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.
8 comments:
We could do with something like that for clearing ours. Where did you get it from?
That looks like a cracking bit of kit Woody and, like Crazy Emma, I'm wondering where you got it?
Hi Crazy & Nutty (are you a comedy duo?).
I 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...
Thanks for the website link Woody :)
What a load of old mattocks !! Looks a bit on the blunt side Woody.
But 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
This 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!
I 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!)
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