Makeshift Gardening Tools: Getting more use out of things you already have on hand

Among of the many things my kids never want to hear me say again is “Use available materials.” It was my standard response when they tried to wiggle out of doing a particular chore:

“I couldn’t find a shovel.”
“Then use a stick.”

I taught them not just by decree, but by example as well, mainly through a lifelong practice of inherent laziness. Why walk all the way over to the shed for a hammer to drive a stake in the ground when a brick is just a step or two away?

I have found infinite value in leftover broomsticks and shovel handles of all sizes, so much that I keep several scattered around the gardens for seeding, digging, and poking anthills and hugelkultur beds. Similarly, since I’m always misplacing my pocketknife, broken kitchen knife blades are safely hidden outside in stump splits and wall cracks for trimming weeds, splitting bark, and cutting twine. I’ve been known to use an old serving spoon to plant seedlings, and a tin can for digging small furrows...

What odd things do you find are handy around the garden?

i just tied up a sprinkler pole with a withered old chayote vine that was nearby. I know it won't last as long as twine but i just needed it to hold while I watered, and I was too lazy to go up the hill to get wire. Does that count? (laziness is the mother of invention)

We are very big on using available materials, I think probably most permies are. I often cut specific mulberry branches for the rabbits to eat thinking about how I'm going to use them afterward (that one looks like good pea brush, that one will be a good stake for the tomato...). And that doesn't even count the things we spot on the side of the road and say "hey, i could use that ____" for something.

Tereza Okava wrote: I was too lazy to go up the hill to get wire. Does that count? (laziness is the mother of invention)

We are very big on using available materials, I think probably most permies are.

I have found my people.

I'm gradually getting around to stashing old mailboxes in more spots around my garden, for the "oops need a knife" or "oops need a trowel" kind of moments...

I use fewer fence posts than one "should", because I figure enough is however many keeps the fence upright, and the post-sellers' idea of "enough" is unlikely to account for all the wild saplings that volunteer as improvised stakes if I put a fence in the right spot relative to them.

I also rarely stake things properly. Usually i train them up a fence; occasionally I'll stick a stick through the fence and tuck some plants behind the end of it if I need them to not fall into a pathway.

My best "why is that there?" has gotta be the habit of leaving a round river rock on almost every stump in areas that I mow annually with my scythe, because I'm certainly not carrying a rock around with me while I'm mowing, but finding one in a good spot is always handy.

I have used bindweed as string in a pinch. It lasts longer than you might think.

A hardwood digging stick is the most basic of human tools. With the top flattened and the end cut to a chisel point, it's surprisingly effective.

My property and gardens are spread out so I have a lot of work areas. Since I get all sorts of garden tools for free (shovels, hoes, rakes, hatchets, beater kitchen knives, sharpening stones) I just keep a stash of basic tools at each site. But there's always some darn thing you have to improvise with the materials at hand.

Amy Clarke wrote:I'm gradually getting around to stashing old mailboxes in more spots around my garden, for the "oops need a knife" or "oops need a trowel" kind of moments...

Good idea!

We often make hand tools into standing tools by putting a longer handle on them, partly to not have to squat, kneel, or bend down, but partly to get better leverage or reach.

We also use the broken knives and tools for things, rocks for tools (actually I prefer a good rock to a hammer for many things), sticks for all kinds of things, and so on. Just this morning we were hammering a stake and used another stake to do it with.

I also have used hair ties (rubber band sort of things) for loads and loads of stuff, so handy. Old toothbrushes are great for scrubbing non-teeth things of all kinds. There's also the ole bending wire back and forth in the same spot to break it for cutting, and teeth to cut and grab softer things, fingernails as flathead screwdriver. Don't forget the boots for tools to kick things in place while holding things up, or to shift heavy things, etc. Oh, and the golf caddy bag dealie to cart tools around with works great.

Twisting grass or pine needles, etc works temporarily for twine in a pinch... for longer term and stronger hold I've made actual twine from the inner bark of all sorts of things. I've also done weaves of live vines to trellis them on themselves because I didn't have a tie for them strong enough handy--works long term too. Nails can be goof for scarification when you forget to do it beforehand or soak them and you just want to plant now because you already brought the seeds out there and all.

Some plants grow in tufts that work well for brooms or brushes out in the field, so to speak. When we were in the tropics we'd use the keys from rotted pandanas fruit or old coconut husks for brushing the sand off our feet before getting in the car at the beach. You could often find those laying around at the beach either dropped from the plants themselves or washed in with the tide.