I love a good scuffle hoe for smaller beds. I can work it push or pull for aerating the soil and for removing weeds at the root. Amazon.com : Flexrake 1000L Hula-Ho Weeder Cultivator with 54-Inch Wood Handle : Hand Weeders : Patio, Lawn & Garden but I always thought if I ever went back to less intensive gardening, i.e. i had more space I would have one of these for long rows
I have two , The first picture is a dutch hoe/haw and has different sizes , and the one who works it , sometimes And I'm totally joking .
I find a Dutch Hoe pretty useful for chopping up weeds in a bucket to then let steep in water to make weed tea....maintenance requirements are minimal apart from periodic blade edge sharpening, and keeping the wood and metal parts oiled against corrosion and weathering. The Dutch hoe is also useful for weeding, light cultivation, and makes a handy improvised pole arm for self defence purposes against varmints...two legged or otherwise. Start at 1min 05secs, unless you're interested in garden flowering plants.....what follows is a demonstration of how to use a Dutch hoe. Hoe (tool) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Oh Broker...we know you want a dirty garden hoe.....
Bought 2 of the stirrup hoes, 1 of the finger type, like the push hoe, but on a handle, a garden weasel, three plain cotton chopping type hoes, and 1 triangle shaped hoe at a yard sale for $20. 25 year old cleaning out his parents garage with a yard sale after they moved to Florida and when I offered $20 and expected to at least get a counter offer, stopped texting and said "That will be good" and went back to texting. Sanded the handles, sharpened them as needed, and put linseed oil on them and am in the process of hanging them up in my tractor shed. I image that in a few years, if I don't use them in barter or give them away, my son will sell them in his yard sale after I leave. In the last few weeks I have bought garden tools worth at least several hundred dollars at one of the fancy old time garden supply places for less than $50. I find that I need at least 3 or 4 types of hoe. In the greenhouse or in a raised bed, ones with about 18 in handles are the most useful, a small finger type for breaking the crust and preventing the small weeds from rooting in and a 6 in wide small sharp hoe for cutting the weeds like a shuffle hoe. Out side the shuffle hoe, used ever few days keeps hings under control and the finger hoe works real well between the rows to keep the weeds down. If it gets out of control, then you have to use the cotton hoe. Hoes are a thing of beauty and each was developed and perfected for a specific purpose and does that very well. The finger hoe is the old tech and the garden weasel is the modern tech and which one you will use is a personal thing. If things go belly up, they will be invaluable, and if not, they will make your gardening efforts much more fun. Don't order a $50 special hoe from *** selected seeds catolog, buy one at a yard sale for a few dollars, or borrow one from an idiot like me and try it out. They are very much an item that each person will have their own selected one for their own garden, plants grown, strength and body size, age and so on. Hand tools are like people, your choice of a spouse and mine will differ, but almost all of us used to get married, so the different needs and desires seem to work out well in the long run. One person wants a polished brass hand plane and the next an antique, and the third a plain very comfortable one.
Just purchased my first stirrup hoe this year and I love it. It clips the weeds and grass roots just below the surface with little effort and great control. Going to buy a couple more.
I have several variety of weed and my chickens love them, so I tend to pull them and feed them to the birds as a treat.
I don't believe it is a southern thing. Johnny's Selected Seeds - Superior Seeds & Gardening Tools Johnny's Retail Store 955 Benton Avenue Winslow, Maine 04901 Maine sure isn't southern..
My favorite is a tiny light weight triangular one. It works well for precise weeding around plants and is the best tool for draining water from a muddy Michigan driveway in the spring without making more mud.
@duane when you say 'finger hoe' are you talking about those hand tools that look kinda like a hay hook? but with a broader tip?
My favorite hoe? er...well...I haven't one! I hate the damn things! I hate gardening. I hate digging. I hate moving mountains of top soil with a wheelbarrow. I hate weeding, spraying, planting (which involves more damn digging)...BUT, as luck would have it, my wife loves it (which means I don't have a choice in the matter). And, she became hysterically happy when I showed her the photo of the Hula-ho (I never saw one before) because where she came from the only way one could get one to have it handmade. So, ordering one now...
@RickR I'm a lazy gardener. You will prolly like the hoe Chello posted better as its more durable and you don't cut into the soil as deep and raise more seeds to the surface to germinate.
