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Since the very first farmers planted grains in the Fertile Crescent 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, mankind has witnessed an evolution in agricultural hardware. Stones were lashed to sticks to make primitive digging tools. Metal was forged into blades for plowing and slicing. Larger equipment harnessed the brawn of horses and oxen. Eventually, the internal combustion engine brought the power of fossil fuels into the farming equation. Today, you’ll find far more specialized tools in the world than there are farmers to use them.

Choosing and Using the Right Tool

From clearing land and starting seeds to harvesting, cleaning, and packing produce, the tool and farm-equipment trades have responded to every imaginable task with an array of hand tools, better hand tools, machines that make the hand tools seem archaic, and newer machines that render the old machines obsolete.

Beyond the tools are structures—greenhouses, cold frames, hoop houses, root cellars, packing sheds, raised beds, trellises, henhouses, barns, pole barns, stables, and storage sheds (to name more than a few). There are also myriad mechanic’s tools for repairing farm machinery as well as carpentry tools for building, fixing, and modifying those many structures just mentioned.

There’s a balancing act to follow when buying tools for a small-scale organic farm. It’s not complicated, but it meanders delicately between two very sensible rules:

1 1. Always use the right tool for the job.

2 2. Never buy a tool that you don’t need.

So how do you figure out which tools you really need and which ones you can covet now and buy later?

Start with rule number one: Always use the right tool for the job. Not following this rule will cost you more in the long run. For example, if you use a shovel to pry 90-lb. (40 kg) boulders from a future corn field, the handle is likely to snap off at the fulcrum point, dropping the rock back into its hole with the shovel blade stuck underneath. (Here’s where the fence installer would say, “I told you so.”) Likewise, you wouldn’t use a shovel to unearth potatoes; chances are you’ll slice through some tubers and damage the crop. A digging fork is a much better option. The list goes on.

To avoid misusing tools—and possibly breaking them, ruining your crops, or injuring yourself—you will need a well-selected array of high-purpose implements that perform all the basic farming functions. Once you have these starter tools, consider each new piece of specialized equipment on its individual merits, carefully weighing the cost against the amount of time and money it will save.

For small-scale vegetable growers, the basic tasks include digging, moving, and shaping earth; planting; watering; and weeding—with a strong emphasis on digging and weeding. Fortunately, you can perform most of these chores with a reasonable assortment of manual tools. Some are available at hardware stores and mass-market garden centers; others you’ll have to order from specialty catalogs. You might be able to craft or copy a few with your own hands.

I consider most of the following hand tools as must-have items in my shed. Together, they do 90 percent of my work. While hand tools are not as fast as machinery, the effort I put into using them gives me my daily exercise. (After all, what’s the point of eating healthily if you don’t follow it up with a little exercise?)

Small hand weeders and forks are helpful tools for small-scale growers, complementing the array of shovels, rakes, and full-sized hoes used for larger jobs.

Organics and Hand Tools: Peas in a Pod

A synergy forms between manual tools and organic farmers. Hand rakes and shovels don’t consume fossil fuels or pollute the air, and they don’t leak gasoline, diesel fuel, oil, or hydraulic fluid onto the soil. Once you cradle a well-made digging fork or grub hoe in a calloused palm, it becomes an extension of your own arms, hands, body, and mind. I feel a kinship with my hand tools every time they help me strip away sod, carry compost from bins to beds, and smooth out soil to prepare for seeding. I’d be lost without them. Try using hand tools before bolting for the heavy-machinery. You won’t regret it.

The Diggers

Shovels, spades, forks, and mattocks do the digging, scooping, and earth-moving chores, shaping the earth for growing and keeping beds in shape for years to come. They are the first tools to reach for when looking to expand your planting area.

A good shovel, fork, pick mattock, rake, and hoe will cover most of the basic chores in your small farm or garden. Power equipment will be a time-saver for larger properties.

Long-Handled Round-Point Shovel

Long-handled round-point shovels are specifically designed for digging and swinging a load of soil from one side of your body to the other without putting too much strain on your back. The spoon-shaped blade holds a heavy mound of soil, and the handle—usually at least 4 ft. (1.2 m) long—allows leverage for flipping the dirt a short distance. The longer handle also helps when digging a deep hole, providing easy reach with minimum stooping. This tool is well suited for planting fruit trees and blueberry bushes, making raised beds, cutting compacted soil, transferring finished compost into the sifter, and filling those holes after transplanting. It’s one of the most useful small-farm tools you’ll buy.

It’s always good to have at least one high-quality shovel on hand. Look for one with a 14-gauge forged-steel blade and a sturdy-but-lightweight handle made of ash or fiberglass. This is the tool for heavy jobs, such as digging through new soil that sometimes involves cutting through compacted earth, rocks, and tree roots. Cheaper shovels with thinner pressed-steel blades can loosen on the handle after continued use in hard or rocky soil. I have one high-quality shovel that is sturdy, dependable, and built to last.

