G'day Everyone, this video is a bit longer than usual, but I had a lot of fun making it so I hope you enjoy it. Thanks a lot for your ongoing support! Cheers :) P.S Visit my Website selfsufficientme.com for more...
I could not agree more about the importance of being passionate about something. It will literally save your life. Before permaculture I was highly depressed, no one could help me, no pills worked. For 15 years I struggled with dark ideas and feeling of hopelessness. Then I found permaculture, and became totally addicted. Without help from doctors or pills, my depression vanished without a trace in a matter of weeks, my energy level went 150%, and I never looked back since. Its been 4 years now, and i'm happier each year. FIND A HOBBY FOLKS!
Absolutely! I'm so glad you found your passion! Our family had three members pass away in the last year and a half, and if it wasn't for our various passions and our homestead not letting us get down, I don't know how we would've kept going! ❤
I absolutely, positively, 10000000% agree!!!! I was never depressed, but I have been growing stuff all my life. I’ll just say that, growing up, I wasn’t the most productive and innocent person but my papa literally saved my life. He taught me everything about growing food. Taking care of a yard. Just staying out of TROUBLE!! That right there is why i say that. It keeps me grounded and keeps me at home, and away from all the drama.
Please tell Peter he is in my prayers. I hope to be able to buy one of his pink prongs! Such a wonderful gentleman. It broke my heart that he’s not doing well. Please give him my best.
Cardboard boxes! I use them to harvest, gather up debris, transport anything, temporary storage for hardening transplants outside , growing sweet potatoes as a raised bed, storage of tomatoes, squashes, potatoes in my garage after harvest, dry off of onions and garlic by laying them across the edges of the boxes; and completely recyclable once done.
I keep a piece of flat heavy cardboard about the size of a cafeteria tray with me. I sit on it, use it to scoop debris, "sweep" make a quick note, fan myself... I also keep a pencil, a marker, and a tape measure. Finally, a dethorned woody rose stem about a foot long to poke into the roses to knock off dead petals, etc. It works better than anything I've ever tried for some weird reason. LOL Oh! a jar of cotton pads in mineral oil and a small fine/coarse sharpener to clean up tools after I use them. Very proud of that - I used to treat my tools like garbage.
That little one looks like it was an ironing board reused with a different top.... quite smart to repurpose the legs of one if you don't want to spend $60 or more for one
Seceteurs aka pruners. I am a senior myself, and I wholeheartedly believe that keeping busy and finding a hobby is the best advice he could give. I tell that to the people who come into where I work. I work in a senior living facility. Unfortunately, most are unable to do any type of physical activity, that's why I say to do as much as you can do for as long as you can.
We have a lot of the tools that you’ve mentioned. I’m disabled so my wife is the main breadwinner, but I’m very good with gardening. I grow almost all of our vegetables and fruits. What we don’t eat I freeze dry. I freeze dry enough fruits and veggies that we barter them for our yearly pig and we buy a young steer every spring and it’s raised on my in-laws ranch in Montana USA. The steer is slaughtered in the late fall. They keep 1/2 of the beef and we get the other 1/2. It’s a 12 hour drive to the ranch from our house in north central Washington state. Their growing season isn’t long enough to grow a lot of fruit and veggies, so that’s why we barter with them for our meat. It’s a great exchange. Both , my in-laws get “fresh” fruit and veggies (freeze dried) and we get free range beef and pork and my wife gets to see family at least once a year.
The only other things that come to my mind might be considered "essential" to protect yourself: A good water bottle (too many people don't keep hydrated while working in the garden) and sunhat (or sunscreen (which I hate)) and gloves. This is a great video, Mark, and I love your humor, too.
For me, one of the essentials is buckets and/or tubbies! I keep 4 or 5 tubbies and a few buckets. I chuck tools in 'em, use them for trash collection, or hauling material, mixing materials. Absolutely essential.
Mark, Peter is exactly right about finding a passion and getting into it. So many seniors fade away quickly due to lack of passionate endeavors. Freedom of choice for whatever we choose is a gift, let's not waste it! Thank you for including this in your informative video. I've learned so much from you, you are the best!
I live with my grandfather-in-law. When I picked up gardening he suddenly came with stories how he used to work in horticulture, and how he and his ex-wife used to grow flowers. Nowadays (with my help) he's got a number of plants growing that are doing really well. He likes to check them out daily and water them. One handy tip for that, make sure it's really, really free draining soil. He loves to water the plants even when they don't need it. It just makes him happy I think. (Also, my plants can be seen on Mark's forum Self Sufficient Culture)
Someone asked me last year what my hobbies were and I was embarrassed. I was so depressed my hobby was vegging all day. Now I'm outside every day sometimes for a brief time if I'm too sore (73 with arthritis everywhere) but usually once I'm outside I don't come in for hours. Getting to know all the birds takes time. 🙂
OMG!! Mark, I have missed you and this was such a wonderful video. I loved hanging out with you and checking out what you call essentials for the garden. Still so grateful to have stumbled on that video of you making the catio for your family kitty. It's like a 'Heyyo' from a friend.
Chicken wire, mesh and netting. Chicken wire on the soil keeps the cats from using my garden as a cat box...so many stray cats here. It also keeps the chickens from making a dirt bath. Also used to stop the critters from eating my hard work.
I love the fact that you live in Australia so that people that live in the nothern climates who experience winter get to see you garden in your summer :) And I love these long videos where you go in-depth. So you get to see more of the garden and all the fun and cool projects you are doing. Like growing wasabi under a mulberry tree ;) Cheers from Sweden.
No kidding, my yellow Long Prong is the best garden tool I have ever, ever, ever, ever, ever had! I wish I'd had it 30 years ago. I could have dug out way more granite rocks faster. I have enormous boulders here, in clay. But I thought that the Prongs were no longer being made ... I am SO GLAD we can still buy them! They are the best Australian invention ever, seriously they are: they are heirlooms. I love my Prong. If I had to evacuate with one garden tool that would be it, I love it so much!
