My Favorite Garden Things

I had so much fun compiling this list.
Ames Lawn Buddy rolling cart/storage/seat
It's my best friend in the garden. This has got to be my most favorite garden thing ever. If you love a gardener who doesn't have one, buy them one. They will love it. I adore it. I can sit on it, and reach into it and grab my popsicle sticks for planting, it's got a removable tray to hold my plant labels, pens, and such, and it rolls. I love it. Love love love it. Best of all, I got mine for $30 from the Home Depot 2 years ago. If you have a garden, you must own one of these. A link: http://factorylawnandgarden.com/product/553936/B00004S1SU/Ames_True_Temper_Lawn_Buddy_2466010/

Emerald Edge weed barrier edging
Definitely my #2 favorite product. You can Google this. It's a rigid, thick green plastic edging. You loosen the soil (at least my clay) and hammer it in. Nothing gets through, and unlike that other flimsy rolled-up edging, or the linkable edging, it won't move. Once you put it in, it stays in, keeping away any invading weed roots. The Emerald Edge makes my garden beds (surrounded by bermuda weeds) so easy to maintain! I love the stuff, and plan to buy more once I do an inventory (I have a few areas of the cheap edging I plan to replace).

Epsoma Plant-Tone Fertilizer
Another fantastic product, I'm actually on my second bag. It goes on at a rate of about 1 T per square foot. It's complete, it's got everything my plants need in an organic form. It's easy to apply and my plants love it. It has a very low odor (compared to the fish meal I occasionally use - it's so fishy-vile that the cat tries to eat it). I grew fantastic cucumbers, tomatoes, and even melons in large pots my first year using Epsoma. That's the only source of nutrients they got, and I had wonderful, flavorful harvests. It's even better in-ground. Every plant loves it. It's very affordable, less than $7 for at least a 5 pound bag. 5 pounds lasts me at least a year (only 80 square feet of intensively planted garden beds).

Jiffy Pellets
Why would I ever want to give up my Jiffy Pellets? I've never understood the whole concept of planting seeds in flats and them ripping their roots to hell, praying that the damage isn't too bad, and then sticking them outside. Why not just inflate a Jiffy Pellet, drop in a seed or two, and watch it grow? When it's ready to transplant, you can harden it off in the pot, then plant the whole thing when it's time. When my plants germinate I use a very dilute solution of fish emulsion so they get a good meal. I use them in a tray (it's supposed to go under a window box planter, but it's sold seperately) that I keep in a window. I have a 17 watt grow light on top. Everyone looks great, even the notoriously hard-to-germinate celery. The only problem I have with the Jiffy's is when I plant two seeds and they both germinate. They can be divided, by the way. Ask my Stupice tomato plants out back. They're fine.

Seacom PGR
Seaweed is great for plants. It has all kinds of hormones and trace minerals they need. I may get some seaweed meal because I've got my Seacom. I got it from Johnny's Selected Seeds in Maine. It's wonderful. It's a good "mood stabilizer" for stressed out plants, and it makes a good foilar feed for new transplants (I mix it and keep it in a small spray bottle, then I spray the plants' leaves). I enjoy watering picky things like carrots and beets with the Seacom, because they need various amounts of varying trace minerals. Between the Seacom and the Epsoma, I know everyone's happy.

Popsicle Sticks
I love popsicle sticks. Since I use the square foot garden method, I need to keep track of the boundaries on each square foot. It's incredibly easy to just stick a popsicle stick in each corner and measure. When I plant seeds, I put a popsicle stick a half inch behind each seed to mark the germination points. If something's sprouting away from a popsicle stick, I pull it. I know it's a "bad guy" (plus I know what the seed leaves look like for the good guys). They're all-natural, safe, and cheap. I got over 200 at a dollar store (undyed) and I hope to find more at another dollar store. I love them, and I keep them in my garden cart at all times.

Plastic flexible ruler ("Flexi-Ruler") and yardstick
I use the square foot method, so I need to measure square feet. I'd been using clear, rigid plastic rulers. It was really hard to read the measurements though. This year, I got the "Flexi-Ruler"s at Walmart. They cost a dollar each. They're a flexible plastic, with white markings. It's very easy to read them and in the case of a raised bed, I can bend it to fit the contours of the soil.

The yardstick is great for measuring multiple square feet at a time. It's just a cheap wooden one with black markings I bought in the fabric department at Walmart. Between the rulers and the yardstick, I can measure anything to a "T". I love knowing my carrots are exactly 3 inches apart, or the bush beans 4 inches apart. I don't have enough space to waste.

Graph paper spiral notebook
I love this. I use my rulers and grid out the garden beds. When I'm planting, I mark the squares off. I can glance at my diagrams and figure out what goes where (oops, onions over there, have to move the pole beans). It's wonderful for visualizing what I want to do.

If you don't have any of these items, you might think about about getting them. They work well for me, and that's all that matters. I love to share my joy in gardening.