Faves

I realized as I was writing up the January task list that I included a couple of things that I take for granted. When I throw out the words “trays, cell packs, soil blockers,” etc, there is a very real chance that someone has no idea what I’m talking about or if they do, they might be interested in which items I choose to use. So let’s step back and get into the details.

ATTIRE

Days out in the field can be long and uncomfortable for a lot of reasons. Weather conditions, ill-fitting clothes or boots, insect pressure, poor nutritional choices. After 7 seasons, here’s what works for me:

Boots: I go through a pair a year. Until these ones. Muck Boots are no joke and so far, I have abused these doing field work and house renovations and they have held up where others have fallen apart. CLICK HERE

Workwear: There are very few of us with body shapes that fit the off-the-rack standard, and it is never so apparent than when you’re working in a field or garden. Dovetail gear is the best. Made by women for women with bodies of all shapes, sizes, and abilities. CLICK HERE

Gloves: I keep several pairs of gloves around because inevitably one gets soaked and I want dry hands. In the winter, the insulated option from Showa is a finger-saver. CLICK HERE. In the other seasons, a breathable, rinsable, bamboo glove with a rubber grip is invaluable. CLICK HERE.

Sun Shirt: You may have noticed that I am the whitest of white ladies. I burn just thinking about the sun. As often as possible, I will wear a SPF shirt under my overalls. I think this one is great. Loads of colors so I don’t have to laundry every day. CLICK HERE

Hat: I look ridiculous in everything but a baseball cap, but I own and wear all sorts of them. Visers, wide brimmed, insect netting, etc. I’m not going to link a hat here, but you should definitely wear a hat. We’ll have Diadem Flower Co. hats again in the spring if you want wait, but get that head out of the direct sun!

PERSONAL CARE

Sunscreen: You’ll notice a theme here as I strongly encourage you to protect yourself from our most glorious sun. I am 48 next month and I have had two cancers removed from my face and 2 from my arm, and I can see one starting up on my shoulder that will need dealing with. I don’t regret a single day of wearing spaghetti strap tanks all over New York City in the summer, but I have that luxury because of modern medicine. And I’m not about to push it any further. Protect your skin. I use this one for my face (they used to make it in SPF 110, but not anymore apparently) CLICK HERE, and I use this one for the rest of me (also at a higher SPF) CLICK HERE. There are certain sunscreens that clog up my pores and make me sweat everywhere and I don’t like that so these ones work great for me. But just pick any one. And apply it often. Don’t mess around with this one.

Hydration: I hate drinking water. I’ve always been terrible at it. Fizzy water helps, but I don’t like the cans aspect and those soda streams give me anxiety after a friend shredded his hand when a bottle exploded. But my friend and fellow flower farmer Sally sent us across the country with a care package when we drove out of Maine and in it was two packets of Strawberry flavored Liquid IV. I was reborn in that moment. I drink water like a professional now, and it is especially important on long farm days. It wasn’t so fun before we had a working bathroom, but my entire system worked better, including my brain. Now that we’ve been talking about it, I want some, so I’ll be right back. CLICK HERE. (I did just go fill my water bottle. I have a 42 ouncer that I just put one of those packets in so it’s a little more diluted and lasts a lot longer).

SUPPLIES

Winstrip Trays: Part of my larger mission as a farm is to eliminate single use plastics everywhere I can. And we used so many seed starting supplies, historically all made of single use black plastic. I could usually get 2 seasons out of them, but inevitably they would get brittle and break apart and they can’t be recycled. So I moved to a combination of hard plastic trays and soil blockers (we’ll get there next). The Winstrip cell trays have been a game changer. Hard plastic, wider holes at the bottom for air pruning, and easily fillable and stackable. They have all sorts of accessories available to make seeding more efficient for market farmers as well if you’re into that. And there are smaller trays and sets for the home gardener that doesn’t need 288 celosia plants growing in their front yard.

Cell trays: CLICK HERE
Bottom trays: CLICK HERE
Mini Wini trays: CLICK HERE
Home Gardener set: CLICK HERE

Soil Blockers: I am happy to have a little mini chat about soil blocking some day. I think it’s great. I tried to move the whole farm to soil blocking, but with everything else I am handling on a daily basis, it wasn’t feasible. Maybe later when there are 38 hours in each day. But on a small scale, and if I was gardening at my home, absolutely would I use soil blocking. I have this one and three others of various sizes: CLICK HERE.

TOOLS

Broadfork: As a minimal till operation, my goal is to disturb the soil, systemically, as little as possible. So I may use a walk behind tiller to start a new row or bed, but that will likely be the last time a tiller sees it and after watching the tillage on the field next to mine last year, wow does that 6 inches of tillage seem puny compared to what seems like a three foot gouge in the soil when they turn for commodity crops. Back to my point. In future seasons, as I work in new compost or amendments or just want to aerate and loosen some of the compaction that happens from rain or snow or footfall, I use this broadfork: CLICK HERE. It’s a great workout.

Snips: Every florist has their favorite snips. These are mine. CLICK HERE

Hori Hori: My husband gave me a hori-hori that he somehow had from a family member in Japan and it is invaluable to me. Planting, weeding, harvest, bed flip, and the occasional pest relocation is all handled by this one tool. I tied a bright pin ribbon to it because I keep losing it in the field. CLICK HERE

Sickle Weeder: Fastest way to weed and cultivate. Also the fastest way to behead the actual crop, but you’ll get the hang of it very quickly. Also comes in left handed versions, which I hadn’t considered until my left handed sister started working with me on the farm. The world is not engineered for the left handed. CLICK HERE

SPLURGE

Sunglasses: A few years ago, a package showed up at the farm with something I would never ever buy for myself, but absolutely love. A pair of Bose sunglasses. Little speakers right in the arms of the glasses! Until then (this was before I had a pair of airpods), I had decapitated so many flowers with the cords to my headphones and had to take off muddy gloves to answer my phone, send a text, or play podcasts. It was my first time being hands free. And the sound on them is amazing, as you’d expect from Bose. CLICK HERE. Even if you don’t splurge for the Bose, do get yourself some sunglasses. That part is necessary. Nobody wants you to burn your eyeballs.

Okay so that’s my starting list. These are all things I actually use, so while you’ll see some affiliate links, I’m not getting paid to rep anything. And you can see them all at my farm on any given day (if i can find my hori-hori). If you have any questions, I’m happy to answer them and I’m already excited to dive into no-till gardening, soil blocking, and a few other things that have come to mind while writing this.

Happy Gardening!