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Using a Russian Hoe

Weeding: rake just below the soil surface to cut down small sprouts. For deep rooted weeds like dandelion, the long blade and sharp point make it easy to dig the tap root out of the soil without bending down to pull by hand.

Digging: the sharp point and 6 1/2″ long blade make digging into soil or lawn a snap. Use it for edging and digging holes for potatoes or other root crops.

Cultivating: Again, the sharpened edges make cultivating the surface of the soil very easy to do. Since the tool is lightweight overall, and can be sized to fit you properly, there’s minimal stress on the body when working with this hand forged garden hoe.

Furrowing: by drawing the crook of the hoe along the surface of cultivated soil, a furrow is formed for planting seed. The deeper into the soil you press with the hoe, the deeper the furrow.

Starting a new garden bed all with this one tool: Dig the lawn first to loosen it up. Draw the hoe through the first few inches to cut the grass roots. Add compost or organic matter to your new garden patch and cultivate it using the sharpened point and to break up any dirt clods. Form furrows for seeds or dig holes for transplants or tubers. All done with one tool!

Check out the Russian Hoe in our Shop

Here’s a video showing how three of our tools work well together: the Russian hoe, the broadfork and the hori hori:

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2020 in Review

It’s about time for an update from the crew here. My wife has taken on a bigger and more direct role in how we do things in the forge. I’m grateful for her presence and dedication. We fully expected the pandemic to slam our business into the ground but it had the exact opposite effect. This website, and our Etsy shop, helped make 2020 one of our best years yet. That was the impetus for my wife to devote more of her time helping me with Reforged Ironworks.

A trend we noticed last year, despite the obvious move to purchasing online, was the renewed interest in “do-it-yourself” and buying local. This phenomenon helped drive interest in our gardening tools, which has always been the main purpose of creating our business. Also, the crazy increases in material prices for things such as newly manufactured wood and steel has reaffirmed our decision to make as much of our product with old and reclaimed materials.

In a lot of ways, it seemed that we were ahead of the curve. Can we stay ahead of it in the second year of a pandemic and with all the other shifting variables and concerns out there in the world? We won’t know until it’s come and past. I can say with some certainty, however, that not chasing fads and instead staying true to our focus and reason for doing the work we do, i.e. to create heirloom quality garden and homestead tools by hand from reclaimed materials, will most likely see us through any challenges that come our way.

– Tim