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New gardening friends! I'm curious what items/plants/tools you are adding to your holiday wish list this year. I've been browsing Amazon and added some stack-a-pot planters and a raised bed to my wishlist to get my patio garden going in spring.

Do you have a 'can't live without' tool you'd recommend for a beginner? Eager to hear, thanks!

Hi Mallory! Good thread idea.

The only gardening thing I've got on my wish list, not necessarily for Christmas, but if anyone wanted to buy me one, I'd love it. It's one of those new dial a thickness food processors from Kitchenaide. I keep seeing it advertised on tv and would love to have one. Since I do a lot of canning/pickling during the summer this would be wonderful. The food processor I have only has one attachment for slicing and it makes paper thin slices, so I end up hand slicing all the cucumers.....a real chore!

As for a favorite "go to" garden tool, mine is the little hand trowel. It's my most valued hand tool...it and a pair of clippers/snippers. I never enter the garden without both.


ve

Some people are offended by having to accept gifts that other people swear by they couldn't do without.
It can be embarrassing if the gift is given 'in person' and the question comes up...."How'dga like my ****?" "I think they're great".

So give a little thought to garden friends and present something they can and will use for their enjoyment or for their safety.

Garden gloves--the kind that come up over the wrist (gauntlets) are always appreciated. Bulbs...in season...can be something they forgot about.
A fan rake is not that expensive---a little big though for a package.
A hat -- one that protects fromthe sun's rays.
A garden claw...the hand-held kind that one can do minor cultivating with.

I've got one of those cutting machines...the kind that you push food down a tray where the blade cuts potatoes, carrots....etc...
I've got one.....never use it!

Vera --

I would love to have a bigger food processor as well! Do you have or have thought about getting a mandolin slicer? I have one and don't use it nearly enough. It may make your life easier!

After our recent move from South Florida to Atlanta, I discovered that I hijacked my mother's favorite pair of pruning sheers when we were unpacking. They've already come in handy with my rosemary plant. It's too bad she won't be seeing them again. Sorry mom!

Loonie --

I would love a good garden claw. I'm really lacking in the tools department. I'll add one to the list!

Thanks for the awesome suggestions!

Mallory, I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't even know what a mandolin slicer was, so I looked it up. Not sure that's what I want..it's still a manual tool. I could probably do just as well with my knife, the only difference being the eveness of the slices. I want something where I just push a button and the work is done for me.

Thanks for the suggestion.

ve

no newbie should be without a hand mattock....doesn't matter which edges , tho I tend to love the pick and hoe ends....

http://www.google.com/search?q...oAA&biw=1327&bih=581

this thing busts up tough soil like my red clay, and gets down far enuff to get those wire grass roots out,too.... my neighbor carried hers into the garden to make divisions as we walked and talked and I got to come home with scads of the bestest plants!!.... she got me my first mattock and explained that it was her opinion that you couldn't garden correctly without one!!.... she was the neighborhood's expert gardener and when I came to live two doors down, she saw that I was interested and took me under her wing....

like Vera, the hand trowel and the best pruners/clippers are also the better things to have handy, as well as really good gloves!....gotta show ya this trowel-thing that I've fallen in love with....

http://lawn-and-garden.hardwar...en-knife-116203.aspx

I guess it's much like that Japanese knife dealie in that it does so many things....

and.... if you're going to have a good time gardening, you don't need to be running back and forth getting this or that tool as you need it, so you gotta have something to tote with you that will carry the most needed items.... that five gallon bucket 'apron' works really good around here.....


http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-Gall...sd%3D271077743609%26

those are the things I'd GIVE a new gardener... but for myself?... my biggest wish is for a new garden cart.... it's got to be a dumpable, stronger than plastic, four wheels that won't go flat and be able to handle four or five bags of mulch or a load of stone without griping!!!... I can't move stuff without a good one these days and mine are all suffering from age, like me... LOL!!!....of course, it's gonna have to be Christmas gift, as I can't afford one of these right now...sigh.... anyone seen Santa???....*smile*...

http://www.greenhouses-etc.net...s/firewood_carts.htm

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Toots,

Toots --

What wonderful suggestions. I like the 5-gallon-bucket tote. Who doesn't have a 5-gallon-bucket laying around somewhere?! Also looks like you could mayyyybe tie it around your waist if you really wanted, but only for the skinny-minnies of the world. Really, I can't do much without containers to start with, so those would be nice too. I am also recently engaged to my now-fiance so I'm eager to add some outdoorsy garden stuff to our registry whenever we get around to it.

