Friday Favorite: Vintage Garden Tools
I’m a huge fan of old tools, they’re just so much better than newer ones. You can still buy good quality garden tools but they’re pricy. The ones you get at the local home improvement store are generally not that great. I buy garden tools when I see them in good condition at yard sale and antique store.
I’m amassing quite a collection. I have purchased a few new tools, when I need a specific tool and don’t haven’t found a good vintage one. You can certainly spot the new tool in the group above!
One thing I love about vintage tools is the old wood handles. These handles are made of wonderful hardwood, they don’t bend and they rarely break and they do it while being beautiful and quite comfortable to use. I also love that old garden tool handles are not the same width all the way down, this makes them super comfortable to use. You can tell they were made for people who used their garden tools a lot!
Earlier this week I spent some time sanding down all the handles to my tools and giving them a protective coating of wax that I make up (recipe to come next week). Many gardeners do this in the fall, I prefer to do it in the spring. I know the hour or so this takes will protect these tools and make them last for another generation.
When the weather warms up I scrub them with steel wool and give the metal parts a protective coating of organic boiled linseed oil (the real stuff, no cheap stuff with petroleum additives).
The best part of vintage tools is the price. Generally, I spend between $3-$8 for each one. You certainly can’t beat that price. I also love knowing that these tools work on when they come to my home. They are doing what they were made to be doing and what the gardener before me did with them. I think perhaps they bring a little bit of the previous gardeners spirit to my garden as well!
Do you have any vintage garden tools?
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Use What You Have
It’s sugaring season, that means my days and nights are filled with sap gathering and boiling. Since I have hot sap at hand, I use it to make my tea.
There’s no use in using more energy to boil water when I have something that makes a mighty fine cup of tea. Last night I enjoyed a delicious cup of Honeyroo tea – one of my favorites!
What’s your favorite kind of tea?
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Growing SLOWLY
Back in February of 2011 I started cactus from seed. They were tiny, so, so tiny.
Well, they’ve been growing in their tiny pots for the past 3 years and are still small, but they’re growing.
They’re starting to look like their adult plants, less like baby plants and more like mature ones. It will be interesting to see how long they live and how they grow every year. I suppose if I fertilized them more often they’d grow faster, but I rather like their slow growth rate. I usually give them a diluted fish emulsion once year.
Have you started any interesting plants from seed?
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Living the Life!
I don’t think Samson cares if summer ever comes, he’s loving the warmth of the wood burner!
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Merry Christmas To Me
Mr Chiots and I didn’t exchange gifts this past Christmas, instead we had a few things we were going to do instead. I wanted my new faucet installed and my range hood exhausted outside. Yesterday, Mr Chiots finally put my my faucet.
This is super exciting for me. I wash all the dishes by hand and the other faucet was not very conducive for washing big items. This one also doesn’t leak like crazy, I won’t be wasting as much water now.
Anything new and exciting happening your house?
