Those of you who are regular readers of Weeds and Wisdom are undoubtedly aware of how politically incorrect I am, so don't feel insulted if I talk about Christmas as if none of you were Buddhists or Jews or Muslims or Atheists. It's that time of year when I like to write a column about what to get your gardening friends for Christmas.
Usually I pick gardening items that I would like to find under the tree, hoping members of the Taylor family will read the column. After thinking about it, however, I realized that the great tools I can't live without I already have, so it won't be my wish list I'm writing about, but hopefully yours.
Sad to say, the first item on the list of garden supplies I can't live without is one I haven't been able to find in any catalog. It's a solar vent for the cold frame. A cold frame is a wonderful place to harden off young seedlings or grow a last beautiful crop of lettuce before winter. If you're as poor at daily maintenance as I am and forget to regulate the temperature of the frame by opening and closing its top, you inevitably find your plants either swooning in their overheated home or freezing some night when you haven't replaced the sash.
The solar vent eliminates this sad problem.
It's a gadget attached to the front of the cold frame
that opens the top whenever the temperature rises,
and shuts it down whenever it gets too cold. The
one I've had for probably twenty years has finally
stopped working. I've looked on almost every
garden website for a replacement, but haven't had
any success. That's not helpful for you or me, so if
any of you know where I can get a new one, please
let me know.
The second item on my list is a pruning tool, the Maxi Lopper, made by Florian Tools (1-800-2753618 www.floriantools.com). Florian holds the patent on the Ratchet Cut action, which enables even old women like me to cut through really large branches. In case you're unfamiliar with the ratchet mechanism, let me explain how it works. Cut into a branch that's too big, move the lopper's green handle (there's one red, one green) back and the ratchet falls into another notch, allowing you to take a second bite, then if necessary, a third, and you find yourself cutting through a branch as big as your arm. Well, not quite, but you get the idea.
This big lopper is expensive - $168.00, but worth every penny. Other companies that make ratchet action tools may cost half as much, but they don't even do half the job. Florian also carries the little hand pruner and a middle-sized lopper, both with their patented ratchet action. The pruner comes with a lifetime guarantee, and can be replaced for a small fee when, like yours truly, you finally find yours all rusted out at the bottom of the compost pile.
Another item I can't live without which has a very reasonable price is a kneeler, a waterproof foam pad. I am fortunate that although I have a bad back I have excellent knees. They're a must (good knees) for weeding, harvesting vegetables, opening bottom drawers, even making beds. All the garden catalogs have kneelers. Florian has one for $11.95.
Then there's Preen, an item that saves gardeners hours of tedious weeding. Preen's little yellow pellets prevent weed seeds from germinating. The first time I bought Preen, I got a very small container, not trusting the advertisement. It worked beautifully. I filled all the cracks between my flagstones and they remained weed-free for the whole summer. What a treat! Preen really works, not on weeds that are already there, but on the weed seeds that want to pop up in undesirable places. That's a comforting thought when you know that a single dandylion can let 15,000 seeds fly through the air or that lambsquarters produces over 72,000 seeds. The second time I bought Preen I bought a VERY LARGE container. You can find this product in the gardening section of hardware stores or buy it online at www.preen.com.
If you're looking for stocking stuffers, there's nothing quite as handy as the Quick Connect. These brass hose connections don't cost a lot, so get at least two so you can "mix and match" so to speak. Screw one end of a Quick Connect into your hose and the other end into a faucet or the sprinkler or another hose and you'll never have to screw around again as the Quick Connect needs just a little pull or push to attach or disattach.
In two weeks it will be December 25th, so don't expect another column until 2006. In the meantime, do me a favor? The most fun I have with my website is counting my visitors so I'd like to reach more readers. Have you any friends or relations who might enjoy my columns? If so, could you send me their email addresses? All additions to my list of readers would be greatly appreciated. Happy Holiday!
