Permaculture Magazine

How To Maintain Your Hand Held Garden Tools

byAlma Abell

Better Homes and Gardens says the right gardening tools help you keep your garden in top shape. However, you’d need to maintain and take care of your hand held tools too if you want them to stay effective for as long as possible. Read on for some practical and handy tips on tool care:

Check for Damage

Always check your tools for any signs of damage before and after each use. That’s one way to keep you safe and protected from any accidents that could happen if you were to use a damaged tool.

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Store Them Properly

Don’t leave your tools lying around. Constant use is already going to take its toll on your tools. Don’t let constant exposure to the elements add to it. You could end up with blunted blades or worn handles, forcing you to spend on premature replacements. Keep your tools properly in their original cases if that’s still possible.

Repair or Replace

Don’t try to fix your hand held garden tools with tape and hope for the best. Spit and prayers aren’t going to keep your tools working if you don’t get them properly repaired. If it’s beyond repair, don’t try to rely on a patch job. Replace your tool as soon as possible.

Don’t leave your tools on the floor of your shed or garage. Moisture can easily transfer from the floor, ground, or concrete right onto your tools, which could cause your blade to rust.

Clean and properly maintain your tools at all times.

Clean Your Tools After Every Use.

Llifehacker says most hand held tools are easy to clean. All you need is to wipe them down with a rag. A good wash with soap and water will also go a long way. For wooden handles, rub a bit of linseed oil into the surface of the handle.

Take care of your tools the right way! Follow these tips!

Guidelines Regarding Your Choice Of Hydroponics Or Soil

Submitted by: Ann Marier

Hydroponics is a new agricultural or gardening technique that many still find risky to try. Hence, in an effort to help everyone, here are some general guidelines regarding both hydroponics and soil techniques. Many are interested in a debate on hydroponics versus soil culture, but I clearly point out that the two are not opposing each other. What we have to do is to appreciate both methods and weigh the pros and cons in specific day-to-day examples that we run into. There are major difficulties in implementing either hydroponics or soil techniques depending on the type of area devoted to agriculture.

A brief description of hydroponics and soil methods

If we are to objectively describe the pros of hydroponics or soil, then I will start saying that the most important advantage of hydroponics over traditional soil crops is that there is no soil dependence, plants can be cultivated as easily everywhere with the help of nutrient solution.

Another advantage lies in the absence of any plant diseases. Most of them are caused by the soil parasites that can be eliminated only through severe chemical treatment that no one loves. Also hydroponics offer a faster plant growth, it doesn’t need too much space because the root is smaller than normal. Plant support and nutrient processing is being assured by the system, practically the plant only grows up. Furthermore, a very small quantity of water is needed, less than 10% of what a classical culture would consume.

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To be fair in the hydroponics or soil dispute I will describe the main advantages of traditional agriculture or gardening. In the first place whatever the new ideologists think, most of the farmers feel more confident in soil cultures because they are not so dependent on power supply, they are simply as some say in God’s hands, you don’t need a timer to control a pump that will control the nutriments that flow to the plant roots. As it can be observed the chain is quite long and it may also seem quite weak.

Plants are naturally growing on the soil, so putting them in small boxes with some solution over their roots doesn’t seem too natural for most people. The biggest advantage for traditional agriculture and gardening is that it is very cheap, easy to do and you don’t have to be a scientist to know how to grow your vegetables.

A brief conclusion

The fact is that both methods are very good in their application to real situations, the small dispute between hydroponics or soil fans is not grounded because the traditional method is good in most cases and the hydroponic alternative works well, with higher costs, but at great standards.

Hydroponics has no chance of being more successful than traditional agriculture in rich-soil areas. But in those parts of the world where nothing grows because of harsh weather conditions, it is the only solution to grow fresh plants.

About the Author: Ann Marier has written many articles on

health problems

and useful

house and garden

Topics. Latest articles are about

hydroponics

and hydroponic systems

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