Farmers use a variety of tools, big and small, simple or complicated, to get their work done. Here are some of the most used and handiest of ours:

Tractor – Since we’re a no-till farm we don’t use it for deep plowing, discing or cultivating. But we haul a lot of stuff in the bucket, heavy stuff that would be too hard and too taxing to lug around by hand… compost, tree branches for the burn pile, building materials, loads of harvested melons and squash, etc.

Rototiller – We use tillers to fluff up and aerate the top inch or two of our grow beds to give new plants’ roots a good environment to get going.

Four-wheeler – This critter is one of the busiest machines on the farm. It goes practically anywhere, thanks to four-wheel drive and tough tires. We use it for taking equipment to the field, bringing boxes of harvested produce back in, hauling loaded farmers market boxes to the van, moving loads of compost… on and on.

Portable low tunnel hoops – We use these all over the farm for protecting crops from both cold and heat.

Irrigation pumps – These are actually well pumps, designed to push water from the depths of the earth hundreds of feet up a vertical shaft to the surface.  We lay them sideways in the bottom of the creek and their power easily pulls water out and pushes it to the storage tank that dot the farm.

Irrigation tanks – People have come up with many uses for these 300-gallon transport tanks. We put them up on stands and they gravity-feed creek water from our pumps down through networks of PVC pipe and tubing to keep our crops moist.

Garden trowel -- This is actually a masonry trowel, much better, we think, than a standard garden trowel. It has a pointed tip, good for creating deep divots for transplants. It digs deep for weed roots, and its broad, flat surface is useful in sweeping across the tops of grow beds to slice off unwanted vegetation.

Pick – This version is heavy duty, and useful in rooting out stubborn, deep-rooted invaders.