Hannah Eliza

Eric Hanson wrote:Hannah,

I have used a bunch of axes and my personal favorite ones are the solid steel Estwing axes.  For my purposes, the mid-sized Estwing axe is the most widely useful.  It is big enough to use with two hands but still small enough to use one-handed.  Mine has seen a LOT of work.

Eric

A lot of love for Estwing in this thread. I'll have to dig into that!

Gerry Parent wrote:Hellow Hanna,    If you ever want an overdose of everything axe related, check out Skillcult.com

Will do! Thanks for the lead :)

Edit: Just checked it out - I've previously watched several of this guy's videos about fruit trees. Small world!

Scott Stiller wrote:Hey Hannah. Wow, tough question! I love working with hand tools. I don’t like the noise of powered tools because I find it distracting. There are so many axes to choose from and I want to try them all! I have an old felling axe that I use whenever possible. I have an oldish splitting maul that I liked until I used my neighbor’s new one. Those with the funny head and the fiberglass handle are incredible! I’m sure there are some really fantastic, pricey
models of hatchets that I would love. For regular around the house stuff I really like my Fiskars hatchet. I’m hoping this thread gets more attention. I’d like to hear what others say about the subject.

I find myself ignoring appliances in the kitchen for the same reason - a good chef's knife will do fine, why get out that loud food processor that I have to clean? The splitting axe we have is a Fiskar's with a fiberglass handle. Haven't had it long, but it feels really sturdy and has done well so far.

My partner and I have been learning about axes lately. Felling, splitting, carpenter's..... Our splitting axe recently did a pretty good job of limbing a fallen tree, but we can't wait for our carpenter's axe to come for a more manageble sized tool.

If you had to choose one axe forever and ever, which would it be and why?

Perhaps the material I was reading was a bit scare-mongery about weeds! I'll try covering with paper/cardboard and mulch or woodchips over the winter, and when spring comes I'll pull or turn over what's left while I'm planting the crowns.

There is existing soil in the cinderblock bed, though it doesn't seem terribly healthy. We just moved onto the property and I'm not sure what the bed was used for previously. So while I won't need to fill the whole thing anew, I will need to add some amendments at first and keep working on it throughout the years.

I am planting the asparagus in this location in part because there isn't super easy access to water, and after they are established asparagus is apparently not too thirsty. However, I'll need to keep it moist for the first year or two and plan to do this with mulching/wood chips. (And possibly putting a rain collection barrel in the vicinity.)  I am interested in inoculating woodchips at some point but haven't thought about it for this bed. Could be a good way to build soil health and maybe grow something edible while I'm waiting for the asparagus to be ready for harvest The chapter on outdoor mushroom beds in Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms gave me some good ideas.

I'm planning an asparagus bed, and I've read that asparagus is extremely intolerant of weeds and other competitors. I've got my eye on a raised cinderblock bed, probably about 2 feet deep. There is dirt in there already, and I know I'll need to amend it to build some soil more specific to asparagus' needs. The bed has a cover of low-lying weeds (no grasses). If I pull the weeds now and cover with cardboard/mulch over the winter, will this be enough to have a sufficiently weed-free bed? Or will any remaining seeds just grow in the Spring?

What have been your experiences in growing asparagus (right soil conditions and keeping weeds down)? Thanks for your help in creating my plan of attack

Dang - this kit's got it all! I've been working on converting the expansive, rocky lawn at my new home into some beautiful deep soil ready for food and flowers - laying down cardboard, mulch, and all the organic material I can muster. I'm already looking forward to digging around this Spring!