The neighborhood garage sale is tomorrow and as one of my sisters pointed out in a comment on another post, that is why we are expecting scattered strong storms and thunderstorms tomorrow morning.
After so many dry hot days, now that there is something going on that we’d really like it to be nice and sunny for, it rains.
But you won’t hear me complaining. I’ll take the rain any time right now, no matter what it interrupts.
I am participating in the sale with my friend and neighbor from next door. Everything is nearly set up and ready for the bargain hunters.
But do you know what you won’t find at my sale? Gardening tools, pots, plants, stuff gardeners would want. I think I have some kind of addiction to gardening as I just can’t part with any gardening related items, even if I don’t think I will ever use them. Yes, I even keep broken clay pots, because the pieces are useful to put in the bottom of other pots. Does any gardener part with garden-related items at their garage sale?
Consider those three trowels in the picture above. They are from the early days, before I allowed myself to buy hand-forged stainless steel trowels from the Netherlands. I’ll never use them. For one thing, they bend easily when you try to dig with them when the ground is hard and rocky. And they aren’t all that comfortable to use, I think it is something about the handles and the weight of them.
My heavens, I sound like such a snob with my gardening tools! I’m not really, truly. Okay, maybe just a little bit, but you don’t have to have tools like mine to be a great gardener. I just believe that you get a lot more enjoyment out of something if you have good tools to use. There are enough things you can’t control in the garden, like weather, and rabbits, and plants, and insect infestations, so why not take control of what you can, with good tools?
You would think I’d sell these trowels in the garage sale for twenty-five cents or something like that. But I probably won’t. You know why?
What if someone comes to the garage sale, sees those trowels and thinks, “Hey, why don’t I buy those trowels and try gardening for a hobby?” Then they take them home and the first time they try to use them, they bend and it hurts their hands and they decide gardening isn’t worth it, and they give up.
I can’t have that weighing on my conscience!
So, anyway, no gardening items for sale tomorrow. In fact, after all this rain, I’d actually prefer to spend time in between whatever storms we are fortunate enough to get doing some weeding in the gardening. Because after the half inch or so of rain we got this morning, the weeds are suddenly rejuvenated and growing like, you know, weeds!
And I want to get my tomatoes tied up some more. I did nip off some of the suckers a bit ago and checked for tomatoes. I’ve got a few coming on, but I am a long way from having a ripe tomato. I think this year, I might have the latest ripe tomato of my record-keeping years of gardening.
I think it’s the weather that is slowing down the tomatoes. It couldn’t be anything I did or didn’t do, right? But rest assured, when I do get my first ripe tomato, you all will hear about it! Because the first tomato is very special, isn’t it?
OMG, I’ve got two out of three of your trowels. They’re exactly like them. And I feel the same way you do about them. I won’t get rid of them, though, because I use them in other ways. One is in the potting soil bucket and the other sits on a shelf in the garage, because when I’m at the front of the house, sometimes I need a trowel for some small task that even that one can handle and that way I don’t have to go out back and get the good one.
And we must be thinking alike right now, because I have a rough draft saved about my tools for later posting!
I think I’ll stop by some garage sales this weekend to look for some garden tools! Great looking tomatoes!
Hi, just thought I would report that we picked our first tomato on the 19th and ate it tonight. The birds or whatever was pecking on it in the garden. It was a bit mushy so not one to brag about but June 19 is early for us. Guess I should have taken a picture.
I too experience trowel affection. My house was vacant for a couple years before I bought it, so everything outdoors was quite out of hand when I moved in. In the midst of my clean-up I discovered a trowel half-buried in a garden bed and I’ve been using it ever since. I don’t know enough to judge whether it’s high-quality, medium-quality or low-quality — but it’s a link to a previous gardener, and to the soil that I live on, that gives me comfort and pleasure.
I can never wait for a red tomato. My first tomatoes of any size become fried green tomatoes!
You are so lucky to have sisters to talk with!
I have a couple of those trowels too. I never use them. Just for a back up.
Glad to hear you are finally getting some rain!
I do not have any ripe tomatoes as well. We have loads of green ones though.
We got a little bit of rain here too but it will take more to green things up. It’s noon and only 66 degrees, so when is this ‘hot’ weather that’s supposed to come our way. It will be nice to have some nice juicy home-grown tomatoes.
Kylee… I guess great gardening minds think alike! I did a whole week of posts on gardening tools last summer when it was too hot to do anything outside. I look forward to your post on tools.
Gina… Good luck finding some gardening tools, hopefully you will find someone who will actually sell their tools.
Susie… That does seem early but even a little mushy it had to be better than “store bought”.
Beth from Morning Glories… what a cool thing to find in the garden. I’d definitely keep it, too.
Robin (Bumblebee)… I’ll confess I’ve never had fried green tomatoes. And my sisters are a lot of fun.
Curtis… does any gardener have just one trowel?
Eleanor… Wait until Monday and you will be talking about how hot it is!
Thanks all for the comments!
Hi!,
I linked to your blog from Annabel’s. I picked my first ripe tomato today. So early! I bought a big tomato plant, and got it in a pot very early. It’s full of tomatoes and a second one is almost ready to go. The plant is so heavy that I fear it will break.
Come on over and visit sometime.
Mmmmm….first tomato. I’m going to miss those this year since we’re moving this month and I don’t know if we’ll be able to get a tomato plant this late or get it to fruit by starting it this late. Something to work on. And I LOVE those hand-forged tools! Drool! ~A 🙂