Tomatoes, Tools, and Trellos

The 2008 growing season is finally here! Winter sown containers are sporting sprouts, and the greenhouse is cleaned out and ready for seed starting very soon. Here are a few of my favorite new gardening items.... These just make me smile and want to get out in the garden!

Garden clogs! I've tried on many of these in the stores, but have never found just the right fit or color. These are called Trellos, and are available from Land's End. The fit and the color (Olive Drab) are just perfect for me. They will be so handy to slip on for my many trips to the garden or greenhouse, both located just steps outside my front door.

The vintage box holding the above items is an old wooden Coca Cola box, a flea market find for a mere $3.00. (If you look closely you can see the words Coca Cola written in red on the inside of the box.) It is very sturdy and has handles cut into the sides of the box, so will be handy for hauling things around in the garden.

'Brandy Boy' tomato seeds! I saw these in a local produce market, where we had stopped to pick up some huckleberries. I love the taste of Brandywine tomatoes, but typical of most heirlooms, they don't produce much fruit. I am really excited to try this hybrid of Brandywine and Better Boy, which claims to have "incredible heirloom flavor and very high yields."

And saving the best for last....

A Felco Pruner! I've wanted one of these for years, but the scenario seemed to go something like this.... On the first spring-like day in March, I would decide I must spend the afternoon outdoors, and pruning my hedge of Simplicity roses is, naturally, one of the first spring rituals. But since my cheap hardware store pruner from the previous year was either dull or bent, I had to go back to the store for a new one. No more! With all the model options Felco now offers, it was hard to choose one, but I finally settled on the # 8, and it seems to fit my hand well. I am now ready to tackle those roses on the very next sunny warm day that comes our way. Let the pruning begin.

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Every spring is the only spring - a perpetual astonishment.

~Ellis Peters