Thanks Mark, 3 hot days in a row and I spent a lot of it on the couch! But I heard your reminder about being passionate about something and got up to clean up the shed! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
As a nurse retired Every person near at or pushing the 100 year mark, loved to read, did not like TV, read their Bible, and always gardened including at age 100 The true secret to longevity I think is in that recipe Oh they were also the remaining spouse who had a long marriage and missed their spouse so likely they were people who knew how to give and take in a marriage and told me that the person they were married to were more important than everything else.
I could only find a 33cm one here in NZ, far too small for use on a proper heap. I made a sort of Heath Robinson version out of an old drawer, bottom removed, and small metal mesh stapled across instead. It even has a handle on one side ! It works well, although the life span may be reduced as the drawer is some kind of MDF rather than wood.
Me too I do have with different hole sizes.. it's very handy when you need fine granules compost.... especially how you said for fine seedling soil....
@@trilliarobinson7862i do have one made from MDF as well..did hold well for a couple of years but now it's gone...i have to make it from wood...I did keep it outside in the rain...here in UK
We call your mulch fork, a 'pitch fork'- used for hay & straw, also. I use it to rotate my compost piles. I found an awesome tool for pounding posts- it's an heavy metal tube (about 2ft long) with one end weld-capped, and has two handles welded to the sides. Makes it easy for an old woman like me to sink t-posts.. 😁👍
lol, not if it was a homemade one like we have. The posts go in quick, but much too heavy to lift over my head. 😂. The store made is much lighter. The fork he used we call a manure fork because the tines are close and many. I use a 5 tine that is good for most materials.
@@dustyflats3832 LOL! My husband made a post pounder. Yeah, no. Have at it, honey. On a much smaller scale, we got the most awesome tent stakes that are super heavy duty and can be pounded into hardpan like butter. Most recently, we used them to stablize irrigation pipes we're using as rabbit tunnels into Casa Conejo. The property next door is being flipped and the bunnies are exploring their options.
“Honey, we can make room in the garage for another tractor if you park your car in the driveway. Honey, if you park on the street, we can get another tractor. Honey, we can sell your car for another tractor…actually, we don’t need a car, let’s get the kids tractors…” 😂 Mark, I’m addicted to your videos. They’re fantastic, full of dad jokes, full of useful information, entertaining and enterprising, and salt of the earth. In much gratitude!
Congratulations to all the Aussies for winning the World Cup . It was fantastic hosting you here in India. You have been a great team overall . hats off to your fielding . the catches were phenomenal .
One of my main tools are chairs. I have several around the garden and one on wheels. Mostly I garden in containers and raised beds. Sitting for projects help me get things done with less pain.
Thank you. You have helped me a lot. I’ve found a lot of healing in gardening I’m also a veteran but from the US. I’ve been lucky to serve with some of your Aviation guys. Your passion and always being so positive with encouragement to try new things got me to starting a indoor nursery for transplants, prepped plenty of compost and getting ready to start building several raised garden beds! Lots of caning ahead as well. I also got me 2 deer in the freezer. Keep them videos coming!
I would include buckets. Although your pan is like a bucket, you can't put a water tight lid on. I so many buckets all different sizes. And use them everyday. Loved the video and lots of great comments.
Great Video Mark.. hello from Ireland, poor Peter and everyone else that this has effected, i know of so many that were not so lucky to end up in hospital and just didnt wake up including my brother in laws brother, 28 and he just never woke up...my own 46 year old sister had a heart attack and now needs a double eye transplant due to blood cots in her eyes.. shocking stuff, stay free Mark!
People need to go to jail!! It's shocking how they forced this poison and scared the shit out of us all and suppressed so much information and shut down any discussion - for WHAT!! I was always skeptical about conspiracy theories but man oh man are my eyes now wide open! I'm so sorry to hear of what your loved ones have gone through. Cheers from Oz.
Love reading all the comments as well! So much to learn before forking out $$$ on tools. I have many tools, but 3 favorites. Find the tools that are light weight, good balance and fit your hands. lol, and of course your old kitchen tools always find a purpose in the garden😅 Word of caution with augers-set your brake lightly at first on drill so it doesn’t whip out of your hands.
We had a 55 gallon drum that we had put on a stand, painted it black, had a small door cut into the side and that’s one of our compost barrel that we can turn. We also have a large compost bin made out of used wood pallets and lined the inside with chicken wire. We can “stir” the compost with a pitch fork
Another use for pallets is to raise fabric beds off the ground. Much of my lawn area is sodden over winter, even with standing water at times. I found two pallets hidden in the roof of my garage, and they now have a forest of tomatoes growing in eight fabric pockets, protected from the sun (the pockets), by a layer of white recycled bubble wrap. Less to mow, and tomatoes to boot !
@@trilliarobinson7862 We planted “No Mow” grass on our mountain side and it our orchard. The roots grow 6-9” deep and once a year when it shoots up it’s seeds, we hit it with the weed wacker to scatter the seeds. It cannot be “mowed” less than 4” tall. We had to fall 17 pine trees and get rid of the scrub to give us enough of a fire break around our house. We literally live in a forest, as we bought 54.5 acres of the side of a forested mountain and our house is 1/2 way up our property. We have breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains and the canyon floor.
A tool that has been extremely helpful digging up small trees and stumps here in Indonesia is called a dodos. We put long beefy straight handles on them like a shovel. But at the end is a 10cm wide blade that is thick like an axe head but has the handle come straight out the back. It cuts through roots when shovels bend or fold. And it also can be used to dig and pry. Very helpful!
Your star picket remover is a very helpful tool. I got hold of an old auto bumper jack, and use a chain to wrap around the posts, and it works quite well for me.
Mark! You missed one other tool....... Humor 😊 Love it when you're humor pops out. Humor....laughter is like a wave...you see someone smiling or laughing..it sends a ripple through out. Bless!
A tool belt, its amazing u put all your tools in it that u need for the day plus it holds your gloves a hand towel for sweat and a drink bottle. Its a multi purpose so to say. Thank you for the longer video and all your hard work!
Bloody ripper of a video Mark. Love my Ryobi tools. Gotta get a post hole auger but. And wise words from Peter. Advice I should probably heed. Thankyou mate.
