garden, 1988 -
"Your wheelbarrow needs oil, it
squeaks!"
"I know. Let it be. It drowns out the creaking of my joints."
- Steven Nikkila -
see What's
Coming Up #68
A colorful handle on a tool does
nothing for me. Once it drops into that jungle out there, unless
it's absolutely huge, it's gone until fall.
- Janet Macunovich -
A good tool will... wear out rather
than "give out."
- from The Wise Garden
Encyclopedia, editor E.L.D. Seymour, 1936 -
see
What's Coming Up #130
Insert fork, bounce
to loosen soil, meanwhile pulling weed roots. Reward: Lots of weed
roots out but desirable plants' roots little disturbed.
A digging fork is a stout, short-handled tool with four flat
tines about a foot long.... for weeding I use it delicately to
nudge the soil loose from roots without breaking them...
- Sara Stein, My Weeds: A
Gardener's Botany, 1988 -
There is great satisfaction in a
well-made clean tool that does its work well.
- L.H. Bailey, in The Gardener
-
see
What's Coming Up #128
I don't rely on muscle power to
dig, I use a sharp spade and I wear boots.
- Janet Macunovich -
see Growing
Concerns #760
