Troy-Bilt Giveaway WINNER!

          BY SKEETER  

Last week I posted on the new 2012 Troy-Bilt battery operated Cultivator. Troy-Bilt was kind enough to offer a second cultivator to a lucky reader of In the Garden! The Magic Hat was filled with many names and the drum rolled on......

And the Winner is......

Ta-Da..... 

Congratulations Three Cat Manor!        

Please email us here at In the Garden with your address and phone number as soon as possible. Your new cultivator will be on it's way to your Garden soon!  

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Troy-Bilt Cultivator-GIVEAWAY!

BY SKEETER

Troy-Bilt contacted us here at In the Garden. Was I interested in trying out a new product? Well, sure and here you see Sheba kitty giving the box a complete Cat Scan. She just loves it when that big Brown Truck shows up on our door step!

She really loves it when there is a box within a box here in our Georgia Gardens.

Troy-Bilts 2012 Cordless Cultivator! Up to 1500 square feet on a single charge! Click HERE to learn more about this product from Troy-Bilt.

We have purchased many products from Troy-Bilt over the years and have been happy with them.

My favorite of their products is our Riding Mower AKA: my Red Rider. Here you see Aunt Skeeter using Red Rider for a little family fun on a Summer day.

Click HERE to see other products available from Troy-Bilt that will assist you in the garden.

A continued Cat Scan, reveals all was packaged well for the journey to our gardens.

Don't let the size fool you!

The Saint and I read all the paperwork enclosed and easily installed the wheels. The wheel height can be adjusted for tine depth.

The battery was not fully charged so we set up the charging device and easily inserted the battery.

One hour and 1/2 later and the green light came on to let us know the battery was ready to install into the cultivator. A completely drained battery, should take about 2 hours to fully charge.

We like that the battery has a button to push that will let us know if it needs a charge. Nice to know before one starts a project. This battery can be charged at any point without harming the battery life!

A simple squeeze of the lever on the handle and I began to cultivate the border of a garden. A sort of edging process for us.

Click on the Video to see how easily it chopped its way through the dirt, grass and pine needles. It also broke right through some small roots! We were impressed. I hope these videos work. I am having computer and camera issues today. Grrrr...

As I said, don't let the size fool you. This little thing is powerful for its size! In these video demonstrations, we have the tines (disc) set at medium level. We could go deeper into the earth by adjusting the settings of the wheels. Battery life is 1500 square feet so this is not a tiller type tool for large jobs.

My video went out on me at this point so you must take my word for the next part. We took this tool into the gardens and were able to easily weed. With its compact size, we could go right up against the plants and weed without bending over and hurting our backs! An electric Hoe, maybe? Weeding without bending over makes this a great item in my book!

We were a bit concerned about cleaning the tines. Since it is battery powered, one cannot spray it off with a hose. The Saint demonstrated on a video how easy it is to remove the tines, clean and replace them. The video went grainy on us but I want you to see how easy this process was for us. So I am hoping you can see through the grain of the video. (seems my video has died on the camera, sigh) I timed the removal, brush off and replacement at 25 seconds per side! I would not use this unit in the mud but if I did, I could spray off the tines once removed, dry, oil and replace them easily enough.

And look how light weight! No cords and you can get this red beauty into very small spaces. It is an asset with mixing our compost dirt. It would be awesome to go between rows in a Vegetable Garden and preparing for seed tossing next spring. I am also thinking it may assist me in extending pathways in my gardens! The use of this little gem are endless.  

Have I sold you yet? Well, here comes the best part. One of you lucky commenters will be the proud owner of your very own Troy-Bilt Cultivator! No strings (or cords) attached! Just be located within the contiguous United States. The winner: must let me know their address and phone number via email, for shipping this item direct from Troy-Bilt.  Is that simple enough? Leave us a comment and your name will be entered to win. One entry per person. A winner shall be picked from the Magic Hat on August 01, 2012. The winner's name shall be announced here at  In the Garden on Thursday August 02, 2012.

Get your name in the hat for the TROY-BILT CULTIVATOR-GIVEAWAY, In the Garden...  

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Caged Plants or Gnomes or Critters?

Can you see the caged plants? Specifically white peonies? No, of course not. There are only little red buds down under the mulch in the center of these cages. But soon enough, the cages will disappear in and among all the foliage of these peonies.

So many love peonies. I also love them tremendously. I don't love them much when their beautiful faces are lying on the ground after a heavy rain or a windy day though. That is why all of my peonies are caged.

Mr. Fix-it purchased a huge roll of old concrete reinforcing wire many, many years ago. I believe he purchased it at the metal place on College Street. The price he paid was very low. This wire has saved hundreds of dollars! I use it to cage all sorts of critters-oops-plants. Plants like: tomatoes, peonies, sedums, and mums. I also use it on trellises for growing gourds and cucumbers. It works super and is virtually indestructible.

I designed these peony cages to my specifications exactly, and it has taken me a while to figure out what would work best. Either the cage was too big or not too high. My design has exactly two full six inch squares in height, and about nine squares around. I leave the bottom edge unfinished so I will have stakes to push into the ground for stabilization.

The cages are not the most attractive thing when the peonies are sleeping such as now, but they sure serve a function and I find them to be unobtrusive in the garden. They not only hold up the peonies beautiful blooms, but they remind the gardener (me) not to dig in that spot. This is a big help in my hard working garden.

Skeeter went and got herself a cute little gnome. She hasn't told the Saint as of yet and plans to let him find it on his own. I think he is going to like the little fella. We can see this guy is a gnome of leisure. Maybe he is reading a gardening book and wondering if those peony cages will hinder him in any way.

in the garden....being cagey.