A plastic tub for making up your germination mix. A rack for your seedlings. A small shed for storing your seedling trays, amendments etc. I use a slasher for trimming up the grassy areas, but I don't have much. A hedge trimmer for if you have hedges is also useful. A bow saw is also good if you only have the occassional tree to cut.
Also loving the channel from in the depths of a yukky British winter. I was born in Mackay and now I live here, for my sins. Got a very big garden so can’t wait for spring to get in it. Spring is cold here but I coat up and get out there anyway.
Mate, I just want to say that you are a wealth of knowledge and thank you for sharing your extensive experience on the toobs with the rest of us, cheers mate👍
The Japanese call your #32 Garden knife a "Hori Hori". Hori Horis are great for digging up weeds with tap roots. I use mine a lot. A tool you left out which I use all the time is a hand garden Sickle for weeding. I have a "Zenport" which has an orange handle making it easy to find and hard to lose. It does what a weed wacker does and more. Since it isn't motorized, you can work around plants you might want to keep. You can cover huge areas in a short amount of time because the blade is REALLY sharp! Just grab the top half of a bunch of weeds in one hand and pull the sickle through the bottom part. I even use the blade in the soil under the weeds to get stubborn roots up. I love your #14 watering can. If the spout tip is removable, I would love a watering can like that.
I used a Hori Hori at my landscape job and have a similar device for at home. It’s my ONLY go-to tool that I consistently use for just about everything.
That’s a big YES on the hori hori knife and any Japanese sickle you can find. Sickle is great to cut back ornamental grasses and those plants that are going to seed - esp. if you don’t want any more of that seed!
dad gave me an old hard wood shovel handel he had, I thought I'd never use it, then snapped the handle on my bunnings shovel digging out a tree and wacked the hardwood handle in, wish i had sooner, it's so solid don't think it will ever snap
in my top 3 is a notebook. Im a bit absent minded, I mark down when I water and fertilise or anything else i see of interest. Its saved my butt countless times.
As a fellow veteran though I am of the American variety, I must disagree with the sledgy method! No sledgies for posts! Too cumbersome. Get a post driver. Much easier and even a weak novice you can’t miss the post, really. Truly I do thank you for your sufficient humor knowledge and insight. God be with and bless our hearts to His service.
Thank you again Mark! I find all kinds of knife's in second hand stores and use them in the garden. They are practical to have in different areas. Almost every flowerpot has a knife in it, and never have to search for one 🔪
More than 10 years ago my grandson gave me a wonderful gift for Christmas, it was a full set of gardening hand tools made from stainless steel with wooden handles and leather hanging straps. I was shocked because they are so expensive, but he did work for a local DIY company at the time, so he got a great discount. I've used them since then whenever I'm in the garden. I wish he knew how much I appreciate them.
As a 40 yr old man who finally wants to start gardening and becoming self sufficient this is by far my favorite channel for massive amounts of information. I know it will still be trial and error but I’ve already learned so much just to help prepare me for any failures that might and will happen at first. (Or even the future). Peters words hit to the bone. 🙌
If you don’t have a raised bed garden a rototiller is something I’d consider essential. That garden knife is a modern iteration of the Japanese Hori-Hori tool, I have a couple versions and use them for all kinds of stuff, such a great tool. I’d also say a worm composting bin is also essential for organic gardening because it’ll provide an endless supply of worm castings as fertilizer.
Hi Mark, isn't it weird that we get a fondness for a spade/shovel and just keep using that one for all your jobs in the garden. Many prayers for Peter 😘😘 this world needs more people like him. Must say I LOVE LOVE LOVE Hoselink!!!! On the Wishlist is a mulcher.
Yes, I love my short handled shovel, aluminum garden rake and 5 tine pitch fork. It’s about the balance, weight and how it fits your hands. And I love the drip emitter irrigation! So helpful in so many ways.
Peter, I hope you are reading this and in as good health as one could wish for. Keep fighting the good fight mate, you're an inspiration and a bloody good bloke!
Wow! Six items I really need that I never thought of! I bought a folding table awhile back on your advice, thanks so much for all the great ideas, and making my gardening life easier. *Having read the comments which reminded me, I can't function without non-latex gardening gloves, many 5-gallon buckets, pallets to put young plants and trees on and to transport into the garage during freezes with my tractor, and feed bags: great to put under compost cans, carry compost, give stuff to neighbors, etc.
We’re in the process of buying a Subaru Sambar 4WD little pickup from Japan for heavy work around our property where we can’t get our old Ford Ranger 4WD pickup into. We also have a Honda 4WD Quad with a trailer for very tight places. My wife and I were both raised on farms so people find it amazing how we can figure out ways to repurpose things to make things work together for whatever we need built.
I have a mostly cemented yard so I do mostly container gardening. One of my go to tools is a 32 gallon garbage can with wheels. In the summer I use the inside for storage for smaller plastic pots (that might blow away with the wind) or my fall leaf claws I use to pick up leaves in the fall). In the fall I will store leaves inside that I will be using later for mulching. When working in the garden I will flip the lid over and use it as a makeshift tabletop that I can move around the yard easily and keep my tools, phone, and drinking water handy. I will also use it as a tabletop when potting plants (putting a soil mat down first makes clean up a breeze).. I would also mention that I upcycle scoopers from food or laundry packaging (like the scooper from the dry nonfat milk I use for making bread in bread machine and in nonfat lattes) in my fertilizer bags to help scoop out from the bags without much spillage/waste.
I use a couple of different tools: a left handed - hand spade (short handle), a 1/4" metal screened box for sifting compost for my seed mix and a single tooth hoe (kind of like a hard tine rake with only one tooth to get into hard to reach places). Your videos and humor put almost as many smiles on my face as my garden. Thank you for sharing.
I live in the U.S. - zone 6a. Obviously, the climate here requires different skills, but I enjoy your compost and soil-treating hints. I also love dogs. 😍
A tool that I wouldn’t do without is a stirrup hoe. We purchased one earlier this year and I absolutely love it. It truly makes weeding easier. And just cleaning over garden beds too. From memory they are around $56. Oh and even though your beds are mostly raised, I love our kneeling stool that also flips upside down to use as a stool too.
