Vegetable Garden Tools

There are many vegetable garden tools on the market. Luckily, you don't need all of them to grow an excellent garden. There are a few tools you will want to keep handy for your routine gardening tasks.

Garden Shovels

One of the most important tools for your vegetable garden is your spade or garden shovel. You want a nice sharp one. A spade can be used to divide plants, dig up weeds, turn the soil in the spring and mix in compost.

Spend the money one of the good quality garden shovels. It will serve you well for many years so is worth the investment.

Pruners are another must have gardening tool. They make it easy to trim prickly plants like raspberries and to harvest plants like squash and cucumbers that have thick, prickly stems. At the end of the season, they can really come in handy when you're cleaning up the garden.

A wheelbarrow is another important tool to have. It can haul compost into your garden at the beginning of the season, as well as pots of plant starts when your garden beds are all prepared. At the end of the season, garden refuse can be piled in and moved to the compost bin.

A four pronged spading fork (or 'pitch fork') is good for mixing compost in the bin. If you get a good fork with broad tines, you can also use it to harvest potatoes.

You need a garden rake. Straight rakes are good for smoothing the seed beds and breaking up dirt clods. You can also use one to help remove debris or stones from the soil. Some people use the tines to make evenly spaced holes for seeds.

A garden hoe makes it easy to remove weeds, make furrows and perform many other garden tasks. There are many types of hoes on the market. The most common is called a square hoe. It is very useful for almost any of the aforementioned garden jobs. Pointed or V-shaped hoes can be good for furrows or cutting weeds. A scuffle hoe moves on hinges. It works beneath the surface of the soil to cut weeds and break up the top crust of soil that forms from watering.

A trowel is needed for transplanting. This handy little shovel fits in one hand and is used to make individual holes so you can plant your tomato starts, seed potatoes and any other job where you are transplanting.

There are even kids gardening tools, made especially for smaller hands and bodies. Purchasing your child's own vegetable garden tools is a great way to get them excited about growing plants and digging in the earth.

Other vegetable garden tools you may find helpful are stakes for holding tall plants upright. These are useful for any plants that need to be held up instead of lying on the ground. String can be tied between stakes for beans and peas to grow on. They will climb right up. A hose will be important for watering. Some people prefer to hand water with a water wand, while others prefer a sprinkler system.

Of course, you can also add tomato cages, watering cans, kneeling pads, and harvesting trugs. A bucket usually comes in handy when you are weeding so you don't have to keep making trips back and forth to your compost bin. Don't fret though...you don't need everything to begin your garden. Just start with the basics and then....begin!