GREEN GARAGE1
A Miscellany of Useful Garden Helpers by Rita Pelczar S THE G A R D E N I N G year comes to a close, I'd like to share a few of the products that have made my work a little easier and more pleasant this season as I've planted, pruned, weeded, and harvested in my North Carolina garden. Many of these items have direct application in the garden, others benefit garden visitors. And some are geared toward making the gardening experience safer and more comfortable.
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FOR THE GARDEN The large, lightly cushioned grip of the Ergonomic Stainless Steel Digging Tools from Lee Valley Tools is designed for comfort, and because the grip is circular, you can grasp it using different hand positions, which helps avoid wrist strain. Another good design feature is the broad, forwardfolded stepping surface that allows you to apply foot pressure comfortably and securely. A variety of tools are available in this series including spades, forks, and weeders; I particularly like the transplanting spade with its long, narrow blade. 1 used that spade to transplant some young trees this year, and to protect them from both pests and mower damage, Tree and Plant Guards from Peaceful Valley Farm and Garden Supply are effective and easy to use. The two halves of these plastic rings snap together around the trunk to form a five-and-a-half-inchdiameter circle that is nine-and-a-half inches tall. Doesn't it always seem that the best apples (or pears, peaches, or plums) are just out of your reach? If you grow tree fruit, you will want to invest in a Harvest Helper Fruit Picker, available from Gardener's Supply. No need to climb a ladder when this eight-foot tool is in hand. Its vinyl-coated wire basket is attached to a wooden pole that allows you to reach high into the tree's canopy to pluck fruit. The basket, which holds three mediumsized apples, is padded to prevent fruit bruising. One of my favorite discoveries this year is Silvermark Herb Snips offered by W. Atlee Burpee & Company and several kitchen supply stores. The super-sharp
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next year's garden, consider Burpee's Ecofriendly Seed Starting Kit. It is completely biodegradable and includes 25 fiber planting cells and grow pellets, a bamboo watering tray, a germination sheet, three wooden plant labels, and a one-ounce package of Espoina organic fertilizer. If you like to hang herbs to air dry, try tying them in bunches with Paper Ties—a supple and strong Japanese ribbon, available in 33-foot rolls from Lee Vallev. Made of unbleached recycled
blades are great for harvesting and mincing herbs, and they come apart for easy cleaning. There are three small, sharpedged notches between the handle and the blades for stripping leaves off stems—a great time saver! If you are planning to start flowers, herbs, or vegetables indoors from seed for paper, it's biodegradable, but its dense pleats make it quite strong, suitable for a variety of garden tasks from bundling yard waste to securing plants. Use it in place of plastic ties and just let it decompose at the end of the season.
FOR GARDEN VISITORS Suet is a great source of energy for the birds that remain in your garden over winter. Songbird Essentials has a durable Suet Feeder with Tail Prop made of recycled plastic. The tail prop is a flat surface that extends below the feeding cage for woodpeckers and other large birds to balance