My favorite garden tool

Some years ago I was browsing the tool section of an upscale nursery in the next town over.

A trowel caught my eye. The price was high, but it looked like a superb tool and long ago I learned that quality tools always pay off. The more I studied it the better it looked.

It was made in England by Wilkinson Sword company, who also makes razor blades. The tool was solid stainless steel with a wood handle. I inquired of the sales people and the said that tool had been on their shelves for a number of years and the price was the original price, and at that price no one had bought it.

So I did! I brought it home and put it to work.

Since I spent most of my life on my knees, I garden that way too, and a quality hand trowel makes the work go better. It is stainless so it does not rust, smooth so it cuts into the dirt easily.

It is not imported any longer. There does not seem to be any available. I think it just cost more than anyone was willing to pay.

This spring I could not find it. I knew it was here on the place somewhere, but it was not where tools are supposed to be.

This weekend I was walking through the potato patch and there, covered with dirt and mud was my trowel! Of course there was no rust. It was dirty and the wood handle showed a check or two, but all of that is fixable.

So I am a happy gardner. Now if we could just get some sunshine.