The first step to becoming a beginner gardener!
The first step to becoming a gardener will be to prepare the soil for gardening. As noted in a previous post, the soil is a dense, heavy clay so it will require quite a bit of work to make it suitable for growing vegetables.
First trip to the home center to buy some basic tools and things. Just the basic hand tools and a few things including a spiffy blue wheelbarrow that will be needed to start transforming a small section of the plot of land into a kitchen garden.
It was the first time to see some of the tools, in particular the long hoe and the shovel with the holes.
The long hoe is called an Uonuma Style Hoe (魚沼型鍬). It is named after this area. It is shaped/angled differently than regular hoes and is geared to areas such as this.
The shovel with the holes is intended to be used for waterlogged soil. The perforated blade lets the water escape so it is ideal for wet soils. It is also good for clearing muddy areas like irrigation trenches around fields and raised garden beds. I guess that a similar shovel with smaller holes is sometimes called a mud shovel in English.
I tried to select local tools if they were available because they are made with years of experience and intended for the conditions in this area.
