Where would you try out a new hoe called the Let-Us Weeder®?
It’s not a trick question! Of course you would want to try it out in a patch of lettuce, and that’s just what I did this evening.
Lowell’s Tools, who also sent me the Deck Digger®, sent me a second hoe called the Let-Us Weeder® to try out in my garden.
I took it out to my lettuce patch and gave it try. I hoed between the rows of lettuce, around the flowering pea vines, and next to my tiny little tomato plants.
I broke through the crusted earth with it and knocked out a variety of weeds.
My conclusion? Let-Us Keep this one close at hand!
This is a well designed hoe. It’s got a nice sharp edge on both side of the hoe head and the point.
If room allows, you can hoe with the wide part, cutting down the weeds and cultivating the soil. Or if it is a tight fit, you can use just the point to do the same thing.
Lowell, of Lowell’s Tools, included a nice note with the two hoes he sent with some good hoe maintenance and hoeing info, some of it specific to the Let-Us Weeder®, and some that replies to all hoeing.
If I might paraphrase and add my own thoughts…
– “The Let-Us Weeder® is designed for maintenance weeding.” (That’s true of most of the hoes in my collection other than the grub hoe.)
– “It works best on the pull stroke and also can be used in a chopping motion with the pointed tip.” (This is not true of all hoes. Not all of them chop. This dual use is a great feature of this one.)
– “The tool comes in various handle lengths to match someone’s height. It is best to let the length of the tool work for you by working with one hand on the grip and the other 12 – 15″ down the shaft. This will keep your back straighter while you weed with your shoulder muscles and not your lower back muscles… The handle grip is not glued on so someone can shorten the handle if they wish.” (I think I will cut this handle down a bit to make it more customized to my height. I know that some of my favorite hoes have shorter handles. Those with longer handles can’t generally be cut down like this one, another nice feature.)
– “The tool is forged and tempered meaning it is very durable steel. To sharpen the tool, just file parallel with the edge. Take any nicks out as soon as you see them; maintain the existing angle and that will lessen damage when you hit a rock. If you sharpen the edge at a 45-degree angle, it will nick more severely”. (I wonder if Lowell knows about the ginormous rock in my vegetable garden? I do appreciate this info on how to sharpen my new hoe, which I think applies to all tools. Keep the edge at the same angle!)
– “Always weed off to the side at about a 45 degree angle from directly in front of you. This, too, will help with your posture, keeping you straighter.” (That’s a good reminder for me. I don’t want to end up all stooped over in my old age, which isn’t just around the corner like some would think. It is decades and decades in the future.)
I would like to thank Lowell of Lowell’s Tools for sending me this hoe to review and add to my hoe collection.
It is definitely not going to spend a lot of time “hanging around”, it’s going to be put to work in my garden!
Are you sure it’s not a newfangled putter for your golf bag (I’m sure you spend most of the spring, summer and fall playing golf)? What an unusual hoe.
I like that hoe, it looks like one I could make good use of. And I like that you can make the handle shorter. Us height challenged folk appreciate that. Thanks for the review.
Looks like a good tool, I have decided to by one to try and if I like it will by another so I have a short one and a long one.
Have a great Week End.
I like the look of that a lot…it looks like it would really be a practical addition to any hoe collection.
That’s intriguing. And I know you, being the queen of the hoes, and all, know your hoes. Why can’t I seem to get over my thinking that I have to hunch over and hurt my back and strain my arms to PULL weeds? Why can’t I shift gears and hoe? It seems so much easier. Guess I am an old dog — maybe I should buy such a hoe and leave it by the garden to remind me!
This looks like a great tool. My only concern with hoeing around lettuce is that they have very shallow roots. This hoe looks like it took that into consideration!
That hoe does look like a winner! It would fit in narrow rows, which is a plus.
Love it… thank you for sharing your info. I need to find one of these hoes. YOUR LETTUCE looks fabulous.
Oh heck, now I want one too. It looks great for getting in between plants.~~Dee
Looks like a great tool, but I am envious of your lettuce. Because of the warm temperatures, our lettuce is already history.
Jan
Always Growing
Looks great – Until now my favorite hoe has been the collinear hoe designed by Eliot Coleman which is like a 6 inch single edge razor blade with a long handle. Great for slicing off the little guys just below the surface. Think that this one looks like it could replace that one
FYI – about 1/3 of the time this feayure will not recognize me google account password so I end up posting as anonymous
That Lettuce looks great. Although it does look like a putter, your new hoe looks like it would be very effective. I think being able to chop with one is important.
I have a raised bed garden with deer fencing, that tool looks like it would make work a little easier to get in and work 🙂
I will have to get one of those. It sounds like exactly what I need for getting the maintenance hoe-ing done on the new stroll garden beds, which are just a world of weeds of all sorts right now, featuring plantain and crabgrass seedlings heavily.
Thanks for your great review. It makes me sanguine about acquiring this tool when it has been tried out by someone who is expert in the activity it is designed for.
Happy memorial day to you.
That is a most intriguing tool, and sounds very useful. I do too much weeding sitting down or kneeling and it is better ergonomically to use a tool like that.