Dave Epstein: Hi. I’m Dave Epstein. This is Growing Wisdom. We’re here with Anthony Stevenson at Johnny’s Selected Seeds. And we’re inside of a high tunnel with a bunch of long-handled garden tools and Anthony’s going to tell us about some of the features and uses for a lot of these.

Anthony Stevenson: Well Dave, this one right here is a long-handled wire weeder. These three are grouped together. These are called the collinear hoes. These three also have three sizes, it‘s the stirrup hoe. These two right here are the trapezoid hoes. And then this one is the three tine cultivator.

Dave Epstein: Anthony, if I was a home gardener or a commercial grower, which would I use? What are the top three?

Anthony Stevenson: The collinear hoe, the stirrup hoe and the trapezoid hoes.

Dave Epstein: And what would you us e them for?

Anthony Stevenson: Well Dave, the first choice when you start weeding is the stirrup hoe. It has an oscillating head and a blade on the front and back. It’s designed to be pushed and pulled. This one is used for quick efficient weeding. It should be the first tool you use to weed because we’ll be covering a lot of ground fat.

Dave Epstein: That cuts those weeds off right at the neck.

Anthony Stevenson: Dave, the next tool you’ll be using is called the trapezoid hoe. The blade is shaped like trapezoids so you can get underneath close to the stalks of your plants and under the canopy.

Dave Epstein: I have this one and I absolutely love it.

Anthony Stevenson: I do too. When you get ready to finish up, the third you want to be using is the collinear hoe which is designed by Eliot Coleman. The head is bent at a 70-degree angle so it’s very ergonomic and it’s designed to be used at a thumbs-up approach to gardener. This tool allows you to get the weeds that are really close to the plant.

Dave Epstein: If Eliot Coleman got involved with this tool for Johnny’s, that’s going to be a great tool. So Anthony, I know the answer but where do I get these?

Anthony Stevenson: You can get these through our catalog or online at Johnnyseeds.com.

Dave Epstein: Anthony thanks. This was great. I think I’m going to have to add that one next to my repertoire of tools. Come back every week for all of our tips, hints and help here at Growing Wisdom.