This may sound like a strange title, given that it’s still the Thanksgiving Weekend here in the US.
But this weekend I received my first Christmas present, and it was far earlier than I had expected.
My First Seed Catalog of 2012 has arrived! JohnnySeeds.Com has come through again!
Every year I look forward to the new seed catalogs like I used to look forward to the Sears Christmas catalog as a child. The only difference is now the “toys” I actually look at do me and my family some good.
Instead of Roy Rogers Cap Pistols, Gene Autrey Guitars, and Science Experiment Sets, I now look at new varieties of vegetables, easier ways to make a Green House ( Hoophouse Pipe Benders), and unique garden tools.
Since it is before Christmas, I thought I would show you a list of what’s on my Christmas List so you can see if any of this might be something you can use in your garden too.
Of course there are the untold orders for seed varieties seldom seen, but mainly I wanted to leave a list of the tools I needed more than the plants I wanted,
My JohnnySeed Christmas Wish List
Pipe Bender for making High Tunnels 7 ft High and 12 ft wide
This bender is a cool and inexpensive way to bend chain link fence top pipe into a form that makes the ribs of a 7 ft high Hoophouse or Greenhouse. There is even a smaller model that uses Electrical conduit to make smaller Rowcovers.
Knitted Shade Cloth for High Tunnel Shade
I learned my lesson this past season, and now that they have a nice shade cloth for lower row covers, I can use it to save more of my crop from the hard sun and extreme heat we get here in Central texas.
Compost Thermometer
One of the problems with hot composting, is that you need to make sure it gets to the right internal temperature. This is somewhat problematic without opening it up and releasing the internal heat to the surrounding air. Bt a Compost Thermometer has a long probe allowing me to insert the probe deep in the pile without releasing most of the heat.
Compost Fork
A compost fork is a larger curved type of garden fork that allows ou to pick up larger forkfuls of compost than a simple garden fork. With more tines, and its curved design, it can handle much more than the smaller non-curved versions.
Wheel Hoe
Wheel hoes are actually an old fashioned implement that has come back. It is basically a stirrup how, on the back of a wheel and a set of handles for the operator to control it with. Because of the handle, the leverage is much better than a standard stirrup hoe, and is much more efficient and easy to use. Great for weeding, cultivating, and dirt clod breakup.
Broadfork
Broadforks are (in my opinion) the best tool invented for breaking up old soil, packed soil, etc. Rather than a Tiller, which eventually creates a hardpan of it’ own, broad forks allow a single person to break up the soil in large areas with much less exhaustion. Much like a Garden Fork, the Broadfork has a handle on each side, helping the gardener balance, and have better leverage when in use.
Wheeled Seeder
Wheeled seeders are for those of us who intend to plant long rows of plants and want a somewhat automated way to do it. All you need to do is set the planter to the correct seeds per inch, fill the hopper, and walk it down the row. As the wheels turn, seeds are dispensed at the predetermined spacing, speeding up planting, and increasing reliability.
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