The Wheel Hoe

The Wheel Hoe

I have written about our wheel hoe many times on here. Today I was just going to post the pictures for Wordless Wednesday. Well, I couldn't do that. I had too much to say on the subject. Considering I have already written two different blog posts on this little piece of equipment, it still is one of my biggest traffic posts. It seems many people, around the world are interested in it. Why not? It uses no fuel except the human kind.

The bicycle tire on the wheel hoe

In my post, Preparing Our Raised Beds For Planting Season, I told about using the wheel hoe. Some people refer to it as a wheel cultivator. Whichever term you use, it is a nice little tool. What it means is that you can plow up your garden quite easily, if it is a regular garden spot. It is quite easy to plow up a garden area or raised bed with it. If you are a physically strong person, you can plow up a new piece of ground with it also. My husband has replaced the original wheel which was iron, with a bicycle tire. It made it much easier to use.

The front of the hoe

I won't show it in action here, as I did that in the post I wrote last year, Plowing The Garden With The Wheel Hoe. With the price of gas going up, using a wheel hoe is good way to cut down your use of fuels. What we like is that you do not have the smell of fuel in your face while you are working in your garden. Our garden has never been plowed with a rototiller......well, once. A friend of my husband's came over with his rototiller to start our garden area when my husband was injured at work. Well, that rototiller smelled up our whole yard, it kept quitting and it got tangled up in the weeds we were trying to get rid of before it even came near the dirt. He didn't finish. That was the only time ever we used one here.

Side view of the hoe

We use it for plowing up the raised beds and for removing weeds that grow between the plants. Some beds I can't do that on as I fill it with food. They crowd out the weeds. If there is a weed growing there that we eat, like dandelions or lamb's quarter, we leave it alone. A wheel hoe is a great addition to your garden especially with the price of gas going up. Try it!

Copyright © 2012 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2012  Kathleen G. Lupole