Why would someone have a hoe in their house?
I posted earlier in June about superstitions related to gardening, including a few that related to hoes:
“If you carry a hoe, spade, or shovel in the house, you must carry it out the same door you came in by, or a death will follow.”
My comeback on this one was “Death? I’ve carried a hoe in the house plenty of times, who hasn’t, but I must be carrying them out the same door I came in by as there haven’t been any deaths that I can relate to any hoe carrying episode on my part”.
“Never carry a hoe into the house. If you do so by mistake, carry it out again, walking backward to avoid bad luck.”
I wrote that I didn’t believe this to be true either because I feel like I have lots of good luck and I sometimes carry a hoe into the house and I don’t walk out of the house backwards with it. I did suggest that maybe carrying more than one hoe in the house switches the luck from bad to good because I’ve done that a few times. Who hasn’t?
Based on a few of the comments to that post, apparently a lot of gardeners haven’t carried a hoe into the house. More than one fellow garden blogger actually commented that they want to know why someone would have a hoe in the house.
I can hardly believe that this would even come up as a question but nonetheless, it has, so I shall attempt to answer it.
Here are five reasons you might have a hoe or two in your house.
5. When you get a hoe in the mail, it is easier to carry the box into the entryway and open it there. Thus you end up with a hoe in the house.
4. If you get a hoe for Christmas, you end up with a hoe under the Christmas tree, which is of course, in a house, meaning, again, you have a hoe in the house, at least for awhile.
3. Old hoes need special care that you can only give them in a modern heated and air conditioned home. It stops the aging process. My aunt got me an old hoe that we decided was probably used by my great-grandfather. You don’t think I’d leave an old hoe like that in the garage, do you? No, it’s in the house. Sometimes I put it in the sunroom, other times, I rest it by the fireplace.
2. It’s a direct path from the garage, where most of the hoes are, through a short hallway, into the kitchen and breakfast area and out the back door. And some days that’s the route I take with hoe in hand to carry it to the backyard. My hoes are clean hoes so they don’t track in a bunch of dirt or anything like that. Please don’t think I live in a barn or a hovel!
But I guess I should carefully back out the back door when I do that.
And Annie in Austin was right with her comment, the last good reason you would have a hoe in your house…
1. Yes, the night blooming cereus is so big that I could hoe in its pot. And it’s in the house, so once again, if I did that, I’d have a hoe in the house. 
By the way, I’ve been looking at the night blooming cereus every day for several weeks to see if it has any flower buds on it. So far, it doesn’t. It is either going to be late blooming this year or it isn’t going to bloom at all.
I’ve decided to stop looking at it for a while, because ‘a watched plant never buds”. Later next week or the week after or sometime before the first frost, I’m going to haul the night bloomer outside and give it a good cleaning. That might shock it into blooming if it hasn’t bloomed by the time I do that.
So hopefully with these five reasons, you now realize that it isn’t that unusual to have a hoe in the house, nor do I think it is bad luck. In fact, as I noted before, I think it is good luck to have a hoe in your house.
I also believe that if you own more than one hoe, you’ll have good luck in the garden, and get twice as much done.
Try it, and let me know if it’s true for you, too.
Now, if there are any other questions about hoes, just ask. Don’t be shy, leave a comment. I know hoes and if I don’t know, I’ll find out!
Well, I can understand better now why you have brought hoes into the house. Most of your situations don’t apply to me. No garage at all, and no heirloom hoes.
Okay, I’ll buy these “hoe in the house” reasons too. Still, I’ve never: had a hoe under the tree, gotten a hoe in the mail….okay, any of these reasons.
Now pruners are a different story altogether. I must protect mine by keeping them on my office desk when not in use. Otherwise, the men use them as wire cutters, box cutters…who knows what.
Robin
Gardening Examiner
So, this begs the question…if you carry a hoe into the house and Death follows, what happens if you carry a scythe into the house? ;D
I never heard of that superstition! Luckily I can’t recall ever bringing a hoe into the house.
I’ve never understood using a hoe in small gardens. Is hoeing better than just pulling the weeds out by the roots?
Several hoes have been presented to me as gifts. They came into the house.
I am not going around the house to get from the front yard to the back. I am bringing the hoe right on though with me.
I am still very much alive and believe I am pretty lucky.
Gee, I didn’t know that having hoes in the house could wreak that much havoc. Boy am I glad that I don’t have any hoes! BTW I have a handy tip for looking after old hoes: lots of moisturising will keep them looking good. 😀
I can understand that most children want their toys, ummmm, hoes in the house with them. tee hee…
I’ve been known to bring my Bulldog spade inside, being that it is a prized possession. My long-handled Cobrahead, however, is much too dangerous to be allowed in the house. I might break something with it!
On reading that first superstition, I realize that it doesn’t specify the death of whom or what. I would interpret that as meaning a death will follow – the death of a weed! (Or several.) That’s what a hoe is for- bringing death & destruction to garden weeds. The second one talks only about “avoiding” bad luck. It doesn’t actually say that bringing a hoe in the house causes bad luck. See, it’s all a matter of interpretation.
Perhaps the night-blooming cereus will respond to your bluff, Carol! It’s so beautiful.
After hearing how you carry hoes from the garage to the back yard through the house I’m glad we have a door from the garage into the back yard – yeah, I’m spoiled.
The heirloom hoe resting on the fireplace must be a very sweet vignette. Does it get a bow at Christmas?
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
I recently discovered your blog and enjoy coming here; come see my garden! 🙂
Cielo
… By the way, I’m adding you to my “charming sites” list–hope this is OK with you.
So nice meeting you
Cielo
Kathy, I love my heirloom hoe!
Robin, You ought to ask for a hoe for Christmas, and then you’d have one under your tree, in your house. I agree on the pruners, they must be guarded when not in use!
Lori, Oh, I’d never carry a scythe into the house. That sound dangerous!
Kitt, actually, I use smaller hand hoes in smaller garden beds. They work better than pulling weeds in some situations.
Aunt Debbi/Kurts Mom, Knowing I’m not the only who has had a hoe in the house is, well, good to know.
Yolanda Elizabet, Thanks for the tip, sounds like you know something about old hoes!
Lisa at Greenbow, that’s true, like the kid with a new bike at Christmas time who wants to keep it in his room until spring.
Cindy, “Bulldog Spade”? I’ve never heard of that, would love to see a picture of it.
Mr. McGregor’s Daughter, You are so right, how you interpret it make a big difference. I’m not afraid to have a hoe in my house!
Annie in Austin, Yes, I wish I had a door from the garage straight into the back yard, it’s a tiny design flaw. I’ve not decorated the hoe for Christmas, maybe I’ll stick a bow on it this year.
Cielo, Welcome and please come back anytime!
Thanks all for the nice comments and support.
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
Carol – I bet that if someone carried a scythe into the house, Death would have to do SOMETHING just to be ironic! Or maybe I’ve just read too many Terry Pratchett novels. 😉
Good thing you’re not a farmer, Carol, otherwise you’d not be immune from all the bad luck associated with bringing a hoe into the house.
Space is too short to address this issue in detail so I’ve posted my thoughts which were prompted by your unsuspicious mind.