Above: In today’s Garden Basics “Beyond Basics” Newsletter podcast: Brad Gay of JB’s Power Equipment in Davis, CA explains what to look for when choosing garden pruners. And, Debbie Flower has a garden tool storage tip you may not be aware of: your garage floor could rust your shovels! Here’s a hint on what to do:

We are back to two Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcasts a week as we start Season 3 (plus Friday’s newsletter podcast). On Tuesday’s Episode 164, we talked with Matthew Ampersand of Find Out Farms and Community Fruit in Sacramento about the best tools to own to pick fruit. Debbie Flower and I chat about the importance of winter cleanup in your garden, to help stave off the pests this spring and summer.

In Friday’s Episode 165, Debbie and I do a deep dive into garden tool care and selection, including the must-have tools that should be part of every gardener’s arsenal of backyard fun.

In Episode 164, Matthew Ampersand mentioned his favorite snips for removing citrus and apples from trees, while retaining a bit of the stem on the fruit (we talk about why that’s important). He said his go-to small pruners resemble dog toenail clippers. They fit easily into the front pocket of overalls, tend to stay sharp, and yes, professional orchardists and farm workers do use them.

It’s Citrus Harvest Season in USDA Zone 9. But Who’s Going to Pick all That Fruit?

Matthew also told us about his volunteer group, Community Fruit, that gathers unused backyard fruit around Sacramento and distributes the fruit to the needy. Considering that nearly one-third of all the food grown in the U.S. is never eaten, with most of it ending up in a landfill, this is a project that should be emulated throughout the United States.

One way you can help reduce the amount of wasted food in this country is to store it properly when you bring it inside, so it lasts longer in your kitchen. The UC Davis Post Harvest Technology Department has produced a handy sheet for hanging on the inside of one of your kitchen cabinet doors: “Storing Fresh Fruits and Vegetables for Better Taste.”

Also in Episode 164, Debbie Flower told us about the importance of winter cleanup in the garden, how removing fallen fruit, leaves, branches and any fruit hanging dead in the trees could stave off many insects, diseases and weed seeds that could survive the winter in that debris, and spring to life…in spring. If you have backyard apple or pear trees, this is especially effective at controlling codling moth, and its wormy larvae that will be burrowing in and out of your apples and pears when the weather warms. So, if you have areas of your garden that look like this:

Take action now before the codling moth comes out of hibernation in late winter and early spring.

Anvil versus Bypass? It’s No Contest When Choosing Hand Pruners

Episode 165, “Garden Tool Care and Selection”, presented a wide-ranging lesson from our favorite schoolmarm, Debbie Flower, on choosing the right tools and caring for them properly. We discussed the importance of caring for wooden handled tools, which involves sandpaper, boiled linseed oil and some old rags or towels. But we both drew a blank when talking about care tips for fiberglass handles on shovels and other large garden tools. One website did offer this, however:

“Fortunately, fiberglass handles require very little in the way of maintenance. All you really need to do is give them a good wash down to remove any dirt or grime. However, now is a good time to give each handle a thorough examination. Fiberglass can be damaged by the sun and if you apply to much stress it will crack. Catching any signs of damage early can save someone from getting seriously hurt if a handle should happen to break under a load. Remember to store your tools with fiberglass handles out of the sun.”

However, if you want the real lowdown on fiberglass handles, eavesdrop on some fire fighters. You might hear comments like this:

“We have some very old fiberglass handles here, once or twice a year they get TLC in the form of a wipe down with fine grit sandpaper to remove those pesky little splinters, some steel wool on the heads, and a little Rustoleum paint, good as new! Newer stuff comes with a plastic overlay which protects both you and the fiberglass. And be sure to wear gloves, always always always, even when cleaning up. You think fiberglass splinters are a pain? While cleaning up after a fire I found out the hard way that window glass splinters are much worse.”

And it’s kind of hard to be discussing garden tools without it devolving into the pros and cons of anvil versus bypass pruners. Basically, it’s this:

If you listened to this newsletter’s podcast at the top of the page, you also got the opinion of Brad Gay of JB’s Power Equipment in Davis, CA. Just say Yes! to bypass pruners.

Meanwhile, back at Episode 165, I gave my secret for cleaning my shovels and cutting equipment of hard to remove mud: a barbecue grill brush, that lives in the garden tool shed. Besides the cleaning action of the bristles, that thin metal plate at the top of the brush head is great for getting into the rolled foot rest of the shovel to clean out the mud:

Controlling rust on garden tools was also a hot topic of conversation in Episode 165. Here’s more information on rust control from Home Depot.

Debbie also mentioned, and I concurred, that one of our favorite utility garden tools is the Hori-Hori knife. It’s a trowel! It’s a root saw! It’s digs! It excavates weeds! And you’ll probably lose it, unless you paint the handle a bright yellow or wrap the handle with brightly colored electrical tape.

We spent a good portion of our tool care chat talking about sharpening tools. Go back and listen to that. And then watch this video.

Links to Products Talked About on the Podcasts:

Felco Bypass Pruners Felco’s How To Clean and Sharpen Pruners VideoFelco Sharpening ToolHori-Hori KnifeFiberglass Handled Shovels3-in-1 Oil

Orchard fruit pruning shears/snipsOrchard LaddersHarvest Bags

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Fred Hoffman is also a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener in Sacramento County.

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