But the good shovel isn’t enough. Whenever it’s time for digging loose soil or piling compost into a wheelbarrow, I often reach for the cheaper shovel with the thinner blade and lightweight fiberglass handle. The price for these lightweight shovels is usually around $10 to $15, and the handles are strong enough for most tasks.

Wood or fiberglass? Just because a lot of inexpensive shovels have fiberglass handles doesn’t mean that fiberglass is lower in quality. Many well-made shovels have handles made of fiberglass, which is actually stronger than wood.

Short-Handled Round-Point Shovel

Short-handled garden shovels have blades that are similar in design but have a smaller shaft (under 2 ft. [60 cm]) with a closed handle in a D or Y (wishbone) shape for easy grasping. As with long-handled shovels, look for heavier-gauge steel, noted by number (14-gauge steel is thicker than 16-gauge). While you might want two or three long-handled shovels around for various jobs, you can almost certainly get by with just one short-handled model. The compact size makes it useful for stepping down and digging straight in front of you with a good grip and firm control. And the short handle makes it handy for loading or unloading soil or compost with a wheelbarrow. While short-handled shovels are handy for working in tighter spaces and small enough to load into a wheelbarrow or garden cart, they require bending or stooping and can be tiring to work with all day.

Both long- and short-handled shovels can sport specialty blades with serrated edges for cutting through heavy soil and small roots and/or larger steps on the blade’s shoulders that add strength and stability when stepping onto the blade.

Garden Spade

Spades differ from shovels in that the handles are almost always shorter (about 3 ft. [1 m] at maximum), and the blades are thinner and flatter. Most spades have straight-edged blades for cutting into soil and digging neat well-shaped holes. They won’t carry much dirt on those flat blades, so they’re not as versatile as round-point shovels. But spades are indispensable when digging in heavy soil. Strong, flat blades with sharp tips cut through sod, penetrate heavy clay, and make quick work of smaller tree roots; shovels are prone to jerking sideways out of your grip in these conditions. (I’m sure you’ll come to know the feeling of stomping down on a shovel’s treads and having the blade twist under your feet as the handle wrenches out of your grip—after striking a stone or root.)

Spades also do a better job of digging straight lines—for example, when you’re cutting a line along the edge of a bed. And if you’re using plastic mulch to heat up the soil and block out weeds, the spade’s flat blade is perfect for slicing into the soil and tucking in the plastic at the ends and sides.

For long-lasting usefulness, choose a garden spade with a forged-steel head and sturdy steps. A strong handle and comfortable grip are also important. Less-expensive spades with pressed-steel blades don’t hold a sharp edge for long, and they can flex and bend in heavy soil. Strong steps allow you to insert the blade straight into the soil and step down, letting the weight of your body do most of the work.

You’ll find numerous variations on the size and shape of a spade’s blade, some of them extremely narrow. The trenching spade and similarly shaped rabbiting spade, which was originally designed for digging rabbits from their burrows, has a long, narrow blade with a rounded point. I find it useful in transplanting—digging small holes and holding plants with their root balls intact during a short walk to a new growing spot. It’s also good for planting through black plastic mulch without ripping wide holes in the material. And when you need to pull dandelions or other deep-rooted weeds, one well-placed plunge of the blade cuts the taproot (the main root from which smaller roots grow) so deeply that it rarely grows back.

Digging Fork

Shovels and spades will handle most digging chores, but a digging (or garden) fork will help with more specialized tasks, such as lifting and loosening soil, unearthing root crops without damaging the harvest, busting up soil clumps, and mixing compost, manure, or another organic material into a garden bed. Digging forks usually have four sturdy tines, which are easy to push into compacted ground. The spaces between the tines make this tool ideal for slipping past small stones without twisting or turning away.

A digging fork has a shorter handle, and its tines are usually shorter, flatter, thicker, and more closely spaced than those of a pitchfork. Pitchforks, hay forks, and manure forks have thin, gently curved tines designed for scooping and tossing a load of lighter material. (Don’t make the mistake of trying to dig into heavy soil with a fork that’s made for tossing hay. You’ll quickly bend the tines.)

A digging fork with sturdy tines will break up heavy soil. It’s also good for digging potatoes—without damaging many tubers.

Broadfork

When you want to loosen soil without the use of noisy power equipment, reach for the broadfork. It’s an oversized fork with two handles—one on each side—and a wide row of long, sturdy tines in the middle. You push the fork into the ground, step onto the top (between the two handles), and rock the tines deep into the earth (12 in. [30 cm] or more). Then you pull back on the handles an inch or two until “the earth moves.” Rock the fork forward a little, pull it out, and step back 6 in. (15 cm), taking care not to tread on the newly loosened soil. Repeat the process and continue until the bed is finished. Tilling with a broadfork is a low-impact way to let air, water, and organic matter penetrate the soil. Unlike a rotary tiller, which can damage soil structure, kill earthworms, and break up fungal hyphae, a broadfork does the job without damaging the soil ecosystem.

