Beginner's Garden

I spent the last week with a friend in South Texas who just moved into a new home. The yards in that development are TINY but the city and the home owners' association collaborated to make a community garden in the park located behind my friend's house. Homeowners can lease a garden plot, and my friend decided to give vegetable gardening a try.

It's the wrong time of year to start anything from seed. The garden centers only have pansies right now, no vegetables. But we did use the opportunity to wander through and see what other people were growing. Lots of broccoli and cabbage almost ready for picking. I was surprised by the number of tomato plants hanging in there - but a neighbor said they had ripe tomatoes all winter long last year. Several also had good stands of asparagus. The impromptu garden tour gave my friend some ideas for what to try come February (when the threat of frost has passed) and we also discussed various stake and support systems people had for tomatoes and peas.

Even though the weather is too uncertain right now to try planting it didn't stop us from going shopping for garden tools. What do I suggest for the basics? Here's what we got:

Garden hoe:
A staple in any gardener's arsenal. There are a few different types of heads but this is the classic. The six-inch wide blade can be used flat for scraping the dirt for wide, shallow beds (like for planting lettuce or carrot seeds) or digging deep trenches in loose soil (potatoes). Or it can be turned on an angle for making long furrows (peas and beans). Also great for working compost into the top layer of soil or loosening up a large area.

Garden rake:

Don't get this confused with a lawn or leaf rake, this one has a very different purpose. The teeth are metal and about 3 inches long rather than the wire, plastic, or bamboo fan shape of the other rakes. This can be used for smoothing and leveling a planting bed, closing furrows and trenches, spreading mulch, or skimming the surface for roots and stems worked up from hoeing a large area. I've also used it for picking small rocks and dirt clods from an area. In spring (or summer, or fall) I'll use it to lightly work over an open area or even a mulch walkway to disturb any weed seedlings trying to get established - much more efficient use of time than hand pulling in an area where nothing of value is growing or planted.

Hand trowel: A must have for any gardener. Great for a number of tasks in small spaces. Loosen weeds, fill pots, dig short furrows for planting, create holes for transplants (especially those from 4-6 inch pots). Usually the blade is marked with a ruler to help determine the right depth to dig and plant. I like to splurge and go for the ergonomic handle. The holes are handy for hanging.

Hand transplanter: Not much different from the hand trowel at first glance. The blade is narrower and the end more pointed. This tool is good for spading into the ground to make a small hole for dropping in transplanted seedlings. It is also good for thinning (and transplanting) direct-sown seedlings. Honestly, I don't have one in my own garden, but it came in the combo package with the trowel.

Hand tiller: Just what the name implies, good for tilling the soil in tight spaces. I'll use this to scratch the soil around plants, loosening up the tiny weeds trying to take over my broccoli and tomato transplants. Also handy for "fluffing" the mulch around my herbs or mixing in the slow-release fertilizer into the soil around the rosebushes.

Gloves: This is one of those garden tools that I consider optional but others a must-have. I find it rewarding and therapeutic to get my hands dirty but I know others have their reasons (including having a job where dirt-stained fingernails are frowned upon). Don't get me wrong - when I'm playing with the rosebushes or other thorny things I have my gloves on. If you get gloves it may take some trial and error to find a fit, fabric, and brand that you like. These are cotton with palm dots for extra grip - what my friend was looking for. Mine have leather palms, which hold up better for pruning and trimming trees.

Watering can: The garden management provides hoses but I think there is something to be said for a plain watering can. We picked up a 2-gallon size, perfect for mixing fertilizer with the water.

And while we didn't pick these up, these are also strongly suggested for the first time gardener: 

Shovel: In my friend's community garden, heavier tools like this are provided. Actually, she already has a digging shovel (or rather, her fiance does) from their last house. Great for digging stuff up, spreading gravel (around her palm trees), planting things from big pots, etc. There are several types of shovels but the digging shovel (pictured here) is the most versatile. Transfer shovels are better for moving loose gravel and mulch.

Spading fork: I grow a lot of potatoes so this is a must-have tool for me. I also use it for turning my compost piles. A lot of people will use a digging shovel for the same purposes. And like the digging shovel, this is made available by the garden management for my friend's plot.









5-gallon bucket or any other large bucket with a handle. Very handy for hauling out weeds and dead plants, taking produce to the house, mixing potting soil for pots and small planters, etc. Again, for my friend this is provided.

Wheelbarrow: If there is ever a tool you want someone to provide for you, this is it. I'm partial to the one-wheeled variety. My coworker swears by the two-wheeled.



So, if you are looking for ideas for Christmas gifts, whether buying for yourself or someone else, make sure you have the basics covered.