I would like to begin our basic farming thread by listing and describing basic farming tools.
Some tools are necessary for breaking up soil and creating better conditions for plant growing. Some are time saving. Some tools make certain tasks easier.
Planting stick
Planting stick is a very good tool. The different name for it is dibber.
It is used for planting seeds.
How is it used? You use it to poke a deep hole in the ground. Then you fill the bottom of the hole with loose soil, then you place a seed in the hole and cover it with some more of loose soil.
Planting stick makes it easier to plant seeds at proper depth. It ensures that seed is placed in good loose soil above and below it. This makes germination better. Planting stick also makes it easier to space plants properly.
Another good thing about planting stick is that it is very cheap.
You can even make it yourself out of any stick that can be sharpened to penetrate the ground.
Shovel
Shovel is a tool that has great uses in a garden.
You can use it to remove grass layer and expose soil.
It is also used to dig a hole in the ground to plant a tree.
That being said, using shovel to dig is not always simple. When I dig compacted soil, I usually have to make several cuts in the soil with a shovel before it can dig into the soil.
I would never recommend trying to force a shovel into the soil. Simply make cuts until shovel goes in soil completely.
Shovels can be cheap. Some can be very expensive. I think cheap shovels are good. I wouldn't spend too much money on a shovel unless you plan to use it a lot.
Shovel can be used to till soil. It can also be used to remove grass layer completely, leaving soil bare and reducing the amount of grass. This helps vegetables that are later planted to grow better.
Garden hoe
Garden hoe is a tool used for breaking up the soil around existing plants and between plant rows. It is also used for removing weeds and for putting more soil around existing plants so they grow better. Garden hoe helps with making soil loose and removing weeds, which is very important for plants.
Garden fork
Garden fork is also used for breaking up soil, so that it is easier for plant roots to spread, and so that soil gets more oxygen.
Bucket and watering can
Bucket and watering can are tools used for watering plants and making fertilizer. Buckets have other uses too, like collecting rain for watering. They can also be used for collecting vegetables and moving them.
Cardboard box
Cardboard box is good for making cheap raised beds or planting pots or containers. You just use duct tape to tape the cardboard box so it doesnt fall apart. Raised beds can be very expensive, but cardboard boxes can be used to make cheap raised beds out of them.
You can also use plastic garbage bag and put it in cardboard box so that it is even more protected from water. This increases it's durability.
Jars for seeds
Jars for seeds are useful. In case you want to save seeds, good way to do it would be to have one jar for each vegetable type and save seeds in a jar.
Mattock or pickaxe
Mattock is very good for breaking up tough soil, in case shovel cant get through.
Knife
Knife is usually overlooked, but is important tool for cutting and collecting vegetables.
These are the tools I use the most. In case you have some tools in mind which you think are important, please mention them.
Next, we will do the basics of vegetable farming.