Pick Mattock

There are very few digging chores that can’t be handled by a determined farmer with a long-handled shovel and a mattock at his hands. Mattocks, which combine two tools in one—most commonly a pick with a blade—have sturdy wooden or reinforced fiberglass handles (3 to 4 ft. [1 to 1.2 m] long) and heavy solid-steel heads (2½ to 6 lb. [1 to 3 kg]). They’re terrific for digging new beds, peeling back sod, and taming compacted or rocky soil.

I like the versatility of a pick mattock, which will penetrate hard-packed soil and loosen it with ease. The pick can work around rocks and undermine the roots of a bush or small tree. The blade side of the tool cuts into the earth and pulls it toward the user, much like a deep-digging heavy-duty hoe—perfect for cutting long trenches to lay irrigation or drainage pipes.

The heavy head of a mattock can quickly get your heart pounding if you put too much effort into each swing. But if you concentrate on using your muscles to lift the tool, then let the weight of the mattock do the work on the way down—much like swinging a sledgehammer—it’s less exhausting.

The trusty pick mattock has a sturdy blade that can cut into heavy soils, dig trenches, break through roots, and loosen compacted, rocky soils.

Grubbing Hoe

Halfway between the mattock and an ordinary garden hoe is the grubbing (or grub) hoe. It’s heavier and thicker than the hoe you might use for scraping weeds and digging furrows (it looks like a tool from medieval times). The thickness of the blade allows it to hold a strong, sharp edge that digs and moves earth quickly and efficiently—whether cutting through sod, carving trenches, shaping mounds of soil into raised beds, or busting up hard-packed dirt.

I find that I actually dig faster and with less effort when using a grubbing hoe instead of a shovel, although the hoe won’t dig as deep a hole. (It also won’t load soil into a wheelbarrow or toss it aside.) This tool also levels the soil like almost no other. With shallow chops, followed by a long dragging motion, the heavy blade shaves off bumps and fills holes, quickly leveling the hard-packed space between raised beds.

Grub-hoe heads attach to their heavy-duty 5-ft. (1.5-m) -long tapered handles by eyehole and screw and are therefore interchangeable. You’ll find several sizes, starting with 4-in. (10-cm) -wide heads that weigh a little more than 2 lb. (1 kg) and are suited to lighter garden work or narrow trenches. I like a head that’s about 6 in. (15 cm) wide and weighs about 3 lb. (1.5 kg), because it cuts a wider path and moves more soil. (I leave the narrow trenching to my mattock blade.)

You’ll also find named variations. The Italian grape hoe has an even heavier blade that’s as big as 8 in. (20.5 cm) wide. A fork hoe, also called a Canterbury hoe, has three prongs instead of a blade and is well suited to busting up sod or pulling out the heavy roots of perennial weeds. It can also rake potatoes out of a hill without too much damage to the tubers.

The blade of a grubbing hoe is thicker and heavier than the business end of a weeding hoe. It chops into soil and is ideal for creating raised beds.

Digging Bar

The last of my must-have manual digging tools is the often-overlooked and incredibly versatile digging bar. Once you use one for the first time, you’ll wonder how you got by without it for so long. At about $25, a digging bar will quickly pay for itself in shovel handles you don’t have to replace.

There are several variations, but my favorite is a 6-ft. (1.8-m) -long solid-steel bar, about 1½ in. (4 cm) in diameter, with a pointed tip on one end and a 2-in. (5-cm) -wide chiseling edge on the other. When I run into large rocks with my mattock, grub hoe, or shovel—and there are plenty of big rocks in southeastern New England—I plunge the pointed end of my digging bar around the perimeter of the rock to judge its size. If it’s movable, I thrust the chisel end of the bar underneath until it catches a ridge. I then push a piece of wood or another rock close to the boulder to use as a fulcrum. With a quick pry (or maybe a few), most 50- to 100-lb. (22.5- to 45-kg) rocks can be shifted and lifted.

A digging bar is also indispensable for creating pilot holes to pound in stakes, pipes, or posts for trellis netting. In addition, you can wedge the bar beneath the main roots of a small tree or large shrub and wiggle it back and forth to loosen the soil before prying out the stump.

Easy Does It!

Don’t throw away a broken shovel. I have a blade that I saved from a shovel that broke many years ago (before I bought a digging bar). I find it useful for scooping compost out of a wheelbarrow and top-dressing crops. It’s also good for stirring compost, perlite, and soil amendments to make potting mixes and for any chore that needs an oversized scoop. A hoe or weeder with a broken handle can be fitted with another wooden handle, or simply cut shorter and turned into a large-bladed hand tool. I have one that I use for hilling potatoes. As I pull up the stalks with one hand, I use the mini-hoe to scoop soil with the other.

Easy Does It!

If you bend a tine on your favorite digging fork, don’t despair. It can be fixed quite easily. Just pound a section of pipe into the ground, deep enough so that it won’t move side to side when you try to shake it. Leave about a foot of the pipe sticking up.

