Bit the bullet...

We finally bit the bullet today and ordered a wheel hoe. We have heard good things about these little cultivating tools, but have put off buying one because, honestly, the cost of one seems pretty high for what they are.

Other farmers tell us they are worth every penny, but a few hundred dollars seems like a lot to pay of what is basically a hoe!

We have spent hours and hours weeding this weekend, and weed season has JUST begun, so we figured, now was finally the time to bite the bullet and get one, so we ordered it this weekend, and while there a couple hundred dollars of accessories for it we may purchase later we are eager for it to be delivered. There are two major ones avilable a Glaser and Valley Oak. We went with the latter on recommendations from other small growers. Earthway makes one to but people say it is not as efficient, the wheel is huge, and which makes the leverage not work with you as well as those with smaller wheels.

As some of you may remember we do use a flame weeder, but that is really for between the rows, as it will kill anything it touches, veggy or weed. And as great as it works it does have a tendency to freeze up when it gets humid. We also have purchased a used cultivator for the back of the tractor, but we need to find time to go rent a trailer and pick it up, so it will probably be another week or two, that will be more for our larger rows though, as it will require a bit of set up to use. Add to that our army of normal hoes and you have our weeding equipment.

Ominous cloud hanging over our first pickup... Maybe a bad omen.?

No! First pickup went well. A couple people forgot or didn't show, but that is to be expected with the frist pickup of the season.

In the above photo, do you see the dark green (almost grey) rows? Those are weeds that were just knocked down with the flamer. This is almost our last bed has not been weeded as carefully as it maybe should have been.

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Cool in Cleveland?

My husband claims that I am not cool. He goes as far to say that "There is not even enough cool in a Harley to make you cool." And, I fear, he is not alone in this opinion. There have been plenty of times in my life when I bottomed out the "cool-meter," but lets not talk about high school Star Trek conventions and memorizing first air dates for original episodes in their star date equivalents! Let's pretend that was someone else... (I have perhaps shared to much!)

So imagine my surprise when I was listed in Cool Cleveland this week in there "Emissions from the Blogsphere" (scroll way down...) But then flame throwers are always cool! I'll need to get a video of my husband flaming at night and post that, talk about cool! My hubby may claim that it is he who wields the flame thrower while I man-handle the propane tank (not nearly as cool) but I'll take my cool where I can get it...