We are so grateful to have been shown these hand tools that we currently use everyday in our gardens. I believe these tools are vital in keeping market gardeners from using too much machinery. I give so much credit to these few hand tools for all the time they save and how they help keep our minimum tillage technique functional. I believe every beginning gardener would benefit from using these tools, no matter what the scale of their operation is. This week we used a variety of tools for individual purposes.
our Broad fork, 3 Tooth Cultivator, and Seedbed Preparation Rake
To prepare for our spinach bed of 100’ we started by using the 3 tooth cultivator to combine the fall amendment of compost within the bed. This is very helpful because it achieves the work of a rototiller without damaging soil structure and killing the hardworking worms.
Next the seedbed preparation rake is used to smooth out the surface of the bed, We designed the garden to have beds 30 inches wide so that we could get tools designed for that size. The rake we bought has easy adjustable tine covers that help you draw lines down the beds, the spacing and the amount of rows can be changed to every crop’s preference. After making the lines down the bed it can be seeded evenly and intensively.
