Allotments 4 All
General => News => Topic started by: Golach on March 09, 2014, 18:21:46
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An Azada/Mattock, heavy duty.
Should be here by the end of the week. With two allotments now, one should be ready to start planting shortly, the other infested with 5ft tall weeds but still has a good strawberry patch and raspberry canes, I thought getting one (recommended by Big Gee when I first joined the forum) would be a good investment.
Might also stop son complaining that digging with a fork and spade is a) slow going and b) hurting his back.
Hopefully it'll help clear both allotments quicker.
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I have a few azadas. Did you order from get-digging? The bigger ones were absolutely brilliant for clearing an allotment from weed ridden field and they have been handed on to family members. I sent for a couple more two weeks ago, the lady sized azada which was great yesterday and shows a lot of potential for quick weeding as well as digging and breaking the surface. I also use the smaller hand ones a lot when I want to do on knees work. Such a primitive tool but has stood the test of time
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Yes, great tools. The different weights and widths make them subtly different and suitable for different jobs. I find them most useful for slicing off weeds or turf just below ground level. Even big weeds like brambles or tree suckers.
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I have a digging hoe. Love it. So much quicker than a spade. Clears a bit of a mess in no time at all. I do not know how I managed so long without it.
I am going to use it later this week to produce my potato trenches.
The different weights and widths make them subtly different and suitable for different jobs
Can you post some links to different types. I have the silverline one through Amazon. Though they have another alternative now.
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Mine arrived Saturday along with a spade :glasses9:
Nige
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I have a few azadas. Did you order from get-digging? The bigger ones were absolutely brilliant for clearing an allotment from weed ridden field and they have been handed on to family members. I sent for a couple more two weeks ago, the lady sized azada which was great yesterday and shows a lot of potential for quick weeding as well as digging and breaking the surface. I also use the smaller hand ones a lot when I want to do on knees work. Such a primitive tool but has stood the test of time
Yes. I ordered it from Get Digging. I'll probably order the lady sized one as well - see how we (or at least my son) gets on with this one first. Having it delivered to my work's address so I don't miss the post. Looking forward to getting it.
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Meant to add (but can't get the "modify" to work) that the Azada cost £29 and that includes post and packing.
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The best garden tool there is... Every African (like me) owns one and all use them to hoe and dig in the fields..
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Got an e-mail saying my Azada is on it's way. Hopefully be here before the end of the week.
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I love mine - it's just the thing for tree roots and getting through hardcore. I can see I will be using it a lot to make trenches too, once I get the hang of it. (it's quite heavy....)
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Looked on the Courier's (Hermes) website as it's trackable. Says delivery not due until next Tuesday the 18th :BangHead:
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It just arrived :blob7:
Guess who's going to be busy this weekend :toothy10:
Hope the weather is good so everyone do a :sunny: dance.
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OK. The verdict on the Adaza:
Every allotment should have one.
We've got the heavy duty one and it's too heavy for me, partly because I've got a permanently damaged wrist which is very weak. However, son used it and cleared a lot of the allotment in less than a couple of hours. He reckoned it would have taken him at least 3 times longer using a fork and spade.
I left him to it and started on Allotment No.2. Quite an interesting allotment it is too and even though it's covered in tall grass (mostly dead), I don't think it's been left any more than 2 or 3 years. Found some good quality netting that hasn't rotted and I'm wondering what that covered. Further down, whoever had it last put carpet down to kill the weeds. Tall grass has grown over the top of it and there's a mat of dead grass about 2 inches thick covering it but I suspect underneath the carpet the soil is good.
Allotment No.2, in my opinion is the best of the two. Allotment No.1 gets quite a lot of shade. No. 2 gets full sun so that's where I'm going too site a plastic greenhouse and put the shed at the far end of No.1, nearest the trees and bushes.
Rome wasn't built in a day so getting both allotments the way I want them is going to take quite a while.
Also saw a couple of Queen Bumblebees buzzing around today and had a visit in my kitchen this morning from a Queen Honeybee. I think Spring is here :toothy10:
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I'm a fan of the azada too. We have a medium weight one, which seems to do for most jobs. We also got one with a forked rather than a bladed end. Although it's useful for some jobs, the normal azada is by far the best.
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I'm a fan of the azada too. We have a medium weight one, which seems to do for most jobs. We also got one with a forked rather than a bladed end. Although it's useful for some jobs, the normal azada is by far the best.
I'm going to order the smaller one later on this week. It says on the description that it is favoured by ladies.
My son did find it heavy going today as the soil is still quite wet and sticky. Most of our soil here is clay. Brassicas love it though - and we love Brassicas :)
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i have just ordered one and im going to give it bash after reading this thread.
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i have just ordered one and im going to give it bash after reading this thread.
My son was getting the hang of it by the time we left the allotment yesterday. In his own words "I wish we'd had this thing to start with".
It does make short work of sorting out a badly overgrown/neglected allotment.
Would say it's the best investment I've made in gardening tools yet, hence I'm getting the small one as well as it's useful for a multitude of things.
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well it arrived today and since fitting the head i havent stopped using it, it digs it weeds it trenches, i think its brilliant and not alot of effort to use.
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I got one about 3 weeks ago. Cracking tool. So easy to dig a trench and along with the long handled spade, cleared a spud trench in 10 minutes (which is good for me) :blob7:
A work colleague and fellow digger on our allotment site saw it and immediately ordered one for himself.
Nige
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A friend brought one over from Portugal for us, just the head. There were so many jobs we couldn't have done without it, from clearing mounds of unknown stuff to removing compacted manure from a stable & penetrating seriously compacted soil. Brilliant tool.
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I have had a heavy duty one for about 20 years and wouldn't be without it. Brilliant for attacking my heavy clay soil, scrapping weeds up, trenching etc.
There is only a Jamaican guy and me with one on our site as far as I know - I guess most people prefer what they know.
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I have had a heavy duty one for about 20 years and wouldn't be without it. Brilliant for attacking my heavy clay soil, scrapping weeds up, trenching etc.
There is only a Jamaican guy and me with one on our site as far as I know - I guess most people prefer what they know.
One of the allotment holders comes from Monserrat. He showed my son how to use it properly. He was saying that's all they use in Monserrat. We have quite a lot of Italians on the allotments and I've seen some of them use the smaller ones.
Just a shame I find mine a bit too heavy to use but son gets on fine with it. Probably get the lighter one for myself but want a poly tunnel first.
Managed to escape work early today (why we bothered opening is beyond me) so just having a quick coffee then off to the plot.
I'm on my own just now as son went down with Shingles. He's a kidney transplantee and it's knocked him sideways :sad7: