The Snarky Gardener has a new weeder and wants to tell you all about it.

I recently acquired a new gardening tool, the A.M. Leonard Cape Cod Weeder.  First impression out of the box was it’s very sturdy and felt good in my hand.  Next impression was it resembled a cross between a putt-putt golf club and a pirate’s hook (what is it with me and pirates?).  Of course I had to play with it a little bit, putt-putting our abundance of crab apples around the yard.  Then I got down to business, figuring out how to properly wield it.

I specifically ordered this weeder with an extended handle (24″ instead of the standard 12″) so I could dig narrower furrows from a standing position.  Also, I was searching for something that could let me reach my 4 foot by 8 foot hugelkultur beds without resorting to climbing on top or put my foot on them.   As you can see below, the Cape Cod Weeder (on the right) did both well.

My next task was to do some actual weeding (’cause that’s in the name and all).  Being October, there are two things we do here in Northeastern Ohio: plant garlic and cry because the Browns are already out of the playoffs (which helps with watering the garlic).  To prep the bed, weed removal was needed first.  I really like my weeds (I know, very weird) especially the Creeping Charlie that spreads everywhere (good ground cover and edible don’t you know).  It’s very viney and doesn’t come up with a standard hoe well but as you can see below, the hook just rips it out with aplomb (but not a plum).

The garlic planting itself went well also, as the Cape Cod Weeder is a good tool to have at your side while you’re on the ground.  I was able to loosen up dirt and dig a nice deep yet narrow groove for my garlic cloves. With the longer handle, my reach was better and I didn’t have to move around as much, which my middle-aged body appreciated.  Like I said, a great experience overall.

Of course as I was getting to know my new tool, I came up with a few improvements:

1. Orange on the handle (like A.M. Leonard’s Soil Knife) so it’s easier to find (I lose things easily under all my weeds).
2. An even longer handle (maybe another foot) so I can weed and furrow whilst standing (I’m 6’3″ for goodness sake).

Strange thing that only happens to me:  I kept writing “Cape Code Weeder” as I wrote this post.  It’s the software developer coming out in me 🙂

By the way, I’m a member of Amazon’s Affiliate program, so buy your weeder by clicking on the links in this post and the Snarky Gardener will receive a tiny, tiny piece of the action.

Now the Snarky Gardener is writing a book.  Want to follow along?

This fall I decided to take the plunge and self-publish my first book – “The Snarky Gardener’s Veggie Growing Guide for Ohio and Beyond” – as my ego wasn’t already big enough. Written with the beginning to intermediate gardener in mind, it will describe how to embrace your garden’s wild side. The book should be released in early 2016 (I predict busy and hectic Thanksgiving and Christmas vacations for myself). So far I have the introduction complete and Appendix A is being written now for release as a blog post.

Combining gardening and technology, the Snarky Gardener discovered what he wants for Christmas this year.

Gardening with Your Phone with Niwa

With the cooler months coming along, many of us are looking for ways to continue our gardening indoors. While kitchen gardens and indoor gardens have become quite popular in the past few years, what with celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver advocating starting your own gardens at home for fresher, more nutritious food, many still have difficulty figuring out how to start. A new system, however, aims to take the hassle out of growing food at home, all with the help of a smartphone.

Smartphones have become quite the indispensible tool for many households. The company behind mobile bingo platform Free Bingo Hunter reported that in 2012, there were 1 billion smartphone users across the globe, and that number is expected to double by the end of this year. We’re continuing to find new ways to use our smartphones, and some have even found a way to make it so our smartphone can help us garden in our homes.

It’s all through an invention called the Niwa, an automated home gardening system that only needs a little bit of space in your home, and comes with a smartphone application that can help you monitor and regulate the growth of your plants. The Niwa launched on Kickstarter and successfully raised over $150,000 to bring the concept to life, as well as grow from a simple machine that would let you plant seeds in a controlled environment, to a platform that would help experienced gardeners and budding growers share information and collaborate on projects.

The Niwa’s companion app brings every piece of information you could ever need into the palm of your hands. With information on water levels, sunlight levels, and the like, users of Niwa are promised the ability to see the progress of their plant at every stage of its growth, as well as a deeper understanding of how plants grow. The best part is that the team behind Niwa is also hard at work collaborating with experts in the field to ensure that the system works the way it should, and that anyone who wants to grow plants at home will have access to all the information they could need to make growing their own plants at home a breeze.

The Niwa is almost ready to ship, and you can preorder the item on their website today.

Most people take pictures of their family or pets.  The Snarky Gardener has professional photos taken of his vegetables.

This fall I took my award winning vegetables to have their pictures taken (say “Cheese!”).  I have several projects in the works that need really sharp images of my produce and as you can see, these are dazzling.  Many thanks to Kara Whaley http://www.karawhaley.com/ for putting up with my shenanigans and doing such good work.

Let me know what you think of these.

October is the time to plant garlic in Ohio, so the Snarky Gardener has written a little ditty to help you out. Just don’t ask him to sing it.

Sang to the tune of “Closing Time” by Semisonic

Garlic time
Open up the ground and break up all the clumpy dirt.

Garlic time
Turn all of the garlic into separate cloves for sowing

Garlic time
One last call for October so finish your planting dear

Garlic time
You do have to plant it but you must not fear.

I know what I want to plant this fall.
I know what I want to plant this fall.
I know what I want to plant this fall.
Garlic cloves

Garlic Time
Time for you to plant cloves with the points up and butts down.

Garlic Time
This time will be open for your hardneck and softneck bulbs.
So gather up your leaves, and pile them up the rows
I hope you have mulched a bunch.

Garlic Time
Every garlic season comes from some other garlic season’s end.

Yeah, I know what I want to plant this fall.
I know what I want to plant this fall.
I know what I want to plant this fall.
Garlic cloves

Garlic Time
Time for you to plant cloves with the points up and butts down.

I know what I want to plant this fall.
I know what I want to plant this fall.
I know what I want to plant this fall.
Garlic cloves

I know what I want to plant this fall.
I know what I want to plant this fall.
I know what I want to plant this fall.
Garlic cloves

Garlic Time
Every garlic season comes from some other garlic season’s end.

Note: the Snarky Gardener participates in a few affiliate programs, so if you purchase your garlic through the above links, we get a small percentage of the sale to help us out with overhead costs (like earplugs for those who had to hear all the bad singing).