I bought one of these recently, being "a bit older " ! I love it to bits. While my back is strong still, my knees are not ! It is great for doing picky weeding, planting seedlings, and then you can flip it and have a cuppa while surveying your triumph.
In 1980, I worked in the Douglas Fir forest of northern California digging fire line. Fire fighters will be familiar with the McLeod that is used for clearing land to 'mineral soil'. The weight of it is quite useful with one side of the long handle a hoe and the other side a strong rake.
Handsaws are more versatile than most people know. I work in communications and I'm often having to climb poles that are completely overgrown to the point even a bucket truck couldn't push through the vines without breaking. I keep a Gosaw in my truck. It has an Acme thread at the end of the handle, that screws right onto any painters pole giving extremely long reach. 16ft in my case.
Hello from the Madison, Ohio USA I thoroughly enjoy watching the channel. I've got about 4 acres that the family and I are slowly converting into a small farm. Tons of great tips. Thank you
The best to put in star pickets with, is a post driver. You just pop it over the star picket, and bash it down. You don't need a star picket remover either. I simply soak the ground, and start wriggling the star picket backwards and forwards. Then after a bit, push the star picket around in circles, and then simply pull it out.
Depends on the soil and how deep the t posts went in if it will come out. Clay soil especially. Most of ours come out easily like you do, but the tuff ones my husband takes a rope with a pressic knot and cantilevers them out. I think the tool he has shown would be needed on a farm.
Depends on the soil and how deep the t posts went in if it will come out. Clay soil especially. Most of ours come out easily like you do, but the tuff ones my husband takes a rope with a pressic knot and cantilevers them out. I think the tool he has shown would be needed on a farm.
Great vlog again. My husband made a frame, and we put an old square shower base on it. Great potting table and water runs down the plug hole into a bucket.
I agree with all the subtleties, I hope you make the rounds on the podcasts one day lol. I think you know way more than you can say here. Thanks for the gardening videos, you helped get me into it seriously many years ago now.
Something I find handy in our garden is an old fashioned laundry trolley, the kind that has a flat aluminium tray with a drain hole. I use it as a table that I can wheel around to where I need it. Great for planting out seedings in raised garden beds, repotting plants, harvesting fruit & veggies, so easy to clean, so many uses! You might want to double check burning mango wood, the sap can irritate your lungs & not recommend for cooking. I am really sorry to hear about Peter’s long stint in hospital & I hope he is doing well now & able to enjoy the rest of his life, pain free & around people he values. He is such a lovely gentleman, a great inventor & so thoughtful to share his knowledge. We are looking forward to receiving our prongs sometime soon & appreciate you telling us about them & his back story in the video a few months ago. You are both legends! 😊🙏🏼
❤ your garden is an amazing place ❤ i think an important tool in the garden is a nice comfortable chair, somewhere to sit and look and plan future garden projects
You can try soaking your trimmer line in a bucket of water overnight before using it. We used to have a tough time using whipper snippers because the line broke all the time. We soaked the spool of line overnight before starting it up this year, and it’s made a world of difference!! The first time we took it out this season, we didn’t break the line once! 🎉 Great video and suggestions. I wish I lived in Australia so we could get all these great products!
G'day Everyone, this video is a bit longer than usual, but I had a lot of fun making it so I hope you enjoy it. Thanks a lot for your ongoing support! Cheers :) P.S Visit my Website selfsufficientme.com for more...
I miss the longer videos!
It was a great video man!
Excellent information, Thank you.
❤❤❤️🔥
Thank you, that was great. Will be going through it again to write them all down. Cheers
very much enjoyed this list
I could not agree more about the importance of being passionate about something. It will literally save your life. Before permaculture I was highly depressed, no one could help me, no pills worked. For 15 years I struggled with dark ideas and feeling of hopelessness. Then I found permaculture, and became totally addicted. Without help from doctors or pills, my depression vanished without a trace in a matter of weeks, my energy level went 150%, and I never looked back since. Its been 4 years now, and i'm happier each year. FIND A HOBBY FOLKS!
Thanks for sharing….. really happy that you’ve found something you’re excited about… and I’m sure good at!
Amen. That’s amazing and even though we’re strangers to each other, it makes me very happy to hear that somebody is doing so well.
Absolutely! I'm so glad you found your passion! Our family had three members pass away in the last year and a half, and if it wasn't for our various passions and our homestead not letting us get down, I don't know how we would've kept going! ❤
I absolutely, positively, 10000000% agree!!!!
I was never depressed, but I have been growing stuff all my life. I’ll just say that, growing up, I wasn’t the most productive and innocent person but my papa literally saved my life. He taught me everything about growing food. Taking care of a yard. Just staying out of TROUBLE!! That right there is why i say that. It keeps me grounded and keeps me at home, and away from all the drama.
Beautiful to read 🤗
My father is 90 in Oct, still mowing, whipper snipping, pruning trees and just loves getting out in the garden.
Please tell Peter he is in my prayers. I hope to be able to buy one of his pink prongs! Such a wonderful gentleman. It broke my heart that he’s not doing well. Please give him my best.
Amen.
Cardboard boxes! I use them to harvest, gather up debris, transport anything, temporary storage for hardening transplants outside , growing sweet potatoes as a raised bed, storage of tomatoes, squashes, potatoes in my garage after harvest, dry off of onions and garlic by laying them across the edges of the boxes; and completely recyclable once done.
And also for putting down on bare ground as a weed barrier (apply mulch/soil right on top for new garden area!)
I keep a piece of flat heavy cardboard about the size of a cafeteria tray with me. I sit on it, use it to scoop debris, "sweep" make a quick note, fan myself... I also keep a pencil, a marker, and a tape measure. Finally, a dethorned woody rose stem about a foot long to poke into the roses to knock off dead petals, etc. It works better than anything I've ever tried for some weird reason. LOL Oh! a jar of cotton pads in mineral oil and a small fine/coarse sharpener to clean up tools after I use them. Very proud of that - I used to treat my tools like garbage.