Insert the bent tine into the top of the pipe and gently pull the digging fork’s handle until the tines are back in line.

Hand tools

Sometimes you need to get close to your work, and that calls for using hand tools. There are trowels for transplanting, hand weeders for working between rows, and hand rakes for light work.

Trowels

Keep several of these handy for transplanting, seeding, scooping fertilizers, and occasionally for squashing a nasty bug. Two big considerations are the size of the blade and ergonomics. Wide blades scoop more soil and make the work go faster, but narrow blades are easier for digging small transplanting holes. A stainless steel blade resists rust, and a comfortable handle is essential when planting on hundred tomato, pepper, and eggplant seedlings.

Hand Weeders

Hand weeders come in as many varieties as upright weeders. Tools with small blades are great for tight places. One good choice is the Cape Cod weeder, which has a small teardrop-shaped blade for precision.

Hand Rakes

A small hand rake is sometimes useful for smoothing out areas of soil before direct-seeding, especially on raised beds.

Other Choices

I like using a mason’s pointing trowel, which works two jobs: first as a dibble for transplanting small lettuce seedlings and secondly as a weeder, deftly scraping away tiny weeds just below the soil surface.

The Weeders

The majority of organic growers will tell you their most tiresome task is weeding. Tools aside, the best method for fighting weeds is a comprehensive strategy that controls the weed seed bank, thereby keeping weed seeds from getting started at all. Mowing the area around beds keeps weed seeds from dispersing onto fields, mulches help smother weeds before they get a foothold, and keeping soil loose and friable makes it easier to pull weeds once they germinate. However, no matter how much you prepare, some dormant seeds will always make their way to the soil’s surface. Once they germinate, you’ll need to deal with them before they develop deep roots and tough stems. An arsenal of weed-eating tools is available to you for fighting this battle—just remember to do your weeding in the early morning so that the weeds shrivel and disappear in the midday sun.

Basic Hoe

The ordinary garden hoe is a multi-duty tool that eliminates weeds but also digs, moves earth, shapes beds, and cuts planting furrows in loose soil. Even when confined to the single task of weeding, it has multiple purposes. With light pressure, it scrapes tiny weed-lings from the surface of the soil—without unearthing new seeds to germinate. Add a little muscle, and it cuts deeper to uproot larger weeds. Finally, it can chop the ground and roots around stubborn weeds, then pull them out with a firm tug.

It’s also useful for shaping raised beds. Standing on one side of a raised bed, use the hoe to reach across and pull up soil from the other side. You can use a steel rake to smooth out the bed later. When you top-dress an unplanted bed with compost, dump a wheelbarrow load in one area and spread it around with a hoe first, then smooth it with a steel rake. Hoes will also help you pile soil around potato plants and cut clean, straight rows through finished beds, allowing you to quickly drop in seeds or transplants.

Look for a comfortable, well-made hoe, since it’s a tool that you’ll turn to for many tasks. One of the things I require is a handle that’s long enough to accommodate my large frame. (I’m over 6 ft. [1.8 m] tall, and I don’t like tools with short handles that make me bend at the waist.) Before buying a hoe, stand in the store and test it, going through the motions. Make sure the handle is long enough for you to do the job without tiring.

Although the basic hoe is versatile on its own, there are a number of specialty blades with different features: The triangular hoe, also called a Warren hoe, has a pointed blade that’s ideal for cutting neat furrows. It also picks weeds out of tight spots. Some other specialty hoes are designed to make the chore of weeding more efficient.

The versatile garden hoe will move the earth—or if you prefer, it can shape beds and eradicate weeds.

Collinear Hoe

This better-built hoe is small, lightweight, and crafted to prevent fatigue, with the blade designed at a sharp angle to the handle so users can stand completely upright, gripping the handle with thumbs up and cutting weeds with a gentle sweeping motion. The collinear hoe is the design of organic farming guru Eliot Coleman, who is also a tool consultant at Johnny’s Selected Seeds.

The hoe has a thin, narrow 4-in. (10-cm) blade that is easy to control and suited for working through established beds, scratching in and around heads of lettuce, salad greens, garlic, and other delicate vegetables. A larger 6-in. (15-cm) blade is available for wider areas, but it can still be maneuvered into tight places. Another version has a removable blade for easy sharpening. There’s also a hand-sized collinear hoe for close-up work.

Hoes with smaller blades, such as the collinear hoe, the diamond hoe, and this small pull hoe, have smaller blades that can be used for weeding close to leaf lettuce and other garden crops.

Oscillating Hoe

Call it a hula hoe, a scuffle hoe, an oscillating hoe, a two-way hoe, or a stirrup hoe. Any way you spell it, it’s a great time-saver when weeding. I bought my first oscillating hoe more than twenty years ago, after the late Bob Thomson, former PBS host and author of The New Victory Garden, recommended it. I still have that hoe, and it still works miracles. It has a blade made from a loop of steel that is bent into a D shape. The flat side of the D faces down and is sharpened at both its front and back; the entire loop wobbles back and forth about ¼ in. (6 mm) on its handle, allowing it to remain in contact with the soil whether you push or pull the handle. The result is two-way hoeing that clears open areas quickly and efficiently. Oscillating hoes work best on small weeds, smartly cutting them just below the soil surface.

