What's a Widger?
By Matt Drewno, Green Belt Mini-Farm Manager

Matt uses a widger to prick out seedlings from one flat to another.
PHOTO CREDIT: Joe Huber

I love a good tool, and it seems they are getting harder to find! Many of the gadgets that claim to make my life easier actually seem to frustrate and complicate my life. Some of the greatest tools I've ever owned have been the simplest—heirloom tools I inherited from my grandmother and grandfather—like their pickax, mattock and wheelbarrow. They just don't make 'em like they used to!

A few of my favorite garden tools are my Clarington Forge D-Handled Garden Spade, my Bulldog Garden Fork, and perhaps above all others—my widger! What's a widger, you ask? It's a little pounded-out piece of metal that looks like a miniature shoe horn, or a butter knife that was run over by a train. It's a piece of metal with the perfect kink in it, and it fits in your pocket. Its primary use is for pricking out and transplanting seedlings. I have found it's also great for getting under weeds and popping them out, it can function as a flat-head screwdriver or a wedge for prying things apart, and it's the perfect lever for opening a beer after a long day's work in the garden. For me, a good tool has many uses. The widger is my favorite.

Want a widger of your own? You can find them at Bountiful Gardens!

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