Titanium SeedNeedles

Hi Everyone,

It's a damp and dark day here today with what could be a sizable early March snowstorm bearing down on us. We're supposed to get up to a foot of wet heavy snow over the next 24 hours so there will be a mess to clean up tomorrow. At least this time of year it doesn't tend to hang around too long, and truth be told, we really need it as the relatively light snow fall this winter might be setting us up for a bit of drought in the spring. We'll see what happens.

Speaking of spring...my absolute favorite time of year! This year I will be planting a variety of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuces and other vegetables. It's actually time to start some seeds right now and continue throughout the next month so I can get an early start on the gardens. Planning ahead is important for successful gardens and that's what got me thinking last fall about making a small batch of today's nifty tool, the sleek and elegant SeedNeedle.

The SeedNeedle is a mini planting tool for planting seeds consistently at their recommended depths. It's loosely based on a very ancient tool, the dibble or dibber as they are sometimes called, which are traditionally made of wood and often have scribed depth lines. My pocket sized version is made of titanium and features a deeply milled 2 inch depth scale with 1/4 inch increments on one side and a 5cm depth gauge on the reverse side.

The SeedNeedles are all further embellished with my huge collection of antique and contemporary blacksmith stamps, especially those with botanical or nature themes of which there are many. The tools have been anodized and then most of the anodized color removed except for the measuring lines and marks. The final finishing allows the tool to be used freely without worrying about messing up the anodizing. Although these are designed with seed planting in mind you can certainly use them for estimating the depth of anything shallow or simply as a quick and handy measuring tool.

SeedNeedles will run $65 plus shipping and there is a limit of two on them please. Happy gardening this year!

All gone for now, thank you as always!