The blade of an oscillating hoe wobbles slightly, enabling it to hold the proper angle to the ground whether you push or pull it across the soil.

Diamond Hoe

Yet another improvement on the old-fashioned garden hoe is the diamond hoe, which has a diamond-shaped blade that is sharpened on all four edges. It also has a 6-ft. (1.8-m) -long handle that allows users to stand upright, reducing fatigue.

The diamond hoe’s four-way cutting edge makes it easy to maneuver, allowing the user to pull, push, and slide sideways—cutting weeds just beneath the surface without moving a lot of soil. Because you face forward when working the hoe, it causes less neck strain. And, of course, it’s devastating on young weeds.

Wire Weeder

This precision weeding tool looks so simple you might try to make one yourself. Or you could buy one created by inventor Eliot Coleman, whose design is sold through Johnny’s Selected Seeds (see “Resources” for more information). The tool is essentially a bent piece of wire that’s flattened at the business end, creating a thin blade that slices along the soil around onion plants, carrots, and other closely planted crops. It’s not for hacking through tall thick-growing weeds, but it’s made to do the job in close quarters. There’s also a short-handled version for close-up, down-on-your-knees weeding.

Wheel Hoe

This is one of those purchases that you might think about for a while—wheel hoes can cost several hundred dollars, but they make quick work of bigger weeding jobs between row crops. A wheel hoe looks a little like half a bicycle, with handlebars leading to a shaft that has a wheel at the bottom. Behind the wheel is a wide weeding blade, designed like a stirrup hoe. You walk behind the wheel hoe, pushing it along at an angle that cuts weeds just below the soil surface.

Models vary among manufacturers, with blade sizes ranging from 5 in. (12.5 cm) wide all the way to 18 in. (45 cm) wide. Some models have pneumatic tires while others roll across the soil on a wide metal wheel. There are also attachments for cultivating, digging furrows, and shaping beds.

Wheel hoes are a good choice for larger gardens and small farms. Attachments will cut weeds, cultivate the soil, or dispense seeds.

Tool Care

Tools left in the sun, wind, and rain won’t last nearly as long as tools that have been well maintained. Here are some tips to make your manual tools perform for years and years:

 • Put them away. That may sound simple, but it’s easy to leave them lying around. (I’ve done it myself.) Locating a small shed near the garden or fields is perfect. If not, carry the tools back to a garage, barn, or shed, and keep them out of the elements.

 • Clean off dirt. Mud and dirt that is caked onto the blades of tools can cause rust. Brush it off before storing tools.

 • Clean and oil tools before winter. Brush soil off the blades and file the ends to a working edge (not sharp enough to cut you, but sharp enough to feel an edge). Finally, spray or rub the steel with cooking oil, and hang up the tools—don’t lean them blade-down.

 • Wooden handles should be prepped for winter, too. Sand any rough spots and rub with linseed oil.

Seeding Machines

If your small farm or garden is too big for hand weeding, it might be too big for stooping over to seed by hand as well. Consider a garden seeder, which looks a bit like a wheel hoe. You push it along in front of you, but instead of scraping up weeds, it cuts a furrow and drops seeds in at preset intervals. Models vary, but there’s usually a hopper with a disc that has holes or slots to dispense seeds one by one. Also look for a handy row marker, which extends from the unit to scratch a groove in the soil at a preset distance. You follow the groove as you put down your next row.

Seeders are fairly inexpensive, starting at about $100, and can save considerable time—especially for farmers with long, straight rows. At least one model is sold as an attachment to a wheel hoe.

Another type of seeding machine is a stab seeder, which looks like a 3-ft. (1-m) section of pipe that’s pointed on one end with a trigger attachment on the side. You plunge the pointed end into the soil, pull the trigger to drop a seed, and move on. Stab seeders are useful for sowing larger seeds like corn, squash, and beans. They can also be used for transplanting seedlings, especially through black plastic mulch.

A lawn spreader can be used to spread minerals, limestone, and granular fertilizers or to sow cover crops.

Other Essentials

Rakes, wheelbarrows, and other cleanup tools have myriad uses beyond season-ending cleanup tasks. Rakes spread compost or mulch, scratch rocks out of delicate planting areas, and remove weeds and sod from newly turned soil. Wheelbarrows and garden carts tote debris to the compost bin and carry compost back to the planting areas. And small hand tools are a necessity for working on raised beds.

Metal Rake

The metal rake is one of the organic grower’s key tools—simple in design but useful in multiple ways. When used with the tines down, it pulls rocks, sticks, leaves, and clumps of sod out of the soil. It also drags wide patches of loose soil into mounds for raised beds. And it can flatten the tops of mounded earth to create level planting areas where seeds receive an even distribution of water and sunlight. When flipped over (tines up), a metal rake will smooth a seedbed to finish it for black plastic mulch or the delicate job of sowing carrots, greens, or mesclun seeds.

