Here's a place for you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shovel

I've heard people rave about this shovel, but have never tried one. I rarely use a shovel anymore.....usually just use a pick for all my digging. Heavier than a shovel, but much faster IMO.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fiskars shovel

Thanks, y'all. I didn't know fiskars made shovels, but I don't shop that much either... I'll have to check those out.

Thanks!

This might be a stupid question, but you broke the shovel or the handle? If it's the handle that can be replaced.

I used to do a lot of digging when I was putting in water services and mains. I found the best shovels are the fiberglass handle ones. I like the Rigid ones that Home Depot has. Fiberglass will break like wood will but it doesn't rot or dry out like wood does so you'll get much longer performance with them.

The trick to making shovel work easier is to keep it sharp. Especially if you are in a lot of clay and roots.

Nicole: the handle snapped apart when it goes down into the metal part. Replacing the handle was my first thought. I'll look into that also. :)

JCalhoun: I have a long handled shovel with a fiberglass handle, and it works great, but i need a short one for digging too. And i think my whole place is made of clay and roots... Raised bed are another project on the list. I hope to get at least one (4' x 12') ready for fall.

Well if the tree service guys ever get around to taking my ash trees down, you can have a handle's worth. :) How long does that have to cure anyway?

Since your greenhouse is mostly for starting seeds, have you considered combining your two projects, the raised beds and the greenhouse? If you have those free windows, you could choose to build cold frames instead. Once the seedlings are grown up and the weather stabilizes, remove the windows and use it as a raised bed. Plus the cold frames can be used to extend the season in the fall.

Nobody uses (and abuses) shovels more than your local water and gas companies. The brand they use is Nupla.

Most every gas company I work with uses them. They're not cheap, but they'll last a homeowner for years and years.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nupla

Nicole: You know, I never thought of that. I plan on making quite a few of those beds and that would be a lot of windows to move back and forth every day and I am gone most of the day for work... Its definitely something I'll consider. And cold frames/beds were on my list anyway for the seeds that need to be direct sown.

Sundog: I'll check that out. Thanks.

Jackie

Personally I'd rather lean on a shovel than use it. Guess I've been around utility workers too long. LOL!

OK Jackie,

So...buy you a shovel, raise your beds, and get your bu++ to the plant swap this fall so we can get you some stuff to put in those beds!

You have no idea how much you're missed.

Nelson :-D

My husband has a steel handled shovel. Weighs a ton and a half, precluding me from ever having to use it. Yay! I'll say one thing for it: it sort of digs holes on its own.

Now thats what i need, a SELF-PROPELLED shovel!

lol!

So, Jackie...what kind of shovel did you end up getting?

I've broken brand-new top-grade hickory shovel handles, popped the D-handle off a fairly new fiberglass-handled tree-planting spade, but NOTHING beats my 'King of Spades' long-handled tree-digging spade - http://www.wwmfg.com/default.asp?contentID=1154

If the rest of the KoS line is as good and sturdy as this one, you'll get a lifetime of use and abuse out of 'em.
Pricey, yes - but well worth the cost.

Here is a link that might be useful: WW Mfg. - King of Spades shovels/spades

Look for something called a "mattock" which has a pick or an ax on one side of the head, and then a long sharpened heavy HOE (for want of a better word...I'm not fluent in tool terms). The handle is wood, heavy duty hardwood I think, and it is short like an ax handle. I have onethat has a pick on one side of the head, and the "hoe" on the other. I bought it at Ace Hardware.

Like John_Trussville, I use mine more than I do a shovel. If it is kept sharp, it is great for cutting through roots, tough clay, will make a trench in no time, and, it saves my back. I lift it up high, then sort of let it fall heavy, and it works easily-- where the shovel requires me to jump up and down on it. I'd say the thing I'm calling the "hoe" part of the heavy head would be shaped like an adz, but for much heavier work than simply shaving tree boles.

Yep. Mattocks are great for tough hard soild and roots.

Also good for finding buried pipes, LOL!

Ohhh, you are so right!!! The crew digging to place a foundation for our house bumpout, and it is in Mobile also, hit the sewer pipe and broke it. It was the old clay pipes, and that's how I discovered there used to be a septic system in our yard....bummer. They were using a mattock too.

Rhizo, I think what your DH has is the same sort of shovel that the "digger" employed by Laura Kays Nursery here in Mobile uses. He loves it so much, keeps it sharp sharp too, and thus the spade end is now ground down a lot. But it has a lot of momentum when he puts it in the soil. He delivered two trees to our lot (after we had 6 big ones taken out), and I let him dig the holes and plant them.

But if you know where all your lines are buried, your pipes, and you don't own a trencher, the mattock is a good alternative and very neat. I rely on it a lot, because I simply cannot dig anywhere in my garden without encountering nasty roots.

Nelson, I must have skipped over your post from July. The beds will mainly be for vegetables. I just don't have time for any more flowers right now. I can't even get the beds built. It seems like theres always something that has to be done. I'll probably be at the swap, but I doubt I'll be able to bring anything at all...

Rhizo,
Well I haven't bought one yet. You could say I'm still shopping; or procrastinating!!

Lucky,
I just called and they're gonna send me a catalog and price list. Did you buy yours locally or order it online?

Moccasinlanding,
I think I actually have a mattock... I'm so used to using the short shovel though. That and my fork are my multi-purpose tools. :)

And I haven't had a chance to work on the greenhouse at all either. I went out and started putting the beds together last weekend before the two straight days of rain and my drill died after 8 screws... Its charging right now, and I hope to get a little more done when I get home today.
Wish me luck everybody!

Thanks,
Jackie

Jackie,
I ordered my King of Spades online - a friend who operates a fruit/nut tree nursery first turned me on to 'em - so I knew what I wanted/needed before I even got to the website.