The most important tools you use are the different parts of your body – your hands, your skin, your back, your knees and your legs. Chemical sunblock may be bad for your body, but it most certainly does nature no good once you've washed it off. A long-sleeved cotton shirt and cotton pants are cool and, if you can find organic cotton that costs less than the US Military budget, you are doing Gaia a good deal. Wear a hat (it's stylish anyway!) and comfortable shoes. Get gloves that will stand to the work you are doing – digging with shovels almost always means a heavy glove, gardening in containers is a piece of cake with cotton gloves or some of the new plasticized gloves. Get more than one type.
A. Stand up gardening/Mulch, Compost moving
- Double digger, aka broadfork
- Spading fork
- Compost fork
- Grain Shovel
- Spade
- Round point shovel
- Poachers spade
- Leaf rake or push broom
- Wheelbarrow/gardeners cart
B. Kneeling gardening
- Trowel
- Hand fork
- Weeders
- The Stick tool
- Small stool
- Scissors
- Kneeling pad/etc
- Dibbles
- Wire brush
- Sharp serrated knives
- Watering can or hose
- Tape measure
- Hand hoe
- Japanese triangle hoe
- Hori hori
C. Container gardening
- Trowel
- Hand fork
- Weeders
- Kneeling pad (?)
- Tarp
- Watering can or hose
- Machete
- Pot brush
- Container knife
D. Seeding
- Widget
- Notebook for records
- Swiss Army Knife
- Pencil
- Marker
- Plastic tags
- Flats
- Newspaper
- Containers
- A spray bottle of water to moisten soil
E. Harvesting
- Knives
- Scissors
- Pruners
- Containers – baskets, bags, etc
F. Pruning
- Pruners that fit your hand
- Folding saw
- Loppers
- Pole Pruner
- Large saw
- Sharp knife
- Specialty gloves if needed (like gauntlets for rose pruning)
G. Tool care
- Linseed oil for wood
- Any oil for metal
- Rags
- Sharpening devices
- Sandpaper in different grades
- Listerine to sterilize blades
H. Almost all kits have
- Knife or knives (sharp!)
- Screwdrivers
- Pliers
- Measuring tape of some kind
- A radio for baseball games
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