Road/stone metal rakes, which connect to the handle at the center of the rake’s business end, are best for smoothing soil but aren’t as strong as bow rakes, which connect via a steel bow that ties each end of the rake to its handle. The bow is a sturdier connection, but it can get in the way of smoothing out a seedbed when you’re using the rake in its upside-down position (tines up).

With either version, I prefer lightweight fiberglass handles for my metal rakes—the longer the better. I can’t think of a time when I’ve ever stressed a rake handle to the breaking point, and the lighter weight of a fiberglass handle makes using the tool easier. The extra length lets me stand upright and work the rake at any angle almost parallel with or nearly perpendicular to the soil, teasing out small rocks before sowing carrots or salad greens. A long handle also lets me stoop low and reach farther when smoothing out a wide planting bed.

Another handy thing about metal rakes is that you can improvise your own attachments to make straight, even rows for sowing beans, beets, and other direct-seed vegetables. Here’s how: Buy a section of stiff PVC tubing that’s just wide enough to fit tightly over the tines of your rake. Cut sections of the tubing into lengths that are an inch or two longer than the tines. Push the tubing onto the tines at 4-, 6-, or 8-in. (10-, 15-, or 20-cm) intervals, depending on the distance you want between your crops. When finished, the tubing should stick out an inch or two beyond the other tines on the rake. Drag the rake down the center of your prepped planting area, and sow seeds in the grooves left behind. You may need to run a triangular hoe through the grooves to plant larger seeds like beans, but the marked rows will be evenly spaced.

Wheelbarrow

I get a lot of use from my wheelbarrow. No matter what task I’m tackling, I invariably load up the wheelbarrow with all the tools, supplies, fertilizers, compost, manure, buckets, and even seedlings that I’ll need.

I’ve learned that not all wheelbarrows are created equal. In my opinion, the best choice is a 6-cu.-ft. wheelbarrow with sturdy handles, a pneumatic tire, and a deep bucket made of heavy-duty steel. Buckets that hold only 4 cu. ft. are just too small for most organic farm chores, and the price difference for a larger wheelbarrow is only $10 to $15—it’s well worth the extra money.

Although the newer lightweight plastic buckets are enticing, I prefer the metal ones. My wheelbarrows carry boulders and firewood just as frequently as they tote bales of straw. And no matter what the advertising says about the “tough poly tub,” I don’t trust it to hold up to a dropped boulder, tossed pieces of oak firewood, or other heavy debris—especially in below-freezing weather. (I’m speaking from experience: I have a large two-wheel model with a plastic tub. The extra wheel is great for added stability, but the tub now has some strips of duct tape where the plastic has cracked after just two seasons.)

If you’re living in a warm climate and you want a large-capacity wheelbarrow for carrying wood chips, brush, yard debris, and other lightweight materials, a poly tub will do the trick. But make sure you have a metal one handy for heavier jobs—especially during winter weather.

Wheelbarrows are handy for carrying compost, mixing a potting medium, or just carrying an assortment of tools.

Make Your Wheelbarrow Last

Steel wheelbarrows can develop rusty buckets if water is allowed to collect. Prevent water from pooling in your wheelbarrow by storing it indoors. If there’s no room for indoor storage, stand it on its nose with the handles propped against a shed, fence, compost bin, or other structure.

If you’re working on a project that will last for several days, keep your tools in the wheelbarrow and wheel it indoors, where it will be ready for use again. Don’t leave a wheelbarrow filled with soil or compost standing outside for days or weeks; rain will collect in the barrel and turn the soil to mud, causing the bucket to rust.

Garden Cart

Large-capacity garden carts are also great for moving lightweight supplies and planting material to and from the fields. The old-style garden cart with plywood sides, bicycle tires, and a handle made from tubular steel is perfectly functional, but it has some flashier competition these days. New four-wheeled carts built like oversized kids’ wagons have fat pneumatic tires, a sturdy ergonomic handle, and steel-mesh sides that fold down and lock into position for carrying bulky loads. One big advantage that garden carts have over wheelbarrows is that the load stays fairly level when you’re carrying it. (When you lift a wheelbarrow, you tilt the payload forward, and contents can bounce around or topple.)

Garden carts are handy for moving lightweight materials or for carrying seedlings to the planting area and crops back to the cleaning station.

Bigger Tools

Most small-scale organic farmers face a bigger battle than rain, wind, insects, weeds, and fungal diseases: Their foremost enemy is time. And to save time, it’s often necessary to spend serious money for motorized tools that help them finish work faster and more easily.

All these purchases should be weighed carefully, since they can be big investments. Consult with other farmers and growers at farmers’ markets for advice, and keep in mind that you can rent some tools to try them out before you buy them. Buying well-maintained secondhand machinery is another option that will keep prices down. (But, as with all things, beware of purchasing someone else’s problems.) Also consider that machinery comes with costs beyond the original price tag—maintenance, gasoline, repairs, and so on. And you’ll need a shed or barn to safely store your motorized tools.

