Organic Hobby Farming. Andy Tomolonis
are strong enough for most tasks.
Wood or fiberglass? Just because a lot of inexpensive shovels have fiberglass handles doesn’t mean that fiberglass is lower in quality. Many well-made shovels have handles made of fiberglass, which is actually stronger than wood.
Short-Handled Round-Point Shovel
Short-handled garden shovels have blades that are similar in design but have a smaller shaft (under 2 ft. [60 cm]) with a closed handle in a D or Y (wishbone) shape for easy grasping. As with long-handled shovels, look for heavier-gauge steel, noted by number (14-gauge steel is thicker than 16-gauge). While you might want two or three long-handled shovels around for various jobs, you can almost certainly get by with just one short-handled model. The compact size makes it useful for stepping down and digging straight in front of you with a good grip and firm control. And the short handle makes it handy for loading or unloading soil or compost with a wheelbarrow. While short-handled shovels are handy for working in tighter spaces and small enough to load into a wheelbarrow or garden cart, they require bending or stooping and can be tiring to work with all day.
Both long- and short-handled shovels can sport specialty blades with serrated edges for cutting through heavy soil and small roots and/or larger steps on the blade’s shoulders that add strength and stability when stepping onto the blade.
Garden Spade
Spades differ from shovels in that the handles are almost always shorter (about 3 ft. [1 m] at maximum), and the blades are thinner and flatter. Most spades have straight-edged blades for cutting into soil and digging neat well-shaped holes. They won’t carry much dirt on those flat blades, so they’re not as versatile as round-point shovels. But spades are indispensable when digging in heavy soil. Strong, flat blades with sharp tips cut through sod, penetrate heavy clay, and make quick work of smaller tree roots; shovels are prone to jerking sideways out of your grip in these conditions. (I’m sure you’ll come to know the feeling of stomping down on a shovel’s treads and having the blade twist under your feet as the handle wrenches out of your grip—after striking a stone or root.)
Spades also do a better job of digging straight lines—for example, when you’re cutting a line along the edge of a bed. And if you’re using plastic mulch to heat up the soil and block out weeds, the spade’s flat blade is perfect for slicing into the soil and tucking in the plastic at the ends and sides.
For long-lasting usefulness, choose a garden spade with a forged-steel head and sturdy steps. A strong handle and comfortable grip are also important. Less-expensive spades with pressed-steel blades don’t hold a sharp edge for long, and they can flex and bend in heavy soil. Strong steps allow you to insert the blade straight into the soil and step down, letting the weight of your body do most of the work.
You’ll find numerous variations on the size and shape of a spade’s blade, some of them extremely narrow. The trenching spade and similarly shaped rabbiting spade, which was originally designed for digging rabbits from their burrows, has a long, narrow blade with a rounded point. I find it useful in transplanting—digging small holes and holding plants with their root balls intact during a short walk to a new growing spot. It’s also good for planting through black plastic mulch without ripping wide holes in the material. And when you need to pull dandelions or other deep-rooted weeds, one well-placed plunge of the blade cuts the taproot (the main root from which smaller roots grow) so deeply that it rarely grows back.
Digging Fork
Shovels and spades will handle most digging chores, but a digging (or garden) fork will help with more specialized tasks, such as lifting and loosening soil, unearthing root crops without damaging the harvest, busting up soil clumps, and mixing compost, manure, or another organic material into a garden bed. Digging forks usually have four sturdy tines, which are easy to push into compacted ground. The spaces between the tines make this tool ideal for slipping past small stones without twisting or turning away.
A digging fork has a shorter handle, and its tines are usually shorter, flatter, thicker, and more closely spaced than those of a pitchfork. Pitchforks, hay forks, and manure forks have thin, gently curved tines designed for scooping and tossing a load of lighter material. (Don’t make the mistake of trying to dig into heavy soil with a fork that’s made for tossing hay. You’ll quickly bend the tines.)
A digging fork with sturdy tines will break up heavy soil. It’s also good for digging potatoes—without damaging many tubers.
Broadfork
When you want to loosen soil without the use of noisy power equipment, reach for the broadfork. It’s an oversized fork with two handles—one on each side—and a wide row of long, sturdy tines in the middle. You push the fork into the ground, step onto the top (between the two handles), and rock the tines deep into the earth (12 in. [30 cm] or more). Then you pull back on the handles an inch or two until “the earth moves.” Rock the fork forward a little, pull it out, and step back 6 in. (15 cm), taking care not to tread on the newly loosened soil. Repeat the process and continue until the bed is finished. Tilling with a broadfork is a low-impact way to let air, water, and organic matter penetrate the soil. Unlike a rotary tiller, which can damage soil structure, kill earthworms, and break up fungal hyphae, a broadfork does the job without damaging the soil ecosystem.
Pick Mattock
There are very few digging chores that can’t be handled by a determined farmer with a long-handled shovel and a mattock at his hands. Mattocks, which combine two tools in one—most commonly a pick with a blade—have sturdy wooden or reinforced fiberglass handles (3 to 4 ft. [1 to 1.2 m] long) and heavy solid-steel heads (2½ to 6 lb. [1 to 3 kg]). They’re terrific for digging new beds, peeling back sod, and taming compacted or rocky soil.
I like the versatility of a pick mattock, which will penetrate hard-packed soil and loosen it with ease. The pick can work around rocks and undermine the roots of a bush or small tree. The blade side of the tool cuts into the earth and pulls it toward the user, much like a deep-digging heavy-duty hoe—perfect for cutting long trenches to lay irrigation or drainage pipes.
The heavy head of a mattock can quickly get your heart pounding if you put too much effort into each swing. But if you concentrate on using your muscles to lift the tool, then let the weight of the mattock do the work on the way down—much like swinging a sledgehammer—it’s less exhausting.
The trusty pick mattock has a sturdy blade that can cut into heavy soils, dig trenches, break through roots, and loosen compacted, rocky soils.
Grubbing Hoe
Halfway between the mattock and an ordinary garden hoe is the grubbing (or grub) hoe. It’s heavier and thicker than the hoe you might use for scraping weeds and digging furrows (it looks like a tool from medieval times). The thickness of the blade allows it to hold a strong, sharp edge that digs and moves earth quickly and efficiently—whether cutting through sod, carving trenches, shaping mounds of soil into raised beds, or busting up hard-packed dirt.
I find that I actually dig faster and with less effort when using a grubbing hoe instead of a shovel, although the hoe won’t dig as deep a hole. (It also won’t load soil into a wheelbarrow or toss it aside.) This tool also levels the soil like almost no other. With shallow chops, followed by a long dragging motion, the heavy blade shaves off bumps and fills holes, quickly leveling the hard-packed space between raised beds.
Grub-hoe heads attach to their heavy-duty 5-ft. (1.5-m) -long tapered handles by eyehole and screw and are therefore interchangeable. You’ll find several sizes, starting with 4-in. (10-cm) -wide heads that weigh a little more than 2 lb. (1 kg) and are suited to lighter garden work or narrow trenches. I like a head that’s about 6 in. (15 cm) wide and weighs about 3 lb. (1.5 kg), because it cuts a wider path and moves more soil. (I leave the narrow trenching to my mattock blade.)
You’ll also find named variations. The Italian grape hoe has an even heavier blade that’s