*Welcome Dre Oeschger of Truly Garden and Loma Creek! Updated w/ Coupon!

Welcome Dre!

Those are a lot of cool and helpful tools.  Welcome to Permies, and thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Kim Goodwin wrote:Welcome Dre!

Those are a lot of cool and helpful tools.  Welcome to Permies, and thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Thanks Kim!  

Welcome to Permies : )

Those tools look very tough. I like it when people make things that are built to last.

Kate Downham wrote:Welcome to Permies : )

Those tools look very tough. I like it when people make things that are built to last.

Thanks Kate :)  We pride ourselves on the quality of our tools and offer manufacturer warranties to back it up. :)

Welcome to permies, Dre!! I love solutions, and I'm hoping to find some, with you!

Welcome Dre! As a "smaller-sized" human, tools that work well are something I always admire, as I can't do as some and use brawn to make up for bad ergonomics, dull blades, or poorly balanced equipment. I'm sure you will get lots of questions here this week.

Way before I was a moderator here on permies, I actually won one these awesome headlamps. We burn through headlamps in our family, with small kids bumping and busting them. We've owned at least 5...and this is the only one still going! We use it almost every day, and it holds it's charge really well and is very bright. It truly is a great headlamp, and I might just end up buying more so my kids can each wear one!

I'm glad you've joined us, Dre. I second Jay's "smaller person" sentiments, and also really appreciate quality tools with the warranty to match! Thank you in advance for your knowledgeable input.

Welcome to permies. I had never heard of these brands until just now, so I decided to look them over. I am excited with what I am seeing. I am tired of buying cheap, one-season, tools, and yours look to be lifetime quality. It's hard to find good quality for smaller hand tools, and I am glad to know there is someone out there doing it.

Welcome Dre!
Is it possible to have too much gear? Asking for a friend.

Wow! Welcome to Permies. Those tools make me wanna drool. haha

Thanks for these offerings.

Hi Dre and welcome to Permies! Glad to have you here!

Hey Dre, welcome back!!!  Think of how much trouble a person could get into with a cool assortment of tools like this!  And we could even garden or? At night!!!

Wow a hori hori knife.  This has been on my Christmas wish list for a few years now.  
Thank you for bringing all these tools to permies.

Great to have you. What a nice offering of tools!

Welcome Dre!

Looks like amazing products!

I have the hori hori knife, the hand tool set, and two of the headlamps.  These tools are top-notch in every way.  My Loma Creek headlamp never leaves my coat pocket all winter unless it's on my head.  It's used several times a day here since it's dark in the morning when I take care of creatures before work, and dark by the time I get done with work in the evening.  I have several other headlamps, but this is my go-to and the one I always carry.  I couldn't think of a better endorsement than a picture of my well-used, but still fully functional, headlamp.  I pulled it out of my pocket for a quick picture.

Forgot to add, I have two pairs of the pruning shears as well and they are simply awesome.

So happy to have you here Dre!  I actually lost my Hori Hori somewhere in the garden so I am being hopeful, haha!  Your pruning shears look every bit as awesome as my Felco's, care to compare/ contrast?

Any of these would be fantastic, ALL of them would be unbelievable!!!

It is always good to find hand tools that will last, looking these over I would place them in that catagory.

Ban Dinh wrote:Welcome Dre!
Is it possible to have too much gear? Asking for a friend.

I would say that depends on your outlook.  :)  I believe that yes, it is possible to have too much gear.  However, having the right gear, gear that is capable of performing many different tasks can actually help you to declutter.  :)

Trace Oswald wrote:I have the hori hori knife, the hand tool set, and two of the headlamps.  These tools are top-notch in every way.  My Loma Creek headlamp never leaves my coat pocket all winter unless it's on my head.  It's used several times a day here since it's dark in the morning when I take care of creatures before work, and dark by the time I get done with work in the evening.  I have several other headlamps, but this is my go-to and the one I always carry.  I couldn't think of a better endorsement than a picture of my well-used, but still fully functional, headlamp.  I pulled it out of my pocket for a quick picture.

Forgot to add, I have two pairs of the pruning shears as well and they are simply awesome.

Thank you for sharing your well loved headlamp!  :)  Patrick strives to solve industry wide problems with each of his new products.  The hand tools are a great example.  He made them one-piece cast aluminum so that they would be indestructible instead of having the industry standard handle fail point.  

Thank you to everyone for all of the wonderful welcomes!  In addition to working with Patrick at Truly Garden & Loma Creek.  I also run my own small business (Strong Wife Sourdough).  Today is my baking day so I will be in and out intermittently, but will strive to get everyone's questions answered.  

These look fantastic! I just learned of the hori hori’s use and am now reading up on it. Welcome Dre!

Nice to dream about using tools like these next spring. Thanks for posting. I particularly like the thoughtfully crafted Hori Hori knife.

Nicole Alderman wrote:

It truly is a great headlamp, and I might just end up buying more so my kids can each wear one!

I've given my children *stranger* Christmas gifts - not to mention other people's children. One year I got tired of the two kids fighting over a set of Peltor Hearing protectors. They each got a pair for Christmas, labelled with their names. Number 1 son eventually managed to lose his, but #2 son still has his and uses them regularly and occasionally loans them to mom (I have a *very* noisy mix-master that does a great job. He will come up behind me and pop his hearing protectors on my head if he thinks the machine's taking too long - he's a keeper!)

