The best digging tools for the new allotmenteer

Leif

For those that like Joseph Bentley (posh name but made in China I think), Wickes sell what looks to be the same forks for about £15 each. A bargain.

Sambucus_Nigra

Leif wrote: »

For those that like Joseph Bentley (posh name but made in China I think), Wickes sell what looks to be the same forks for about £15 each. A bargain.

http://www.josephbentley.co.uk/Page/madeinsheffield.aspx

Not that I am arguing, I end up buying tools of all makes depending on where I am when I need them. My best spade ever [a Stanley] has been adopted by one teacher who surreptitiously puts it in their boot at the end of each session and gets it out at the start of the next - I don't care that he's nabbed it as he kept coming to sessions all summer.

I go back to my original statement that some of the best tools I have had have been Wilkos. And next week we've got to dig out a huge tree from the roots so I've got to take the azada with me as that's the only thing that's going to get through them. So if I was starting up again, it would be Wilkos all the way.

Leif

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

http://www.josephbentley.co.uk/Page/madeinsheffield.aspx

I don't think the forks and spades are made in Sheffield. What you link to is one of the ranges, and those items are indeed made in Sheffield, but as far as I can tell the others are imports, probably China, given that so many items originate from that country. The web site and the product tags are very non specific about the origin, whereas British made items tend to have 'British made' in huge letters everywhere. I am pretty sure the Wickes fork is the same product, rebadged. Of course you could always contact JB to find out.

cyclonebri1

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Well it does, which is why no dig gardening works well.


Is true, as long as you do remove all the new little weeds that come from the chopped up roots. If you just rotovate and come back in 4 weeks expecting it to still look immaculate, you are in for a shock.


And a mattock is very suitable for lifting things like large flints, it's much stronger than any spade and has a great angle for levering up things.

Sorry my post did sound a little too aggressive, I apologuise.

But if you have gardened on the clay stuff I/we have in this area you soon realise that no digging is simply not an option, and that without some mechanical help, you are going to wear yourself out.

I ask 1 question, do farmers practice "no digging" and do they "rotavate" or dig by hand?;)

Ok, we all know the answer which is born out of necessity, but I think it's a reasonable analogy;)

My comments were also based on the fact that the original post gave no indication of soil type

Leif

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

But if you have gardened on the clay stuff I/we have in this area you soon realise that no digging is simply not an option, and that without some mechanical help, you are going to wear yourself out.

I ask 1 question, do farmers practice "no digging" and do they "rotavate" or dig by hand?;)

Ok, we all know the answer which is born out of necessity, but I think it's a reasonable analogy;)

My comments were also based on the fact that the original post gave no indication of soil type

As I understand it, no-digging cropping is a way of growing vegetables without having to dig the ground each year. It works because you do not walk on the soil, and hence it does not become compressed. Farmers cannot practice this technique because tractors, combines etc are heavy machines which compress the soil and hence it will need to be ploughed to break it up. But the amateur gardener can avoid walking on beds by constructing paths either side, and making sure the beds are not too wide, so that the grower can easily reach all of the plants from the paths.

I also have a clay soil, but I am extra fortunate as I also have huge flints in the clay. Digging the soil can be an absolute pain in the backside, especially when the soil dries out. Anyway, there are some areas of the garden where the soil is a beautiful loam, due to the plants that have grown there depositing organic matter, and breaking the soil with their roots. You can do likewise, by digging the soil down a foot or more, and mixing in large amounts of compost and perhaps some horticultural sand. I am constructing some deep beds with paths either side, so I can avoid having to dig the soil each year.

A._Badger

Something that has taken me a long while to learn and might help others. Don't waste your money on new digging tools. Almost without exception, modern ones are poorly made from inferior materials. Even when they seem well made, they can be poorly finished.

If you can, find someone who refurbishes old ones from no later than the1960s. There are two antique shops (OK junk shops) I know which sell such things. They can't be unique.

For less than the cost of a new Chinese 'stainless' steel spade or fork, which will probably last just months, you can buy a tool that has already seen off one owner and will probably outlive you, too.

Leif

A._Badger wrote: »

For less than the cost of a new Chinese 'stainless' steel spade or fork, which will probably last just months, you can buy a tool that has already seen off one owner and will probably outlive you, too.

I do wonder if forged steel is fundamentally a better material. Anyone used Bulldog, a British brand that foregoes stainless steel?

Lotus-eater

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Sorry my post did sound a little too aggressive, I apologuise.

But if you have gardened on the clay stuff I/we have in this area you soon realise that no digging is simply not an option, and that without some mechanical help, you are going to wear yourself out.

I ask 1 question, do farmers practice "no digging" and do they "rotavate" or dig by hand?;)

Ok, we all know the answer which is born out of necessity, but I think it's a reasonable analogy;)

My comments were also based on the fact that the original post gave no indication of soil type

See what you are doing, is arguing about something you obviously know very little about.
And not making yourself look very clever whilst doing so.

Lotus-eater

Leif wrote: »

I do wonder if forged steel is fundamentally a better material. Anyone used Bulldog, a British brand that foregoes stainless steel?

Yes, I mentioned it in my first post.

A._Badger

Leif wrote: »

I do wonder if forged steel is fundamentally a better material. Anyone used Bulldog, a British brand that foregoes stainless steel?

I got very close to buying a Bulldog spade, having researched the subject to the point of boredom (!) but what finally put me off was how poorly finished it was. I found a rack of them, all brand new, and all with rough woodwork.

It may just be me being fussy, but I don't think there's any excuse for that sort of thing when you're buying what is supposed to be a premium product.

That said, Bulldog certainly has some very vociferous supporters.

It may have been a bad batch, I had no way of telling. Instead I got a refurbished George Cohen & Sons spade that looks like it could still dig the Panama canal.