Let’s talk tools

Laura Young ECB Publishing, Inc. American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson once observed, “All the tools and engines on earth are only extensions of man's limbs and senses.” Certainly the tools for gardening follow this thinking. The common trowel's shape mimics the cupped hand, right down to its middle point. A cultivator claw is, well, just like our own claw only metal-strong. Widen both of these tools then add a longer handle and you'll pretty much have a shovel, hoe and garden rake to complete a basic set of gardening tools. I'd consider the glove a tool also, which extends the surface of the complete hand with a rougher, tougher second skin. Interestingly, a gardener's touch se