Here’s handy recycled garden tool: a plastic bakery tray, also called a bread tray, with a grid bottom.
You can use it as a sifter to:
- Remove undecomposed items from finished compost;
- Remove stones from garden soil;
- Sift out invasive rhizomes and roots;
- Harvest new potatoes;
- And dozens of other things, I’m sure.
Just shovel in the soil or compost and shake: smaller particles go right through; larger bits stay put. Couldn’t be easier!
Carry Plants Too
I keep mine in my car trunk when I go plant shopping. I call it my “plant lugger” and I fill it with pots of plants I can then easily carry all at once rather than just two or three at a time.
I’m sure you could find one of these cheaply at a flea market.
Can’t find one? Try a milk crate. It also makes a great sifter and plant lugger!
It is amusing how useful some common items can be in the garden. One of my favorite tools for plugging zonal geraniums and iceplant is a common tire iron. (It is not just any tire iron though. It is from a 1976 Electra!)