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No-Crank Hose reel system

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How many of you hate rewinding your hose when you’re done watering the lawn and garden? I know that I do.

We have one of those crank systems for our hose. The handle is low to ground which makes it hard on your back if you’ve been out in the garden for hours. Frankly I hate winding up the garden hose when I’m done puttering in the garden.

Good news. I’ve just been to a site that sells No-Crank hose reels. The rewinding of the hose is done using the power of water.

There’s a water-piston engine inside the No-crank hose reel casing and with the simple flip of a lever it begins to rewind the hose for you on it’s own. You don’t need to bend down and manual wind up your hose any more.

The No-Crank hose reel doesn’t use batteries or electricity either. If you’re interested in taking a look at the No-Crank system there are a number of different designs to suit your needs.






Ergonomic gardening tools – protect your hands and wrists

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A while back I wrote about my favorite “can’t live without them” gardening tools and accessories. On that list were pruners, scissors, garden ribbon or ties, stakes – wooden and bamboo, a hand trowel and a hand cultivator.

Naturally, there are many other tools that I use in the garden from time to time, but those listed above are the ones that I use almost every time I step into the garden to do some work.

The design of each tool, and how it feels in my hand as I work with it is very important. Even if I’m only using a tool for a matter of minutes it needs to feel comfortable in my hands and be easy to use. Even a few minutes use each day can add up to hours or even days worth of use by the time the gardening season ends each year and no one would want to work with a tool that they were uncomfortable with for that long.

Now I have bad knees and they bother me from time to time, which I suppose is one of the reasons why I set up my garden with raised beds. I don’t have to bend my knees as much when I’m working, and I can sit on the stones surrounding the garden beds as I work and give my knees a break.

I don’t have bad wrists or arthritis in my hands, but many people who enjoy gardening do have these disorders. Whether they come from carpal tunnel syndrome, injury or an inflammatory condition such as arthritis I can only imagine how much more important the design of the garden tools is to these people.

Even though I don’t suffer from any of these conditions it still might be a good idea to use tools that have been ergonomically designed in order to prevent conditions like carpal tunnel or injury from occurring.

I spend so many hours in the garden that it only makes sense to use well designed tools doesn’t it?

Within a months time I’ll be out in the garden again on a regular basis. Tidying up the garden and performing spring garden maintenance. Perhaps this is the right time to be looking for new tools for the garden so that I’ll be ready when the temperatures warm up and the plants begin to come out of dormancy.

I spent some time over the weekend looking at the many garden related products at OnlineDiscountMart.com. Did you know that they sell ergonomic gardening tools such as hand trowels and hand cultivators?

handgardentrowel.gif I really like the design of their hand garden trowel.

This ergonomic hand garden trowel has been engineered to save and protect your wrists from working in the garden for many hours each day. The design moves the workload from the wrist to the forearm. I think this is a great design for those with repetitive wrist injury disorders, or for those who tend to work in their garden on a regular basis in order to prevent such injuries.

The large adjustable handle would also be easy to grip which I would imagine would lessen the strain and pain for those with arthritis in their hands.

The handle can be adjusted for comfortable use, and locked into position as well. This ergonomic hand trowel also features a flexible pad for your forearm which would help make this tool comfortable to use.

I really think that anyone who loves to garden could use a hand trowel such as this. It’s well designed and made of durable steel giving it a long lifespan. This 19 inch long tool normally sells for $19.95 but right now Online Discount Mart is selling it for $14.95.

handgardencultivator.gif This hand garden cultivator is another one of the ergonomic gardening tools that Online Discount Mart sells.

It’s on sale for only $14.95 right now as well, and just like the ergonomic hand garden trowel, the ergonomic hand garden cultivator has been designed to move the workload from the wrist to the forearm. The hand cultivator also features an adjustable and lockable handle, plus a flexible pad for your forearm. The hand cultivator is 19″ in length and each prong on the cultivator is 3″ in length.

I like the fact that both of these tools are made of durable steel. I’ve gardened with my family since I was a child, but I’ve only been gardening on my own for the last five years and I’m amazed at how many poorly made tools I’ve gone through in that time. Ones that have bent or snapped when I’m digging in my sometimes dry hard clay soil. Considering that these tools are made of steel I would imagine that they would withstand the work I’d put them through in my garden.

I’d love to purchase both of these items and try them out. The price is certainly right. I also just noticed that they have a Winter coupon special allowing you to get an extra 5% off the price of both of these tools. That makes this already good price even better.

If you’re looking for well made ergonomic gardening tools, or other items for the garden or the great outdoors do take a look at OnlineDiscountMart.com.

Use your gardening downtime wisely

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How are you keeping yourself busy this month? Have you been spending time thinking about your garden? Reading gardening magazines and books? If you’re like me you probably have a number of seed and plant related catalogues to read. I think mine started being delivered in the mail from late November onward.

It’s too cold to go outside and do anything in the garden – other than shovel the snow that is.

If you want to have a great garden this season, you’ll find that thinking and planning are the two best things that you can be doing during these cold months. Use your garden downtime well.

If you’re like me you probably took some photos of your garden as the plants grew and filled in last season. You might have even made some notes- move this plant over here – it’s not getting enough sun, or it’s getting too much sun. Divide this plant and replant a cluster of them over here and so on.

Try to remember which of your plants did well and which ones didn’t last year. Have any of them been struggling for a few years? Is it time to move them or replace them?

As you flip through the gardening magazines and catalogues make notes of which plants, flowers and bulbs you’d like to try in your garden. Even if you aren’t purchasing them now, or perhaps you’d rather try them by seed rather than as a seeding – keep track of what you like. Then as the time comes to purchase the plants or seeds you’ll have a nice list that you can go over and pick from as you buy your new plants.

I’ve been using this site to keep track of which plants did well last year. Oddly enough, anytime I wrote about a plant not doing well and threatened to remove it if it didn’t start performing soon, amazingly enough it did start shaping up! Why I have no idea – did I actually give it a bit more attention since I was trying to figure out what it’s problem was, or did my threats work? Either way, I’ll be giving some of my plants some verbal threats next year – just in case.

Here’s a few great gardening books to keep you busy over the winter months:

Perennials for Every Purpose: Choose the Right Plants for Your Conditions, Your Garden, and Your Taste (A Rodale Organic Gardening Book)

This is an excellent book. I’ve got a copy of it and it keeps me busy for hours!

The Big Book of Flower Gardening: A Guide to Growing Beautiful Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs, and Rose

Another excellent book that I own. There are some great gardening tips in this book.

Annuals for Every Purpose: Choose the Right Plants for Your Conditions, Your Garden, and Your Taste (A Rodale Organic Gardening Book)

I don’t have a copy of this book … yet, but it’s on my list!

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