Gift ideas for farmers and gardeners

Trash Fork (or Refuse Hook or Potato Fork or…)

This brilliant tool is essentially a sturdy pitch fork with the tines bent at 90 degrees to the shaft. That simple change changes it from a lifting tool—ugh!—to a pulling tool. Yay! I use my trash fork for pulling leaves out of my tractor’s bucket into a wheelbarrow, for which it is the best possible tool. It is also handy for roughly spreading leaves after dumping, as well as pulling potatoes from the ground—pulling is so much easier than digging and lifting. I also use mine to pull quackgrass runners from the soil, and firewood from the pickup bed. AM Leonard sells one for about $45, or search “trash fork” for other options.

Japanese Pull Saw

This saw is my go-to for mid-summer weeding. English and American carpentry saws cut on the push stroke. Japanese saws cut on the pull stroke, allowing the blade to be much thinner and therefore more flexible. This flexibility allows the blade to slip easily into the top quarter inch of soil while the handle (and my hand) stays above it. I use the saw to cut medium-to-large weeds, like lambs quarters and pigweed, and especially for crabgrass and fox grass, which the saw is uniquely suited for—it cuts the adventitious roots of both cleanly and quickly, with little to no soil disturbance. Many models come with rip teeth on one edge, and crosscut teeth on the other, doubling the life of the tool. You can spend a lot (and for carpentry, you should), but $15- $20 will get you a tool that will last four or five seasons before it becomes too dull for use.

Rechargeable Neck Fan

One of the tasks I like least is picking bush beans in late July. The heat is up, the humidity is up, and the beans must be picked on schedule. A neck fan makes the job much less onerous. The

constant cool breeze on my neck and chin makes it tolerable to be out in the sun and close to the foliage. (But I still prefer growing pole beans instead, and picking in the shade!) There are lots of choices, and I’ll be replacing my cheap one next year, after 4 years of service.