by Stan Logan | May 6, 2022 | Garden tools, Safe Gardening
Well, of course you have gloves. No gardener has no gloves! So, I am a little reluctant to suggest that you buy more gloves. You have probably gone through a lot of gloves in your gardening experience and have settled on a pair that seems perfect for you. But. . . if you need new gloves, I have a suggestion for you. This is the working glove made by MaxiFlex. I came across this glove at a garage sale years ago. This guy was giving them away, so how could I resist? The gloves I picked up sat in a box along with a variety of others for years until I finally, for some reason, tried them out. Their ugly appearance had put me off, but likely it was the fact that I couldn’t find my favorite gloves that caused me to make the plunge. In any case, these are now my go-to gloves.
So, why would I suggest these gloves for you? They appear to be waterproof. They’re not. They look like they would protect your hands from thorns. They do not. But if you slip one on, you will find that they fit . . . like a glove. They are really flexible (duh). The insides are lined with some kind of soft fabric. There are little dots of nitril covering the palm side that give you good grip. They are quite durable. You can jam your hand down through the soil to grab the root of a weed and not have to worry about creating a hole in the glove fingers. They absorb skin moisture so you don’t end up with a serious case of slimy hand.
If you are in need of a new pair of gloves, they are available on Amazon. By chance, the particular kind I have is FlexiGlove Endurance. It appears you are unable to buy just one pair of gloves, but a set of 3, for instance, would probably last a lifetime—however long that may be. You will see that they are rather inexpensive. Note that you can purchase your choice of color, as long as that choice is black. So your gloves may not color coordinate with the rest of your gardening garb, but I think you will find the sacrifice is worth it. So, I think you should give these gloves a try. If you don’t like them, you could always give them to LaVille—she of much smaller hands than I.
Stan, The Ugly Glove Man
Maxi FlexiGlove
by Stan Logan | May 5, 2022 | Irrigation
Dragging a hose around the garden can be an unpleasant if not a destructive chore. There are spool shaped devices that can be staked into the ground that can guide the hose around the garden. I have never tried one, but I suspect that the hose may not remained trapped in the spool. Below you can see two setups for keeping a hose away from plants. The first one guides the hose around a metal pole that is supporting shade fabric. The second one is one you might consider installing. It consists of a 2 feet length of ½ inch pvc hammered into the ground surrounded by a 1 inch length and a 1 foot length of 1 inch pvc. The 1 foot length pivots on top of the 1 inch piece.
Now, you can buy ½ inch and 1 inch pvc at Home Depot or Lowes, but they come in 10 foot lengths. If you would like to set up your own system, I have both sizes that I can cut for you. Oh, I have the 5” and 3 ½” ABS pipe if you want to construct hose guides out of them. I don’t throw anything away. You could spray paint your device a color to make it blend into the garden, but I prefer the white in order to avoiding tripping over it.
Stan, The Hoarding Man
P.S. I hope you will take me up on my offer. I would love to help you protect your valued plants from that dratted hose.
by Stan Logan | May 4, 2022 | Garden tools
Do you have a pruner that no longer has the part that locks it closed? Well, I have a solution for you. I was sharpening tools at the Shepard this last weekend, when two pruners came in that were kept closed with a rubber band—not just an ordinary band—but the wide kind you occasionally find bundling fresh produce. Although I hardly ever throw anything away, my supply of veggie bands was limited to two. Neither were strong enough to close the pruner blades, but perhaps you will have a stash with the proper sized band. Perhaps you noticed in the photo that the pruner lock was still there. I simply didn’t have a pruner with a missing lock. How ‘bout the spot of rust on the blade? Shameful huh? I removed it immediately. Did you notice the dirty hand? Hey—I’m working with tools and getting ready for the next sharpening event at the Gardener’s Market. What, you may wonder, would I do with a rubber band when it’s not in use on the pruner? Just wrap it around 2 fingers.
Please let me know if you have some small sized bands that you don’t need that I could use for pruners that arrive for sharpening without locks. How about a section of bike inner tube—mine was too small. Anyway, I think it would be a pleasant surprise improvement for my tool sharpening clients.
Stan, The Tool Man
Rubber band keeps pruners closed