As with manual tools for the small organic farm, motorized tools should cover the basics first. So before you rush out to buy a tractor with attachments for every farm task you can think of, look to buy some entry-level tools—a heavy-duty rotary tiller, a mower, or a gas-powered weed-whacker.

Rotary Tiller

One of the first motorized tools that many small-scale organic farmers and market gardeners choose is a rotary tiller. It cuts new beds, churns through hard-packed soil, and turns lawn and meadows into vegetable-ready growing areas. Tillers fall into three basic categories: small garden tillers, medium front-tine tillers, and rear-tine tillers.

Small Garden Tillers

With two-cycle engines, these tillers buzz like mosquitoes, and they shred through the top 2 to 3 in. (5 to 8 cm) of soil. I own one of these, and I use it to mix compost and integrate organic matter into topsoil. But I try to run it slowly, and I’m careful not to use it too frequently. At full speed, the blades spin quickly and can pulverize soil and leave it looking like finely milled powder—damaging the structure created by soil organisms.

Medium Front-Tine Tillers

With handles at the rear and circular blades in the front, these tillers usually have about a 3- to 5-horsepower engine. They cut deep into the soil, but they can wrench your shoulders when they hit roots, rocks, and other underground debris. If you’re tilling any sizable plot of land, you will quickly tire of your front-tine tiller.

Rear-Tine Tillers

Although these tillers can be small and are made for home use, they are generally larger and more productive than front-tine models. If your farm has any size to it, or if you’re considering expanding operations in the near future, you’re better off spending money on a rear-tine tiller that is built to last. Below are some features to consider.

Powerful Engine. Rear-tine tillers typically have at least a 5-horsepower engine. For heavy farm use, an 8-horsepower engine might be a better option. If you’re considering a smaller tiller, an industrial/commercial engine is more durable and less likely to break down under heavy use.

Tine Rotation. Rear-tine tillers are built with tines that move either in forward direction (Standard Rotating Tines), reverse direction (Counter-Rotating Tines), or have settings that allow you to operate the machine with tines that move either backward or forward (Dual Rotating Tines). The forward rotation keeps tines moving in the same direction as the wheels, kicking out rocks and smoothing the bed. Tines moving counter-rotationally (in reverse as the tiller moves forward) cut into sod and dig deep into the soil to mix in cover crops or organic matter. But counter-rotating tines can present a serious safety hazard in walk-behind tillers.

If the tines get snagged on an underground object when they are rotating in reverse, the tiller can lurch back toward you, possibly catching your feet or legs. If you’re working along a fence or building, the tiller could pin you against the structure. Forward-rotating tines may not dig in as aggressively, but they are much safer because the tiller will pull away from you if the blades become stuck on an underground object.

Adjustable Tilling Depth. A bar in the back of the tiller will set the tilling depth. Make sure your tiller adjusts for deep or shallow settings. Shallow tilling is desirable when stripping sod or turning organic matter into the top few inches of soil. A deeper setting is handy for creating a new bed (after stripping the sod). It will also pull up small rocks and incorporate organic matter deeper into the soil.

Adjustable Handle. A handle that adjusts up or down to the user’s height will make the tiller operation safer and more comfortable, and one that swings left or right will allow you to work the tiller from its side and prepare beds without having to walk on them. This isn’t just a cosmetic consideration—stepping on freshly tilled, fluffed-up soil can compress the soil and destroy its structure.

Rear-tine rotary tillers clear the land for a new planting area or mix cover crops into the soil.

More Land = Bigger Tools

Growers who are looking to tame more than an acre or two of farmland may set their eyes on bigger and more expensive machinery. But they’ll have decisions to ponder before making such a large investment as a compact or full-size farm tractor. Heavy-duty motorized equipment can create sizable debt—sometimes too big for a fledgling small-scale farmer to handle. Consider the following before purchasing a tractor or other major farm tool.

Return on Investment. Think about how long it will take to pay back the expense. Will the savings in time and effort be worth the purchase? (Don’t forget to calculate the cost of repairs, maintenance, and fuel.)

Risk of Injury. Buying and using heavy motorized equipment carries with it the increased risk of injury. Make sure you understand how to use the equipment and that you read and follow all instructions and safety precautions.

Used Equipment. Purchasing used equipment is a cost-saving option, but caution is important here, too. In the case of a tractor, a used piece of equipment won’t do you any good if it’s broken when you need it most. There’s nothing more frustrating than beginning one job with a short window—such as prepping a field when the soil is dry and planting time is at hand—only to find that the equipment is broken and the repairman busy for the next two weeks.

However, if you’re mechanically inclined and you have the workshop space, you may want to pick up a secondhand tractor. Make sure it’s a make and model that will still have parts available if you need to perform repairs. The good news is tractors aren’t used every day, and well-maintained machines will last for decades, so a twenty-year-old tractor may have plenty of quality life ahead of it.

