Food and Garden Dailies started as a way to record my family's favorite recipes. It has come in handy many times when I'm asked for a recipe. I simply email a link to the blog! But I couldn't just stick to recipes. The kitchen is tied to the garden in so many ways...and so I let you into my ever changing garden as well.

If you're interested in my all-time favorite recipes, check out this post first: My Favorite Recipes

Thursday, March 6, 2008

A Bag a Day Keeps the Weeds at Bay

Pin It As the spring flowers start showing up, so do the weeds. I hate to use Round-Up, though I admit I'll spray it in the cracks of the patio, or in the rock bed by the front sidewalk. For the rest though, my plan is to fill a grocery bag each day with weeds. I'm always amazed how quickly a bag fills up...10-15 minutes tops. There's always something to pull!

My favorite weeding tool is this handy-dandy weed puller by Oxo. It feels good and sturdy in my hand as I pull even the toughest weeds. The rounded part on the bottom pushes against the ground as I pull up on the weeds, giving me better leverage. MUCH easier on these arthritic hands than a tool without that feature.

Something else I really couldn't live without is this rocking gardening stool. It's the Garden Rocker by Vertex. I found it at Lowe's for $20 a couple years ago. I keep it in the low position, though it can be raised (4 settings). It allows me to sit up on it, and rock forward (or sideways) toward the weeds or plants I'm working on. I simply plop it in one spot, and rotate around until I've pruned/weeded the area within reach. Then I move it again....LOVE this stool!! (Another use for it is to help in shelving library books. Occasionally my subbing jobs end early and the schools have me shelve books in the library to finish out my time. Most of the books are so LOW...it's backbreaking to do this for more than 30 minutes! Each time I do it I think about this little gardening stool and swear that I will clean it up and toss it into the car when I go to these schools. Someday I actually will!)

6 comments:

. said...

Good for you on the weeding. I think I will take your tip on doing a bag a day.

dg said...

You know, the task is just not as daunting if you just simply try to fill a bag. Each time I go in the yard, I grab a bag and my weeder. Sometimes it's hard to stop! I see one more weed that I HAVE to get...but too much weeding puts too much stress on my hands and back. The bag a day method keeps everything more manageable.

Angie Moses said...

Dailies are amoung my favorite plants in my gardens! I collect a few new ones each year at the DL society annual sale. Found your blog via the Pea's - can't wait to check back as the growing season gets moving!

Tanya said...

Oh what I would give to see a weed! Anything green would be heaven right now! I love your blog. I've had it bookmarked for awhile now. Thanks for the wonderful tips!

Anonymous said...

Great tips for gardening! Where can I find the weeding tool? I've never seen anything like that! I'm going to look for the stool too...I've had to give up gardening for years because my knees can NOT take it. It never occurred to me that there would be something like this out there. Thanks!

dg said...

Wendy, it looks like in the past year Oxo has replaced what I have with this item: http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Grips-Gardening-Weeder-16079/dp/B00008IHSP/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1204937720&sr=8-19
I'd have to try it out to see if the circular blade helps with leverage. I like this new one, but it's not often that I have to dig deep for my weeds. I think I prefer the older model that I have to this new one. But then again, I haven't tried the new one!