I might add rain collection barrel and a few spare buckets to your list. Throw in a greenhouse, too.
Most importantly is a solid shed for all those tools!
For those not paying attention, the folding table joke relates to an Army cot, which also folds out to a nice billiard table.
That little one looks like it was an ironing board reused with a different top.... quite smart to repurpose the legs of one if you don't want to spend $60 or more for one
Seceteurs aka pruners. I am a senior myself, and I wholeheartedly believe that keeping busy and finding a hobby is the best advice he could give. I tell that to the people who come into where I work. I work in a senior living facility. Unfortunately, most are unable to do any type of physical activity, that's why I say to do as much as you can do for as long as you can.
The bar! The trusty bar is so essential for removing hardy roots!!
We have a lot of the tools that you’ve mentioned.
I’m disabled so my wife is the main breadwinner, but I’m very good with gardening.
I grow almost all of our vegetables and fruits.
What we don’t eat I freeze dry.
I freeze dry enough fruits and veggies that we barter them for our yearly pig and we buy a young steer every spring and it’s raised on my in-laws ranch in Montana USA.
The steer is slaughtered in the late fall. They keep 1/2 of the beef and we get the other 1/2.
It’s a 12 hour drive to the ranch from our house in north central Washington state.
Their growing season isn’t long enough to grow a lot of fruit and veggies, so that’s why we barter with them for our meat.
It’s a great exchange.
Both , my in-laws get “fresh” fruit and veggies (freeze dried) and we get free range beef and pork and my wife gets to see family at least once a year.
Great system! 🍀
@@patriciatinkey2677 Yes it works out very well for all of us
@@Doc1855 except for the animals ofcourse 💀
Great list! I’d like to add harvest baskets! And garden hat. Love your humor!
The only other things that come to my mind might be considered "essential" to protect yourself: A good water bottle (too many people don't keep hydrated while working in the garden) and sunhat (or sunscreen (which I hate)) and gloves.
This is a great video, Mark, and I love your humor, too.
www.google.com/search?q=%22DODOS%22+TOOL+-%22DODO%22
For me, one of the essentials is buckets and/or tubbies! I keep 4 or 5 tubbies and a few buckets. I chuck tools in 'em, use them for trash collection, or hauling material, mixing materials. Absolutely essential.
Mark, Peter is exactly right about finding a passion and getting into it. So many seniors fade away quickly due to lack of passionate endeavors. Freedom of choice for whatever we choose is a gift, let's not waste it! Thank you for including this in your informative video. I've learned so much from you, you are the best!
I live with my grandfather-in-law. When I picked up gardening he suddenly came with stories how he used to work in horticulture, and how he and his ex-wife used to grow flowers. Nowadays (with my help) he's got a number of plants growing that are doing really well. He likes to check them out daily and water them. One handy tip for that, make sure it's really, really free draining soil. He loves to water the plants even when they don't need it. It just makes him happy I think.
(Also, my plants can be seen on Mark's forum Self Sufficient Culture)
My wife is laughing a lot. You finally understand why I don't throw away old pots and pans.😂😂😂
Someone asked me last year what my hobbies were and I was embarrassed. I was so depressed my hobby was vegging all day. Now I'm outside every day sometimes for a brief time if I'm too sore (73 with arthritis everywhere) but usually once I'm outside I don't come in for hours. Getting to know all the birds takes time. 🙂
A good hat and long sleeve shirt are essential tools for the yard.
Yes! A big hat, a white men's long sleeve shirt and overalls. Long socks. Keeps the sun and mosquitos from killing me. LOL
OMG!! Mark, I have missed you and this was such a wonderful video. I loved hanging out with you and checking out what you call essentials for the garden. Still so grateful to have stumbled on that video of you making the catio for your family kitty. It's like a 'Heyyo' from a friend.
Cheap long handled BBQ tongs are great for weeding, and also great for picking spiky caterpillars and giant grasshoppers off my plants
And handling cacti.
As fall turns to winter in the northern US it’s always nice to see your gardens just ramping up
I know! It keeps me going.
Chicken wire, mesh and netting. Chicken wire on the soil keeps the cats from using my garden as a cat box...so many stray cats here. It also keeps the chickens from making a dirt bath. Also used to stop the critters from eating my hard work.
I wouldn’t have any plants if it wasn’t for fencing.
That was hilarious when you tried to showcase the machete and just ended up pushing over the banana tree!
I love the fact that you live in Australia so that people that live in the nothern climates who experience winter get to see you garden in your summer :)
And I love these long videos where you go in-depth. So you get to see more of the garden and all the fun and cool projects you are doing.
Like growing wasabi under a mulberry tree ;)
Cheers from Sweden.
No kidding, my yellow Long Prong is the best garden tool I have ever, ever, ever, ever, ever had! I wish I'd had it 30 years ago. I could have dug out way more granite rocks faster. I have enormous boulders here, in clay. But I thought that the Prongs were no longer being made ... I am SO GLAD we can still buy them! They are the best Australian invention ever, seriously they are: they are heirlooms. I love my Prong. If I had to evacuate with one garden tool that would be it, I love it so much!
You're a bloody legend Mark - love your work!
Love and blessings to Peter. X
Thanks Mark, 3 hot days in a row and I spent a lot of it on the couch! But I heard your reminder about being passionate about something and got up to clean up the shed! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
As a nurse retired
Every person near at or pushing the 100 year mark, loved to read, did not like TV, read their Bible, and always gardened including at age 100
The true secret to longevity I think is in that recipe
Oh they were also the remaining spouse who had a long marriage and missed their spouse so likely they were people who knew how to give and take in a marriage and told me that the person they were married to were more important than everything else.
the most important tool of all ..is love ! stay bright
I use a Stainless Steel mesh sieve for sieving compost into fine seedling soil mixture for seed planting.
I could only find a 33cm one here in NZ, far too small for use on a proper heap. I made a sort of Heath Robinson version out of an old drawer, bottom removed, and small metal mesh stapled across instead. It even has a handle on one side ! It works well, although the life span may be reduced as the drawer is some kind of MDF rather than wood.
