Oh, but it's getting ugly around here. I am speaking of my garden of course. For one thing, about this time I lose interest in it. The magic of watching the plants grow, then blossom and put on their colorful array of tasty treasures for us to enjoy is long past.
Somehow that time seems like a long time ago, back before the weeds got ahead of me a time or two. Before I spent my afternoons canning, when I had other things I wanted to be doing. Before the vegetables that I thought I just had to plant, just had to be taken care of. I know it sounds like there is a lot of whining going on, and you are right, there is; it's time to clear off the garden and store away the canning equipment until next year, and that's not fun.
There are other things I want to do right now, like my crafting, go visit my nephew in Lincoln, and get ready for my booth in our local state wide garage sale so aptly called the Junk Jaunt. Certainly the tools will be okay until next year; they've not run away from home yet. Yes, they would be okay, but that is what I have been saying for several years, and it is time to stop putting it off.
It's not that I don't clean the dirt off of the shovel or a hoe when I get done with it; most of the time, but it needs a good sharpening and oiling at the end of the season. I occasionally spray it with WD40 throughout the season which helps keep it from rusting. The metal parts need to washed thoroughly, allowed to dry, and then I take my brass wire brush and give them a good brushing, dry them, and oil them with good oil I have on hand. Used motor oil works fine, and you are recycling at the same time. Don't forget the handles. Every couple of years, run sand paper over them then apply oil and they will last a lot longer while being easier on your hands. Putting a good coat of paint on them also will help preserve the wood. I like the look of the wood, so I oil mine when I oil the blades of the tools.
Don't forget your little tools also; trowels and your string line from the garden need your attention. If you are like me once you are done with the string line, it gets jammed back in my garden tool box and forgotten. Then next spring when I pull out my tool box, I have to clean out the box, sort the empty seed packets from half empty, then unravel the string from the clutter and other "items" that got forgotten in the haste of getting my seeds in the ground.
My string line however has gotten easier to care for, since I discovered using our son's discarded kite handle to wrap the string on. The other end is tied to a metal electric fence post that easily pushes into the ground. Now I am done planting I just wind the string onto the kite handle, secure the end, and put it in my garden box which is a plastic divided box with a handle on it; the fence post then helps hold up my chicken wire for the peas.
So you see, if you take care of your tools now and stick with it when you get all excited next spring to start the magic all over again, your tools will take care of you.
Now it's on to the second big season of the year, GO HUSKERS! What an exciting year this is going to be. Just what is in store for the BIG RED no one really knows, but this much we do know. It will be interesting to see how we fare in the new Big Ten. With all of the speculation going on around my house, I can't wait so I guess I might as well take care of my garden tools while I do. Everything has its place and everything in its place. That's my motto - yea right, if only!
By Ann W. craftingtales.com from Loup City, NE
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