Get Your Garden Tools in Tip-Top Shape for Spring
Importance of Maintaining Garden Tools
In order to ensure you have long-lasting garden tools, it is important to properly take care of them when not using them in the vegetable garden. To keep them from losing their effectiveness and sharpness over time we should spend a little time to properly maintain the conditioning of them by sharpening, removing the rust, and store them away in a proper location. The first step in ensuring they remain taken care of is putting them away once you are done using them in the garden. In order to remove rust and keep them sharp, you can use our Farmers File has an essential tool for maintaining your everyday gardening tools. Overall, in order to keep your tools in pristine condition take some time in the barn by properly cleaning and sharpening the edges to keep them lasting a lifetime.
Best Sharpening Tool for Garden Tools
On this week's episode, Travis talks about how to prepare the garden tools for the upcoming growing season. During the winter months, when the gardening season is slower this is the perfect time to work on preparing your tools for the spring growing season. Travis has his long-handled Batwing Hoe that is one of his favorite general hoes around the garden area. The batwing hoe contains a rounded sharp edge that makes removing large weeds and adding or removing soil to plants. For example, it can be used to add soil to crops like corn or potatoes for hilling and stabilizing plant stems. We also offer a small-handled batwing hoe version for using in raised beds. To remove any kind of rust and sharpen the garden tool we recommend using our Farmers File. The farmers file is an all-around general purpose tool that will keep your tools sharpened for maximum potential. This garden tool works great on almost any kind of surfaces such as metal, iron bar, stainless steel, plastics, and wood. Containing two sides the farmer file has a double cut and a single cut side. The double cut side is used to remove rust and excess material. While the single cut side is used for the final polishing and getting those garden tools really sharp. Travis begins preparing the garden tool by placing the batwing in a vice to hold the blade still while sharpening. Starting with the double cut side he pushes it up along the blade to remove the rust. By keeping the right angle you can tell whether or not it's taking off the rust from the garden tool. Be sure to never drag the farmer file backward because it can ruin the file, so always push the file in a forward motion on the sharp edge. Then using the single cut side of the farmer file we will fine-tune the blade and get in nice and sharp. Once he is done with the curved side of the blade where most of the filling is done, Travis likes to take the single cut side and run it over the flat edge of the blade. This will add the finishing touches to the sharp blade. After the blade is taking care of he moves on to taking care of the batwing hoe handle. Travis takes some boiled linseed oil to pour on an old rag and evenly apply it along the long handle. This will help condition and protect the handle to make it nice, smooth, and easy to use in the vegetable garden. So next time you have some downtime in the garden take advantage of this time by preparing your gardening tools for the vegetable garden.