So, have you written to Santa yet? I bet if you're on the nice list he could hook it up for you!

Gift cards to garden centers, My fave gift..

Toots I love the Fiskars big grip garden knife. I think that would be a very hand tool. Will put that on MY list!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: patty louise,

If the new gardener is into roses...I found the best pair of rose gloves by West Country that are thorn proof and have extended cuffs. Wish I had them years ago.

And then along comes someone like me....different!
I carry my tools inside a 5 gallon bucket. But I have a large area that I work also. I carry 2 different hand trimmers/pruners, loppers, hammer, trowel, 3 prong cultivator, plant velcro, wire ties, folding limb saw & a few other little things in my "bucket".
If I'm going to do heavy work where I will be using a shovel, pitch fork or scoop shovel, I will wear leather palm gloves with long cuffs. If I'm going to do hand digging or potting I usually wear (if I remember) latex gloves...I like to feel what I'm doing.

VE, I have a "V" slicer (aka mandolin) and I use it all the time. It does make things go much faster...just be very careful...when you get something close KEEP YOUR FINGERS AWAY or it will slice them too...the voice of experience speaking here!
I use it for slicing celery, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, carrots all the time. And I can turn over the main (plastic) plate & get either very thin or med. thick slices. It will dice or shred also. I don't like it for cabbage though...too hard to keep it together to slice. This is the one I have..scroll down just a bit...comes with wall mount holder & 2 other "plates" plus the thing that holds items...

http://www.bing.com/shopping/b...r%20borner&FORM=HURE

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ga.karen,

Karen --

I didn't realize a V slicer and a mandoline were the same thing! My slicer has a diagonal shape and not a V one but there is absolutely nothing better for slicing potatoes for homemade potato chips! It's not very easy to clean (sharp, sharp, sharp!) but I imagine it's still easier than having to clean all the parts that go into a large slicing food processor. There's a reason you see all the chefs on TV using them!

quote:

Originally posted by HGTVMallory:
Karen --

I didn't realize a V slicer and a mandoline were the same thing! My slicer has a diagonal shape and not a V one but there is absolutely nothing better for slicing potatoes for homemade potato chips! It's not very easy to clean (sharp, sharp, sharp!) but I imagine it's still easier than having to clean all the parts that go into a large slicing food processor. There's a reason you see all the chefs on TV using them!

They aren't identical but they both work on the same principal.
I do a couple of casseroles with potatoes and it makes quick work of slicing them for those plus they are all the same thickness so the whole things cooks more evenly.
Yes, they are very sharp and caution is the word when you working with one.

I have this tool which is similar to the one that Toots mentioned, but the handle is blue and I saw it in Home Depot and other stores elsewhere.
I've found it VERY useful and it was a thoughtful gift from a friend one Christmas!
http://www.amazon.com/Jackson-...es+true+temper+seven

I have several pruners but they don't seem to be very good. Maybe Santa can bring one of those ratcheting pruners with a comfortable handle and a safety that doesn't start sliding in the way of my pruning!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jvelo,

Our official HGTV Gardens holiday gift guide is out! What are your favorite picks?? http://blog.hgtvgardens.com/ho...e-hgtvgardens-picks/

A white garden apron?!!

All I ever want is foxglove seeds! LOL

Last year I was fortunate to be able to afford a pair of Ethel's gloves. It was a special and I think I got 2 for $10.00 and free shipping. They were the best garden gloves I ever bought. I never could stand to wear garden gloves and would never wear them. These gloves are like a second skin. I would never buy any other garden gloves. And no, I do not work for Ethel's gloves.

thanks for the info on the mandolin........just never something I thought about using or buying period. Will keep this in mind before next gardening season. Certainly less expensive than the food processor I want.


ve

that would be an excellent Plan B, ve. its manual but a lot faster than hand slicing and you get even slices.. as thick or thin as you want. i seldom use mine.. but it comes in real handy when i make scalloped potatoes.

just watch your fingers. those blades are mega sharp. there is a gadget with prongs to jam the food into when the piece gets small and your knuckles are getting too close to the blades. bet you could google up a video on uTube.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bana,

Well, my wish list has one item. A gardener!!! Actually, I'd like some manpower to help out with some of the heavy lifting, so to speak.

I have a mandoline and I don't use it much either, but I CAN vouch for how sharp that blade is!!! And the food holder came with mine.