Me too I do have with different hole sizes.. it's very handy when you need fine granules compost.... especially how you said for fine seedling soil....
@@trilliarobinson7862i do have one made from MDF as well..did hold well for a couple of years but now it's gone...i have to make it from wood...I did keep it outside in the rain...here in UK
Half of my old kitchen items are in the garden shed now. LOL. I just used an old rusty sieve for a soil test sample.
We call your mulch fork, a 'pitch fork'- used for hay & straw, also. I use it to rotate my compost piles.
I found an awesome tool for pounding posts- it's an heavy metal tube (about 2ft long) with one end weld-capped, and has two handles welded to the sides. Makes it easy for an old woman like me to sink t-posts.. 😁👍
lol, not if it was a homemade one like we have. The posts go in quick, but much too heavy to lift over my head. 😂. The store made is much lighter. The fork he used we call a manure fork because the tines are close and many. I use a 5 tine that is good for most materials.
Star picket driver
www.google.com/search?q=STAR+PICKET+DRIVER
@@dustyflats3832 LOL! My husband made a post pounder. Yeah, no. Have at it, honey. On a much smaller scale, we got the most awesome tent stakes that are super heavy duty and can be pounded into hardpan like butter. Most recently, we used them to stablize irrigation pipes we're using as rabbit tunnels into Casa Conejo. The property next door is being flipped and the bunnies are exploring their options.
“Honey, we can make room in the garage for another tractor if you park your car in the driveway. Honey, if you park on the street, we can get another tractor. Honey, we can sell your car for another tractor…actually, we don’t need a car, let’s get the kids tractors…” 😂 Mark, I’m addicted to your videos. They’re fantastic, full of dad jokes, full of useful information, entertaining and enterprising, and salt of the earth. In much gratitude!
Congratulations to all the Aussies for winning the World Cup . It was fantastic hosting you here in India. You have been a great team overall . hats off to your fielding . the catches were phenomenal .
You never cease to present gread vids. Keep up the great work.
One of my main tools are chairs. I have several around the garden and one on wheels. Mostly I garden in containers and raised beds. Sitting for projects help me get things done with less pain.
For in-ground gardens, a broad fork is great for loosening the soil to prepare for planting.
Prayers for you, your family and your friend. ✝️🙏🏽💜
Thank you. You have helped me a lot. I’ve found a lot of healing in gardening I’m also a veteran but from the US. I’ve been lucky to serve with some of your Aviation guys. Your passion and always being so positive with encouragement to try new things got me to starting a indoor nursery for transplants, prepped plenty of compost and getting ready to start building several raised garden beds! Lots of caning ahead as well. I also got me 2 deer in the freezer. Keep them videos coming!
That pup is so adorable ❤
All the best gardeners have a canine companion! I’m definitely in love with that red poodle ❤🐩
Your doggo is lovely and you are lovely sir.
Thank you for all the tips and lessons so far.
Have a good one!
I would include buckets. Although your pan is like a bucket, you can't put a water tight lid on. I so many buckets all different sizes. And use them everyday. Loved the video and lots of great comments.
Great Video Mark.. hello from Ireland, poor Peter and everyone else that this has effected, i know of so many that were not so lucky to end up in hospital and just didnt wake up including my brother in laws brother, 28 and he just never woke up...my own 46 year old sister had a heart attack and now needs a double eye transplant due to blood cots in her eyes.. shocking stuff, stay free Mark!
People need to go to jail!! It's shocking how they forced this poison and scared the shit out of us all and suppressed so much information and shut down any discussion - for WHAT!! I was always skeptical about conspiracy theories but man oh man are my eyes now wide open! I'm so sorry to hear of what your loved ones have gone through. Cheers from Oz.
Long handled dibber, hoes, kneeler, waste bucket/tub.
All I can think of atm. You got most others I use.
Cheers, Mark 👍
Kneeler and knee pads. My knees are shot. Kneelers are the bomb.
Love reading all the comments as well! So much to learn before forking out $$$ on tools. I have many tools, but 3 favorites. Find the tools that are light weight, good balance and fit your hands.
lol, and of course your old kitchen tools always find a purpose in the garden😅
Word of caution with augers-set your brake lightly at first on drill so it doesn’t whip out of your hands.
We had a 55 gallon drum that we had put on a stand, painted it black, had a small door cut into the side and that’s one of our compost barrel that we can turn.
We also have a large compost bin made out of used wood pallets and lined the inside with chicken wire. We can “stir” the compost with a pitch fork
Another use for pallets is to raise fabric beds off the ground. Much of my lawn area is sodden over winter, even with standing water at times. I found two pallets hidden in the roof of my garage, and they now have a forest of tomatoes growing in eight fabric pockets, protected from the sun (the pockets), by a layer of white recycled bubble wrap. Less to mow, and tomatoes to boot !
@@trilliarobinson7862 We planted “No Mow” grass on our mountain side and it our orchard.
The roots grow 6-9” deep and once a year when it shoots up it’s seeds, we hit it with the weed wacker to scatter the seeds. It cannot be “mowed” less than 4” tall.
We had to fall 17 pine trees and get rid of the scrub to give us enough of a fire break around our house.
We literally live in a forest, as we bought 54.5 acres of the side of a forested mountain and our house is 1/2 way up our property.
We have breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains and the canyon floor.
Sounds spectacular ! @@Doc1855
Hi Mark ✌️ Great video idea, we all need to see this!
To Peter…congratulations on your success…I hope your life is peaceful and pain free! ❤🎈💋
A tool that has been extremely helpful digging up small trees and stumps here in Indonesia is called a dodos. We put long beefy straight handles on them like a shovel. But at the end is a 10cm wide blade that is thick like an axe head but has the handle come straight out the back. It cuts through roots when shovels bend or fold. And it also can be used to dig and pry. Very helpful!
33 Amen, btw thank you for your service.🇦🇺
34…🤔
If you count the flat bottom spade which he forgot! Hee hee🤭…true story! 🍻
I always click on the thumbs up first when I start watching your videos. You always do an excellent job, and I enjoy your play on words.
