The first is my Dad's "Bulldog" spade, which I inherited when he died
The second is an equally good quality fork, with nice sharp tines. This fork was left behind in a shed on an allotment I used to work long ago and it sort of adopted me.
And the third, which I did pay for, is my much-loved Mattock. Here's a picture of it.
It goes with me every time I go to the allotment, but it never spends the night there. Nor do the others.
It's a very old design, used by peasant farmers around the world. They know a thing or two, they peasant farmers. There's nothing like it for clearing ground, short of Agent Orange which I might find hard to get hold of and a tad toxic.
The Great Autumn Tidy being in full swing, the Mattock is getting lots of use.
We could do with something like that for clearing ours. Where did you get it from?
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a cracking bit of kit Woody and, like Crazy Emma, I'm wondering where you got it?
ReplyDeleteHi Crazy & Nutty (are you a comedy duo?).
ReplyDeleteI got it from www.get-digging.co.uk
Sorry, it doesn't seem to turn into a hyperlink but that's the website address. I think he calls them Azadas and what he calls Mattocks I call Pickaxes, and vice versa. Technically I think mine is a medium Azada.
But you'll love the site. Delivery was quick too, by Parcelforce in 2 or 3 days.
You are wise not to leave anything there. Some b*stard nicked my wheelbarrow the other day, that they used to cart off the scrap they were busy stealing from other plots. They may have had my fork too, or I could just have hidden that a bit too well from myself, again...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the website link Woody :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a load of old mattocks !! Looks a bit on the blunt side Woody.
ReplyDeleteBut a good idea to share ideas about tools. They are taken for granted and the folk on the continent seem to have a more developed sense of the gardening tool other than the traditional spade and fork which I have decided are a bit cumbersome fror the task.
Not blunt at all, Gnomey. One careless swing into your shin bone = big ouch
ReplyDeleteThis makes me think of the delightful book 'Buffalo Bird Woman's Garden' & the 'hoes' used by the agriculturally inclined plains indians (Hidatsa & Mandan) - using a deer's shoulder blade! Their rakes were antlers, or wood with the tines 'pegged' apart!
ReplyDeleteI love a little hand tool that looks like a pointed hoe - oriental, it does many things you'd do with a trowel (have a good one of those, too!)