There are garden tractors, subcompact tractors, compact tractors, and full-sized tractors, many of them with a wide range of attachments for tasks as varied as baling hay, cultivating row crops, chipping brush, and digging fence postholes.

It’s a good idea to make a list of all the work on the farm that you expect a tractor will help you accomplish and talk over the options with a reputable tractor dealer. Also ask a dealer about used tractors; some may have reliable used equipment to sell.

If you do choose a small tractor and are planning to use it for multiple tasks, look for a three-point hitch and PTO (power takeoff)—features that allow versatility in attachments. The three-point hitch has three connecting points from tractor to attachment, with one link above and two below in a triangle. The three-point hitch is the standard in farm tractors, allowing hydraulics on the lower attachments to lift the equipment up and down. There are four categories/sizes of three-point hitches for different sized tractors: 0, I, II, and III. Make sure your attachments fit your tractor’s hitch.

The PTO is a shaft that couples with the attachment to provide power from the tractor. It’s what makes a posthole auger turn, a wood chipper chip, and a tiller’s blades rotate. It’s also one of the most frequent causes of serious farm injuries, usually from items of clothing that become entangled in an exposed shaft.

Two-Wheeled Tractor

A less-expensive but still versatile option for small-scale farmers is a walk-behind tractor, also called a two-wheeled tractor. Walk-behind tractors look like the handlebars and engine section of a large rear-tine rotary tiller, but they hook up to multiple attachments, from snowblowers and plows to seeders, tillers, mowers, and even wood chippers. Not only are the engine sections smaller and less expensive than a ride-on tractor, you can also add attachments as you expand your operation.

You can save money by purchasing a second-hand rotary tiller or tractor. Just make sure the equipment is in good condition and won’t break down when you need it most.

Sprayers

Organic growers don’t rely on pesticides to solve all their garden problems, but sprayers are still useful for foliar feeds, compost tea, and well-timed and sometimes necessary organic pest controls.

Pressure Sprayers

When spraying organic controls, I like to use the smallest container possible because I don’t want to mix up any more than I need. That means my 1-gal. sprayer gets the most action (sometimes only half-filled).

A sprayer should have a strap to help you carry it, a pump to provide internal pressure, a relief valve, and a wand with a trigger and adjustable nozzle (from stream to fine mist). Brass wands and nozzles are more durable than plastic nozzles.

For larger areas, consider a backpack sprayer, which will keep both hands free. Most hold 3 to 4 gal. Many models have a hand lever on the side to pump the sprayer and build pressure without removing the backpack. Try a few on and choose a size that’s best suited for your farm or garden, keeping in mind that the larger-capacity sprayers will be heavier when full.

Some liquids—like fish-emulsion fertilizers and compost tea—can contain particles that will clog the nozzle of a pressure sprayer. They may be better applied with a hose sprayer or watering can.

Hose Sprayers

These sprayers typically have a half-liter poly container, which screws onto a head with a nozzle at one end and a hose connector at the other. The better models use a feeder straw that draws an even supply of fertilizer into the stream of water exiting the hose. They are not as precise as a pressure sprayer with a brass wand, but they work well for applying liquid fertilizers.

Other Large Expenses

Tractors aren’t the only major farm expenses. Additions such as a greenhouse should be given the same consideration and weighed against other major purchases. New greenhouses—constructed of tubular steel with heavy-duty stretched plastic sheeting for a roof—have been reduced in cost to a few thousand dollars, depending on size and such features as lights, fans, ventilation, and heating. They can stretch the growing seasons, allowing farmers to produce salad greens into winter and start tomato plants in early spring. A quick look at your customers’ needs and the potential for market expansion could lead you to spend money on a greenhouse before you invest in a tractor.

Somewhere between owning a greenhouse and not owning a greenhouse there’s an option called the high tunnel. A high tunnel is a low-cost movable greenhouse that can be placed over a planting bed to extend the season for the equivalent of one full USDA hardiness zone. Extra protection can be gained by placing floating row covers over crops on cold nights.

High tunnels—often called hoop houses—can be made from inexpensive materials available at building supply stores or purchased as kits from specialty suppliers. Some include sideboards for a more permanent structure. (See the “Resources” section for more information.)

Walk-behind tractors may be the solution for small-scale growers who need more power and versatility than a rotary tiller. The machines can handle multiple attachments.

Cleaning Station

Large-scale farming operations have packing sheds where harvested vegetables are washed, trimmed, and packaged for market. You might set up an outdoor station of your own for small-scale production. We took a double-well sink from one of our CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) customers who was remodeling his kitchen and mounted it onto a sturdy frame with an old kitchen countertop. Then we attached a hose to the sink’s rinse-sprayer.

It has ample counter space for cleaning and trimming lettuce or cooking greens and two wells for rinsing and stacking the veggies. We keep a small compost bin nearby for any trimmings that don’t go to the chickens. I’ve seen other small farms with similar arrangements for cleaning their crops.