Cheers!
Your star picket remover is a very helpful tool. I got hold of an old auto bumper jack, and use a chain to wrap around the posts, and it works quite well for me.
That star picket remover looked like it had an olive drab paint colour which leads me to think he may have "acquired" it from his army days
Mark! You missed one other tool....... Humor 😊
Love it when you're humor pops out.
Humor....laughter is like a wave...you see someone smiling or laughing..it sends a ripple through out.
Bless!
A tool belt, its amazing u put all your tools in it that u need for the day plus it holds your gloves a hand towel for sweat and a drink bottle. Its a multi purpose so to say. Thank you for the longer video and all your hard work!
Best idea EVER to daisy chain the hoselinks! Also, using that folding table as a backstop for the chipper shredder... hysterical!
So happy you did a "tool" video
for garden novices !
Say Thank You to your inventor
mate and to you to ! 👍
Bloody ripper of a video Mark. Love my Ryobi tools. Gotta get a post hole auger but. And wise words from Peter. Advice I should probably heed. Thankyou mate.
A plastic tub for making up your germination mix. A rack for your seedlings. A small shed for storing your seedling trays, amendments etc. I use a slasher for trimming up the grassy areas, but I don't have much. A hedge trimmer for if you have hedges is also useful. A bow saw is also good if you only have the occassional tree to cut.
Also loving the channel from in the depths of a yukky British winter. I was born in Mackay and now I live here, for my sins. Got a very big garden so can’t wait for spring to get in it. Spring is cold here but I coat up and get out there anyway.
I'm so sorry that you had to grow up in Mackay, at least you're less likely to get stabbed in England 😂
Mate, I just want to say that you are a wealth of knowledge and thank you for sharing your extensive experience on the toobs with the rest of us, cheers mate👍
The Japanese call your #32 Garden knife a "Hori Hori". Hori Horis are great for digging up weeds with tap roots. I use mine a lot. A tool you left out which I use all the time is a hand garden Sickle for weeding. I have a "Zenport" which has an orange handle making it easy to find and hard to lose. It does what a weed wacker does and more. Since it isn't motorized, you can work around plants you might want to keep. You can cover huge areas in a short amount of time because the blade is REALLY sharp! Just grab the top half of a bunch of weeds in one hand and pull the sickle through the bottom part. I even use the blade in the soil under the weeds to get stubborn roots up. I love your #14 watering can. If the spout tip is removable, I would love a watering can like that.
I used a Hori Hori at my landscape job and have a similar device for at home. It’s my ONLY go-to tool that I consistently use for just about everything.
That’s a big YES on the hori hori knife and any Japanese sickle you can find. Sickle is great to cut back ornamental grasses and those plants that are going to seed - esp. if you don’t want any more of that seed!
dad gave me an old hard wood shovel handel he had, I thought I'd never use it, then snapped the handle on my bunnings shovel digging out a tree and wacked the hardwood handle in, wish i had sooner, it's so solid don't think it will ever snap
in my top 3 is a notebook. Im a bit absent minded, I mark down when I water and fertilise or anything else i see of interest. Its saved my butt countless times.
Standard screwdriver, works great for getting long tap roots. I know there is a specific tool, but one of these has always been my go-to.
As a fellow veteran though I am of the American variety, I must disagree with the sledgy method!
No sledgies for posts! Too cumbersome. Get a post driver. Much easier and even a weak novice you can’t miss the post, really.
Truly I do thank you for your sufficient humor knowledge and insight. God be with and bless our hearts to His service.
Thank you again Mark!
I find all kinds of knife's in second hand stores and use them in the garden. They are practical to have in different areas. Almost every flowerpot has a knife in it, and never have to search for one 🔪
It never occurred to me to daisy chain my hoselinks. I enjoyed the video
More than 10 years ago my grandson gave me a wonderful gift for Christmas, it was a full set of gardening hand tools made from stainless steel with wooden handles and leather hanging straps. I was shocked because they are so expensive, but he did work for a local DIY company at the time, so he got a great discount. I've used them since then whenever I'm in the garden. I wish he knew how much I appreciate them.
As a 40 yr old man who finally wants to start gardening and becoming self sufficient this is by far my favorite channel for massive amounts of information. I know it will still be trial and error but I’ve already learned so much just to help prepare me for any failures that might and will happen at first. (Or even the future). Peters words hit to the bone. 🙌
If you don’t have a raised bed garden a rototiller is something I’d consider essential. That garden knife is a modern iteration of the Japanese Hori-Hori tool, I have a couple versions and use them for all kinds of stuff, such a great tool. I’d also say a worm composting bin is also essential for organic gardening because it’ll provide an endless supply of worm castings as fertilizer.
Hi Mark, isn't it weird that we get a fondness for a spade/shovel and just keep using that one for all your jobs in the garden. Many prayers for Peter 😘😘 this world needs more people like him. Must say I LOVE LOVE LOVE Hoselink!!!! On the Wishlist is a mulcher.
Yes, I love my short handled shovel, aluminum garden rake and 5 tine pitch fork. It’s about the balance, weight and how it fits your hands. And I love the drip emitter irrigation! So helpful in so many ways.
Sadly, many have fallen to the jab... thank you for your creativity Peter... a great legacy and more to come.
Nice to see the new furbaby.
Love my rechargeable weed whacker/trimmer and chainsaw. Light weight and easy to use.
Great ideas for Christmas pressies...thanks Mark
Peter, I hope you are reading this and in as good health as one could wish for. Keep fighting the good fight mate, you're an inspiration and a bloody good bloke!
I am keeping this upload as a refference,as i am starting my own farm soon!❤️🌹
Wow! Six items I really need that I never thought of! I bought a folding table awhile back on your advice, thanks so much for all the great ideas, and making my gardening life easier. *Having read the comments which reminded me, I can't function without non-latex gardening gloves, many 5-gallon buckets, pallets to put young plants and trees on and to transport into the garage during freezes with my tractor, and feed bags: great to put under compost cans, carry compost, give stuff to neighbors, etc.
