I was looking at my gardening tools yesterday and found the homemade Azada number one son made me a few years ago. I have posted about this Azada before but I am sure there are many readers who haven't seen it.
It's made of steel and he made it in a couple of hours out of scrap metal. Like my bought Azada it's incredibly efficient in clearing weeds and grass and only takes thin slices unlike shovels.
Best of all it's very easy on one's back!
The Azada is often seen in warm countries like Spain and I have seen council workers weeding with short handled ones in Portugal. They reminded me of onion hoes but with slightly longer handles.
Anyone else have any homemade gardening tools? It's great being a tightwad gardener and being resourceful in your surroundings.
Apart from F's beloved shovel, all her tools are 'inherited' - my grandfather's axe analogy comes to mind. She has various chop, drag, torpedo and Dutch hoes, but no adze (we have just looked up onion hoe and see it is what F calls a chop-hoe). She prefers her torpedo hoe for weed removal and agitating the top soil layer. She has seen Dutch civic park workers using same for weeding gardens and around trees. One of our allotment neighbours does all her digging over with an adze hoe.
ReplyDeletePlease show pictures of your hoes Tigger on your blog. I recentlysaw an hoe that's got a blade like a plough. I'm sure years ago a Blacksmith would make you and kind of tool you wanted.
DeleteI have not got any homemade gardening tools but the ones I have got have lasted me years. I took some of them from my old allotment shed/greenhouse that I inherited when I rented an allotment on Hagg Hill. I gave it up thirty four years ago when we moved to this house.
ReplyDeleteWe've got got a couple of similar tools. Excellent for digging weeds out of hard dry earth. They're very heavy but effective.
ReplyDeleteCalled 'tsapa' here
I bet you met some real characters on your allotments YP? Living on a smallholding is good because I can do what I want but I do miss allotment camaraderie.
ReplyDeleteTsapa. Very interesting Linda. They are great for clearing and for earthing up potatoes..
ReplyDeleteNo home made tools here but several secondhand ones, cleaned and oiled.
ReplyDeleteAll ready to go.
ReplyDelete