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  • Helpful harvest tools

    Hi everyone,

    Looking ahead to the hopefully bountiful harvests later in the summer, we were just wondering if your recycling and DIY skills are used when picking your crops? There are lots of snazzy, specialist tools on the market to help, such as potato forks, telescopic nets for reaching those fruits at the top of the tree, berry pickers to save time consuming hand picking, etc. But have you found that any items around the house do the same job? Or have you made anything similar yourself?

    Answers may be edited and published in the August issue of Grow Your Own.

    Laura
    Keep up to date with GYO's breaking news on twitter and facebook!

    Twitter: @GYOmag
    Facebook: facebook.com/growyourownmag

  • #2
    My husband!

    Comment


    • #3
      ^^^^^..do you hire him out...or is he waaay too busy?


      Nice thread Laura...looking forward to some new, interesting ideas!
      "Nicos, Queen of Gooooogle" and... GYO's own Miss Marple

      Location....Normandy France

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      • #4
        Thanks Nicos - yes, we're hoping to pick up some new tips to use on our plots... just need a kind season for good hauls of berries as well!

        Laura
        Keep up to date with GYO's breaking news on twitter and facebook!

        Twitter: @GYOmag
        Facebook: facebook.com/growyourownmag

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        • #5
          He's way too busy to loan out, he also does the cooking too!

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          • #6
            I've just remembered I bought hubby one of the knives for harvesting asparagus, he seemed to like it

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            • #7
              I find one of the most useful tools is my trowel. I got fed up with spearing or slicing the best tatties with a fork or spade so now I excavate with my trowel. It takes longer but I don't have nearly so many casualties and it's quite a pleasant task on a warm Autumn day.

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              • #8
                I use a cheap sweetcorn fork for pricking out teeny seedlings, and my dad made a thick wire hook that he fastened to a long bamboo cane to haul blackberry canes to within reach. 30 years later it's shorter (or I am taller ) but still in use.

                My boyfriend has promised me a sturdy version of his father's fab tin-onna-stick for harvesting figs as some very thoughtful Council worker planted what is now a HUGE tree along the river walk. It has thousands of figs on it and I am determined that some will be mine!

                Pics of said useful but unglamorous tools can be provided!
                Last edited by sparrow100; 29-05-2014, 03:27 PM.
                http://mudandgluts.com - growing fruit and veg in suburbia

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                • #9
                  sparrow100 - I love that idea!
                  Also figs... *dreaming of this year's crop*

                  Laura
                  Keep up to date with GYO's breaking news on twitter and facebook!

                  Twitter: @GYOmag
                  Facebook: facebook.com/growyourownmag

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I use my telescopic loppers ( which I normally use to prune with) to cut flowerheads of the elder, when they are to high to reach

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Laura Hillier View Post
                      sparrow100 - I love that idea!
                      Also figs... *dreaming of this year's crop*

                      Laura
                      In these days of mobile phones no one looks up anymore, so I might be the only one snaffling them.
                      http://mudandgluts.com - growing fruit and veg in suburbia

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        We use a nail knocked into a broom handle at an angle to hook over the top of a cherry tree branch to pull it down a few feet to be able to harvest the fruit.
                        Works a treat!
                        "Nicos, Queen of Gooooogle" and... GYO's own Miss Marple

                        Location....Normandy France

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                        • #13
                          I use an old pair of hairdressing scissors to harvest beans, courgettes, flowers etc. they're less bulky than secateurs but sharp enough to give a clean cut.

                          Personally, I think some of the gadgets sold for harvesting look like more trouble than they're worth, especially potato scoops and berry strimmers. I prefer to use my hands!

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                          • #14
                            Not necessarily a harvesting tool but a basket with different sections to put the produce in as you harvest, it is very handy so you keep the different foods separate and don't get dirt in things.
                            E.G - Raspberry's are a pain in the ass to clean if you get dirt in them from your potatoes
                            My new Blog.

                            http://jamesandthegiantbeetroot.blogspot.com

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                            • #15
                              I pick soft fruit into a plastic jug as I only need one hand to hold it and can pile the berries in with the other hand.
                              Then I sit in the sunshine and strip the berries from the bunches with a table fork.............
                              I'm sure everyone does this

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