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Unusual & Old
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Unusual Allotment Tools.

When you have an Allotment it is quite normal to have a separate set of Tools actually kept on your Plot, in a Shed, or in a Storage Box of some sort. Dirty Tools then don’t have to be transported backwards and forwards in your Car but can be kept on site. However, most people try to spend as little as possible on their Plots and the general Allotments ethic is to do everything on a budget and re-cycle where possible. With this in mind many Plot Holders “Acquire,” second hand tools, but there are those for whom money is no object and who go out and buy a brand new Shed, and a whole collection of shiny new Tools.

Every novice Plot Holder knows that you need Spades, Forks, Hoes Trowels and a Rake, etc, but there are other tools which it is useful to keep on your Plot that you might not immediately think of. Indeed, for those who want everything and for whom money is no object, or for those wanting to make Christmas Present suggestions to friends and family – here is a small list of less commonly used pieces of Gardening Equipment
.

A small and clean Artists Paintbrush. This can be used to hand Pollinate the flowers of early flowering Fruit Trees like Peaches and Apricots and some Vegetable Plants may also need hand Pollination. In early Spring it can be quite cold and often, when things like Peaches Flower, there are no, or few, pollinating Insects about to do their job. This may result in Flowers not getting pollinated and therefore no fruit will be produced. A small Paintbrush can be used to gently wiggle into Flowers transferring Pollen from one to another to hand pollinate them. The process only takes a few seconds and is simple to do but may make the difference between getting a good crop and none at all.

A Metal Builders Spike is perhaps something that most people have never even come across, but they were used regularly by both Farmers and Builders. Like a lot of things these days, I guess Machines are often used for the job of putting in Posts, but on an Allotment, a Builders Spike definitely has its uses.
When putting in Pegs to hold edging Boards in place, or when driving in Posts to support Trees or Climbers, it is far better to use a Spike initially to make a hole that will then enable you to put the Post in straight instead of it going in at an angle as they are wont to do. They are so effective at what they do, you can even use a Spike to punch a hole through Builders Rubble, or Hardcore, if you want to.
A heavy piece of solid metal tubing or a metal rod, a Builders Spike has one end pointed and can vary from about 3 feet long up to 6 about foot at which size they are probably too big for most people to handle. To use one simply hold it with two hands, or one if possible, and drive it down into the ground twisting it a little to release it and keep doing this until the required depth has been reached. Then hammer your post in.

Most people will use a Sledge Hammer to put Posts in, but doing this will usually break up the end of the Post and it is much easier to do it with a Post Driver. However, Post Drivers are very heavy and it is a strenuous tool to use, but they do a good job and if you can use one it takes only a few seconds drive a post into the ground anything up to two feet or so. Above that, at least with 6 feet of Post above ground, the job becomes unmanageable
.

As you can see from the Picture, a Post Driver is basically a large and long piece of metal tubing, sealed at one end, with a stout handle on either side. They are not cheap to buy, but if you can get one, they are a Godsend on an Allotment for putting in Posts of almost any size
.

Lump Hammer.
You will often see Plot Holders struggling to put in Plant Stakes, Pegs and the like with ordinary Hammers, but a Lump Hammer is a much better tool for the job. They are so called because they are basically a large lump of metal on a short handle. (Smaller than a Sledge Hammer, but basically only because they have a short handle) They are much heavier than a normal Hammer, but are ideal for Pegs, Stakes and even breaking up a bit of rubble and bricks.

When laying Slabs, or Bricks to make a Cold Frame or a Path it may be necessary to cut them. Of course you can use an expensive Electric, or even petrol, Grinder, but a Bolster Chisel and Lump Hammer is the old fashioned way that Builders of old used to do it. You score where you want to cut on the Brick or Slab and then gently tap all round using the Bolster Chisel and Hammer. As you start making a deeper line you will eventually find that, if you have done it right, the Brick or Slab will just fall apart along the line. It takes a little care, but with a little patience it doesn’t really take that long. Obviously it won’t be as clean a cut as a Grinder, but, if the Bricks are pointed up with Cement, you won’t see the difference and the Tools are a lot cheaper to use and to buy!

Another sort of Hammer that is often of use on an Allotment is a lightweight Tacking Hammer. They are much lighter and easier to use than a Claw Hammer where the job needs a bit more delicacy such as on a shed roof. Indeed, they are ideal and in fact purpose made for putting in the Tacks on the Roof of a Shed when you have to change the Roofing Felt. Also, they are perfect for putting in Panel Pins, especially for holding the beading around Windows on Sheds and the like. You can slide the Hammer along the Glass to put in the Pin instead of hammering it directly when you might risk hitting the Glass. It may seem counterintuitive to slide the Hammer along the Glass, but doing this is actually far less likely to break the Glass.

If you are putting in Vine Eyes, or Screws by hand rather than using a modern Electric Drill, then you might want to use an old-fashioned Gimlet, or Bradawl and an Old Bar of Soap. The first two can be used to make a fine hole in the Timber to start off the Screw, depending on how rough you are with them, and the Soap can then be used to lubricate the Screw or Vine Eye. You might want to soften the soap first, but it makes the job of putting in a Screw by hand so much easier. Even quite big Screws seem to just slip in if they are rubbed with soap first.
So, a large Screwdriver is another item that you may want to keep in your Shed. What else would you want with a large Screwdriver on an Allotment? The most obvious use is to open cans of Paint when you want to paint a Shed, or a Bench. There is nothing more infuriating than getting settled to Paint a Shed and then not being able to open the Paint Tin. Yes you might be able to use the point of a Fork or Trowel, but it is so much easier with a big Screwdriver and sometimes you may actually have use for it as a Screwdriver anyway. You may need it to assemble a Kit form Cold Frame, Compost Heap or even a Tool Box to keep all of your new Tools in!