Welcome Dre.  Thank you for your generosity and great craftsmanship!

Welcome Dre. Hori-hori is a life saver, easily my most used garden tool. This one looks like quality stuff, like the one i have. Still i will manage to break it, within five years.. I once borrowed a solid 2 inch steel bar a mine and broke it in two pieces. The owner was not amused but very surprised.
The hori hori is only as good as long as it's sharp and those sharpeners look very well... sharp. The only thing that would improve the hori hori would be a hori hori with a long handle. So you don't have to bend down all the time. The Russians have something like that, but it's so difficult to import it.
I am a builder , so used to having a tool belt and use one for gardening as well. I am clueless about how people garden without one and still be efficient. Walking half the time getting tools and losing them all over the garden. Good job when tools are brightly colored so you can see them from a mile away. And what's this people comment here on tools for smaller people? I don't see that on the website. I'm interested in that, because i think it's important to get my daughter well equiped and i'm puzzled why all garden tools seem to be for big men size hands. It's almost 2020 and still everything on the market is for men.Why is 80% of the population discriminated against toolwise and gardenwise? Cause that's what it comes down to. Any toolfreak will tell you it's half the job. And if like 80% of people are exluded , if 80% can't have the tools that fit them well how are they supposed to do a good job. No wonder gardens are the boring mess they are everywhere when there are no small tools for small hands.
Rant over.

Hugo Morvan wrote:And what's this people comment here on tools for smaller people? I don't see that on the website.

I'm not exactly sure how the small hands comments came about.  :)  We do not necessarily design tools with smaller hands in mind, but we do specialize in mostly hand tools.

Thanks Dre very generous of you!  Lots of gardener's in the family,  nice to have a place to get quality products.

Thank you Dre, I really appreciate the leather sheaths you offer with your tools. I now try to always get leather or canvas with my tools as I am concerned about the post-life micro plastic from shredding nylon.

Dre Oeschger wrote:Thank you to everyone for all of the wonderful welcomes!  In addition to working with Patrick at Truly Garden & Loma Creek.  I also run my own small business (Strong Wife Sourdough).  Today is my baking day so I will be in and out intermittently, but will strive to get everyone's questions answered.  

Sorry if this is a bit off-topic, but I am starting a small sourdough business and was wondering if you bake from your home oven? Or somewhere else? I did a one-off sourdough market stall last week and am now getting requests for more bread and wondering how to make it work. I baked 6 loaves yesterday in our little home oven for this, but I'm wondering if it is possible to do more than this in one day from home, and if you have any wisdom to share from running a small sourdough business?

Kate Downham wrote: Sorry if this is a bit off-topic, but I am starting a small sourdough business and was wondering if you bake from your home oven? Or somewhere else? I did a one-off sourdough market stall last week and am now getting requests for more bread and wondering how to make it work. I baked 6 loaves yesterday in our little home oven for this, but I'm wondering if it is possible to do more than this in one day from home, and if you have any wisdom to share from running a small sourdough business?

There are so many variables that could directly affect your situation.    I do bake in my home oven.  During the market season, I bake 60 loaves in one day, 6 at one time in 2qt cast iron dutch ovens, the day before the market.  I have a basement that keeps at a good 60F.  I bulk ferment and proof down there in the summer.  I mix in 6 loaf batches, 2 at a time, every hour starting in the early afternoon.  I also shape and proof these staggered by an hour.  It can get tricky after the first few batches.  I also make coffee, sourdough biscotti & scones to sling at the markets.

Your baking schedule will very much depend upon the temperatures of your house.  We are going to be moving soon, and I intend on putting in a walk-in in our new home for a slow overnight proof.  I will also be purchasing a commercial oven that should at least double if not triple my capacity.  

In winter, I switch to pre-order only and my die hard customers meet me at a local coffee shop to pick up their order.  I make a tiny bit extra and have those available for sale.

What I love about this cottage business is that it is easy to bootstrap with a creative outlook.  The margins are fair and you can slowly reinvest and grow it as you need.  

If you want to get more personally specific, I would be happy to answer other questions you have.  We should maybe start a new thread though....or you can email me strongwifesourdough@gmail.com

Cris Fellows wrote:So happy to have you here Dre!  I actually lost my Hori Hori somewhere in the garden so I am being hopeful, haha!  Your pruning shears look every bit as awesome as my Felco's, care to compare/ contrast?

Hi Cris :)  Sorry for the delay on this one.  I talked to Patrick, and he mentioned an Arborist that did exactly this.   Here is his video review:

Welcome to Permies!  Great looking set of tools!  

Just a big reminder about how permies giveaways work--the more posts and the higher quality they are, the more likely they are to win. See more details here. And, here's some excellent info from a permie on how they managed to win lots of giveaways here on permies (https://permies.com/t/42129/Win-Earn-Books)

Always looking for tools that are made to last.
I’ve inherited several fine tools over the years.
And with hopefully the purchase of a farm in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
We’re looking for good and durable farm and garden equipment.
We hope to be posting the rehab videos on YouTube as soon as the purchase is finalized.
The farm is in a mess but with lots of hard work it will be up and going.

Been using the hori hori for over a year now. Every few months my boss asks me to remind him where I got it! I spend a time ever couple weeks to sharpen his tools with the diamond sharpener that came with it. Works great!

I've got my eye on that tool belt, now. Thanks for the opportunity!