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Over recent years I’ve become mighty tired of replacing my gardening equipment. Don’t worry, it wasn’t being stolen. The memory’s not quite what it was, but it’s still uncharacteristic for me to misplace a tool. So what’s happening, you ask? Well it seems they don’t make them to the old standards. The cheaper ones are mostly rubbish. Mass manufactured and probably designed by someone who never wielded a garden spade or fork in their life. This ongoing complaint with modern tools was becoming somewhat tiresome among my gardening friends. It was only last month that somebody suggested I try out the Duchy Garden Tools Collection. I admit to being skeptical. Instead of making a blind purchase, I used the...

An organic philosophy encourages us to move beyond a narrowly hostile attitude toward plant species identified as weeds. In the first instance it is a vague category that tends to shift according to location, seasonal influence, established farming and other cultural practices. With a shift in any of these, one persons weed will become food or medicine for another. Interestingly, many common garden weeds are neither noxious nor dangerous. Some such as lemon verbena or dandelion can just as easily be defined as herbs. Most of them, however, are plants offering little in the way of food or obvious beauty so are quickly dismissed and considered a drain on precious garden resources. Controlling weeds It is true that an abundance of weeds will compete...

Having access to good quality tools and equipment designed for the tasks you need to accomplish will make your time in the garden more efficient and pleasurable. While it is neither necessary nor practical to own every garden implement, there are at least several that you’ll find indispensable from the beginning. Later on, experience will help you determine which additional items should be added to your basic tool kit. Let’s take a look at some of the routine tasks you’ll be getting into in the garden and the basic tools you’ll need to get the job done efficiently. Digging While extensive digging is generally best avoided in an organic garden, there are selective tasks like composting and tree planting which require the temporary displacement...