Yes there are a bunch of affiliate links here … cuz I am telling you what to buy to make your life easier!
I am not a shopper people. I try not to spend money on very many unnecessary things, and I don’t enjoy going to stores and wandering around. It got even worse when I had kids cuz who wants to chase little people up and down the aisles that are lined with things they want but can’t have? So when I find something that is 1. worth the money 2. helpful and awesome and 3. can be purchased online from the comfort of my own home and mailed directly to me …. I want to run around posting flyers on peoples doors about it. Well maybe not … but I at least call my mom to tell her about it!
So in the spirit of NOT GOING SHOPPING, I wanted to save you the trouble of wasting a few hours and tell you the 3 things you need to buy right now for your garden, that do in fact meet my criteria of “a good thing to spend money on”.
1. A four wheeler trailer or if you don’t have a four wheeler to hook a trailer to then you need a garden cart on wheels.
In the garden you NEED something to carry things around in …. dirt, compost, weeds, produce, even kids! If you are pushing a wheelbarrow around your garden, or carrying a bucket around to weed into, you’re missing out on a BIG back saver. I used a wheelbarrow until three years ago, and I thought I was saving money by not going out and getting an expensive new trailer. Well … now I know I was actually wasting a bunch of time and energy pushing that old heavy thing around. Time really is money, and you will cut your garden work time by hours I can almost guarantee it! When we finally bought a trailer we found a nice small one that is great for moving things around and also didn’t break the bank. Win, win! You can find the one we bought HERE, and we love it! We even stick all the kids in it with blankets and popsicles to drive over to grandma’s sometimes!
2. A GOOD pair of gloves
Again, with this one, I spent years trying to save money buying the cheap garden gloves at the dollar store. I went through gloves like cheap socks! They seemed to get a new hole in them every time I even looked at them wrong. And can you believe I didn’t figure this one out until LAST YEAR?!?! ahhhh! All the headaches I could have avoided … and cut up finger tips and sticky hands, just from buying a decent pair! HERE are the gloves I bought over a year ago and there is not even a threat of a hole anywhere on them. And I am NOT easy on gloves! However, they are pink, so depending on your preference, that could be a pro or a con. The other thing I love about them is they have a stretchy opening instead of a Velcro strap, which is better in my opinion because it keeps dirt out and doesn’t reach out and grab every sand burr I pass.
3. A soaker hose
Okay, I don’t know if anyone has tried to sell you on drip irrigation yet but I am about to. Drip irrigation (watering with a slow application at the roots) is SO MUCH BETTER for a million reasons. Most noticeably for me is the amount of weeds it produces. In the past, when I watered with sprinklers, my garden would usually turn into a jungle sometime mid summer so dense with flourishing weeds that you couldn’t even get through the entrance, let alone find the plants that I wanted to keep alive. With a soaker hose, the water is only applied where I want it to be so I get to watch the weeds in the pathways die of dehydration, yay! Another reason is that a lot of plants (especially tomatoes) dislike being sprayed with water. If you went to elementary school you know that most plants drink water from their roots, so why do we keep watering their leaves?? They don’t like it, and they will be a lot happier if we change the way we water. The other reason that I want to point out is the water conservation. We haven’t had water issues where I live but I still think it’s good to be conscious of it. Drip irrigation uses significantly less water, again because it’s only going to the plants you want it to, not giving a huge drink to every weed in the area. There are many different kinds of ways to do it, but we use THIS soaker hose in the garden. It bends nicely wherever I want it to go and as long as I don’t leave them out all winter, they will last 3+ years. Also I can hook it up to any old garden hose, it couldn’t be more simple to use. You need one, trust me!
These three things have saved me so much time, work, and headaches. If I could go back and buy all of them the first year I started gardening instead of waiting, I would! I promise you will be glad you bought them too, and the whole neighborhood will pull over to ask what you did this year for your beautiful garden!
Need more gardening tips? Click HERE to watch our YouTube video about building a garden trellis or click HERE to learn hot to create a low maintenance weed free garden.
Happy gardening!
~Farmer’s Wife
