A few weeks ago, my favorite garden tool was easy to pick. It was once a hoe, but the hoe blade fell off, leaving just a little hook on the end of a long pole. I took one look at that and decided it was perfect for making rows when planting peas, beans, whatever. And I’ve used it ever since.

But now that things are planted, I might have to say my favorite tool is something called the Hula-Ho, a scuffle hoe or an “action” hoe. You can push it and pull it and it doesn’t take much muscle to turn my garden into something I could actually proudly show a visitor.

I’ve noticed, though, there are starting to be an awfully lot of options in the garden tool department. There are dozens of designs of hoes alone. The winged hoe, for instance, looks like it could be lethal to weeds. But maybe to my shins, too. Has anyone tried it?

How about some of the other options for de-weeding our world? Have you been tempted by the flamers, the infra-red weeders, the organic weedkillers? What’s your favorite garden tool — and why?

When it comes to gardening gloves, leather and cotton are sooo 20th century. This season, cyborg inspired styles and synthetics are all the rage. But are hi-tech materials worth the high price?

Amy Stewart of Garden Rant reviewed the latest and greatest in garden gloves. She’s hard on her hands, and her gloves rarely last longer than a year. (What do they grow out there in Zone 9, anyway?)

I’m a flake and often loose a pair (or two) of West County gloves during the growing season. At $30 a pop, it’s heartbreaking to loose a hand. Often I’m weeding with mismatched gloves, or running around the yard wearing only one.

What gloves do you love? What ones have brought you nothing but disappointment? With season clearance sales right around the corner, now is a good time to share your garden glove reviews and score an expensive pair on the cheap.

I have a friend who laughs at my projects. She says I don’t do anything small. Now, I have to admit that she’s right.

This hot summer has really gotten me thinking about rain barrels. It’s the smartest thing in the world to catch otherwise wasted water and save it for watering the garden. It reduces run-off and conserves water. So smart.

In Texas, there are a dozen firms that specialize in rain catchment systems. I couldn’t find any in Minnesota, so I started talking to my neighbor, who is an excavator (and rain barrel enthusiast) about creating one for me.

Of course, I had a challenge. Normally rain barrels sit under downspouts. But our architect didn’t spec any down spouts for our house when we remodeled it this spring, preferring instead to have wide galvanized metal gutters without downspouts. They look great, but heavy rain drills holes in my lawn.

With the help of my neighbor and his crew, we installed a cool new system last week. The water falls into in-ground 12″ x 12″ basins placed under the end of each gutter. From there, it runs through underground tubing and collects in a 1300-gallon concrete underground holding tank! Now, that’s one big rain barrel!

It hasn’t rained here since they installed it, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we get that storm later today. For so many reasons, both small — and big!

I’ve always tried to conserve water around the house to use in the garden. When I run the dehumidifier, I use the water it produces in the hosta bed. In the evening, I dump the leftover coffee from breakfast on the the Nikko Blue hydrangeas. (I know it doesn’t add enough acidity to turn them from pink to blue, but I do it anyway.)

For more Zone 4 gardening tips, check out Connie’s weekly podcast Dirt on Gardening

I had no idea this might be considered strange until I was emptying the water from the salad spinner onto some container plants. My neighbor saw me and asked what the heck I was doing. When I explained, she said “Oh, I see . . .” and ran back in her house.

Just yesterday, I got a press release from Organic Gardening magazine, which offered “a few smart water conservation tips.” They included keeping a bucket in the shower and the kitchen sink to catch the water that runs while you’re waiting for it to heat up.

Is that weird? Or is it a good idea? What kind of wacky things do you do to save water? Where do you draw the line?

I never mean to do it. It just happens. Weekend mornings, I grab a cup of coffee and head out to the garden for a quick look. Next thing I know it’s noon and I’ve discovered that the PJs I’ve been wearing for several hours are threadbare.

My neighbors are used to seeing me garden in my jammies. By now, they’ve either come to forgive me or ignore me. So that’s not my Garden Fashionista quandry. This is:

Say I’ve been working in the garden — all the livelong day. (Huh. Sounds like a song.) Say I’m sweaty, covered with dirt. Then I realize I’m out of potting soil or fish emulsion. So I brush my teeth, put on a baseball cap and head for a local nursery. But once at the local nursery I get stared at by all the make-up wearing, blow-dried, cleanly clothed people shopping there. (I once had a little kid look at me, cry and run for his mommy. And I had even brushed my teeth…)

What gives? Aren’t garden centers full of dirty things, like plants? Should I be required to take a shower and put on clean clothes before I load bags of manure into my car?

I guess I’ve taken my mom’s saying, “a little bit of dirt never hurt anybody,” too much to heart. Am I out of bounds? I mean, what should one wear to the garden center? What do you say, Greenthumbs?