Spring is just around the corner. It’s time to prepare your tools for the coming gardening season. Each time I use my favorite narrow-blade shovel (a Spear and Jackson “rabbit spade”) or my trusted Felco No. 2 pruners, I rinse them at day’s end to remove any dirt. Once they are dry, I give them a spritz of either a silicone lubricant or olive oil. I garden a lot more than I cook, so olive oil goes rancid faster than I can use it. I have a mist oil sprayer dedicated to garden use. This oil atomizer is not the only kitchen device that has been promoted from my kitchen. An electric turkey-carving knife is wonderful for dividing tough Hostas, while a serrated bread knife works great on Bearded Iris rhizomes. An ancient blender has been repurposed to mix moss and buttermilk into a slurry for aging concrete pots. Some people think my tool maintenance ritual is a bit obsessive. Those are the same people who wonder why I grow six different types of basil.
Before the grass-cutting season starts, check belts and sharpen blades on mowers. Inspect motorized tools like chippers or tillers, with oil changes or spark plug changes as needed.
Several years ago, I discovered a miracle product called slip paint and have become somewhat of an evangelist, praising its characteristics to anyone who will listen. It is a graphite-based product that reduces friction and makes surfaces slippery. I first heard about it from a farmer who used it to coat the inside of silos so that the contents would slide out easily. I decided to paint a coat on the underside of my lawnmower housing, so that wet grass would not clump and drop onto my lawn in unsightly blobs. This worked so well that I undercoated the grooming mower and bush hog that pair with our tractors. Next came the insides of metal wheelbarrows. The ultimate ~aha!~ was when I painted the inside of our dump trailer. We use the trailer for hauling mulch, wood chips, gravel, manure, potting soil, and the like. It has a battery-operated hydraulic tilt so that contents will slide out when the back gate opens. When the trailer floor and walls were untreated, damp mulch would stick and refuse to release even when the trailer was at its maximum tilt. At this sharp angle, it is impossible to climb into the trailer and push the contents out. Standing directly behind the open bed and trying to tease the stuff out is foolhardy. One unexpected discharge and you could be buried, resulting in injury or death. Now, with an annual wash and recoat with the slip paint, clumping is a distant memory.
I have included a photo of the friction-reducing paint I purchase from a local farm supply store. I’m sure other name brands are available. Go ahead and splurge on the gallon size. You’ll be glad you did.