I liked the tools, but the best part is your personality. Thanks for continuing to make content.
We’re in the process of buying a Subaru Sambar 4WD little pickup from Japan for heavy work around our property where we can’t get our old Ford Ranger 4WD pickup into.
We also have a Honda 4WD Quad with a trailer for very tight places.
My wife and I were both raised on farms so people find it amazing how we can figure out ways to repurpose things to make things work together for whatever we need built.
OMG Mark, I use a saucepan too. I thought it was just me. But the handle, right? It's so... handy 😉😉
I have a mostly cemented yard so I do mostly container gardening. One of my go to tools is a 32 gallon garbage can with wheels. In the summer I use the inside for storage for smaller plastic pots (that might blow away with the wind) or my fall leaf claws I use to pick up leaves in the fall). In the fall I will store leaves inside that I will be using later for mulching. When working in the garden I will flip the lid over and use it as a makeshift tabletop that I can move around the yard easily and keep my tools, phone, and drinking water handy. I will also use it as a tabletop when potting plants (putting a soil mat down first makes clean up a breeze).. I would also mention that I upcycle scoopers from food or laundry packaging (like the scooper from the dry nonfat milk I use for making bread in bread machine and in nonfat lattes) in my fertilizer bags to help scoop out from the bags without much spillage/waste.
I use a couple of different tools: a left handed - hand spade (short handle), a 1/4" metal screened box for sifting compost for my seed mix and a single tooth hoe (kind of like a hard tine rake with only one tooth to get into hard to reach places). Your videos and humor put almost as many smiles on my face as my garden. Thank you for sharing.
You Sir are true gardening wonder from down under.
I live in the U.S. - zone 6a. Obviously, the climate here requires different skills, but I enjoy your compost and soil-treating hints. I also love dogs. 😍
A tool that I wouldn’t do without is a stirrup hoe. We purchased one earlier this year and I absolutely love it. It truly makes weeding easier. And just cleaning over garden beds too. From memory they are around $56. Oh and even though your beds are mostly raised, I love our kneeling stool that also flips upside down to use as a stool too.
I bought one of these recently, being "a bit older " ! I love it to bits. While my back is strong still, my knees are not ! It is great for doing picky weeding, planting seedlings, and then you can flip it and have a cuppa while surveying your triumph.
@@trilliarobinson7862 they definitely make things easier
I love mine, I have a full size one and a mini one for weeding raised beds, they work so well. I've also seen them called a hula hoe
In 1980, I worked in the Douglas Fir forest of northern California digging fire line. Fire fighters will be familiar with the McLeod that is used for clearing land to 'mineral soil'. The weight of it is quite useful with one side of the long handle a hoe and the other side a strong rake.
Handsaws are more versatile than most people know. I work in communications and I'm often having to climb poles that are completely overgrown to the point even a bucket truck couldn't push through the vines without breaking. I keep a Gosaw in my truck. It has an Acme thread at the end of the handle, that screws right onto any painters pole giving extremely long reach. 16ft in my case.
Hello from the Madison, Ohio USA
I thoroughly enjoy watching the channel. I've got about 4 acres that the family and I are slowly converting into a small farm. Tons of great tips. Thank you
The best to put in star pickets with, is a post driver.
You just pop it over the star picket, and bash it down.
You don't need a star picket remover either.
I simply soak the ground, and start wriggling the star picket backwards and forwards.
Then after a bit, push the star picket around in circles, and then simply pull it out.
Depends on the soil and how deep the t posts went in if it will come out. Clay soil especially. Most of ours come out easily like you do, but the tuff ones my husband takes a rope with a pressic knot and cantilevers them out. I think the tool he has shown would be needed on a farm.
Depends on the soil and how deep the t posts went in if it will come out. Clay soil especially. Most of ours come out easily like you do, but the tuff ones my husband takes a rope with a pressic knot and cantilevers them out. I think the tool he has shown would be needed on a farm.
Hope Peter feels better soon. Bless him.
You made me laugh with your funny comments. Have enjoyed your channel this past year.
Great vlog again. My husband made a frame, and we put an old square shower base on it. Great potting table and water runs down the plug hole into a bucket.
:) Loved the machete demonstration. And the whole video. Thanks Mark. Love all your content!
I agree with all the subtleties, I hope you make the rounds on the podcasts one day lol. I think you know way more than you can say here. Thanks for the gardening videos, you helped get me into it seriously many years ago now.
Something I find handy in our garden is an old fashioned laundry trolley, the kind that has a flat aluminium tray with a drain hole. I use it as a table that I can wheel around to where I need it. Great for planting out seedings in raised garden beds, repotting plants, harvesting fruit & veggies, so easy to clean, so many uses!
You might want to double check burning mango wood, the sap can irritate your lungs & not recommend for cooking.
I am really sorry to hear about Peter’s long stint in hospital & I hope he is doing well now & able to enjoy the rest of his life, pain free & around people he values. He is such a lovely gentleman, a great inventor & so thoughtful to share his knowledge. We are looking forward to receiving our prongs sometime soon & appreciate you telling us about them & his back story in the video a few months ago.
You are both legends! 😊🙏🏼
Cheers to Peter, he's absolutely correct.
Great video mate, I quite enjoyed it and seeing all the tools you have for your block of land.
Have a ripper mate!
In the US, we generally refer to "round point" and "square point" shovels.
The short ones are referred to as "spades", regardless of the tip end.
I so love that you reuse and repurpose so many items. ❤ love your channel.
NW Florida 🌴
❤ your garden is an amazing place ❤ i think an important tool in the garden is a nice comfortable chair, somewhere to sit and look and plan future garden projects
You can try soaking your trimmer line in a bucket of water overnight before using it. We used to have a tough time using whipper snippers because the line broke all the time. We soaked the spool of line overnight before starting it up this year, and it’s made a world of difference!! The first time we took it out this season, we didn’t break the line once! 🎉
Great video and suggestions. I wish I lived in Australia so we could get all these great products!
Lets Get into it!
Those cast aluminium tools are incredible, well worth the $100 it cost me to have them shipped to Canada. I used them a lot last Summer.