Everybody Loves CobraHead
April 15th, 2006 
by Susan Harris
Let me be the first to thank Andrea at Heavy Petal for the prize that arrived in today’s mail - a CobraH
ead "precision weeder and cultivator," which I won because my little essay on how I got started gardening was chosen as the best of the bunch. Well, actually the four winners were chosen at random but who’s to know? Having recently read some raves about this little tool on a garden forum I’d been perusing, I knew a good thing was coming my way.
And while I confess I haven’t tried it yet, I’m already convinced by the enthusiastic testimonials, one of which called it addicting. Well, all I need is to become even more addicted to gardening, so I’ll take that as a precautionary note.
A quick question for my ever-astute readers, and a short comment. First, the enclosed information tells me that "Working in conjunction with a good garden fork, there is no bed too tough to be quickly weeded." Okay, what the hell is a garden fork? My first guess was a cultivator but this tool is intended to be used to cultivate, so it can’t be that. Guesses? Could it be what we Easterners call a garden rake?
And there’s a testimonial that caught my eye. A gardener in Wisconsin wrote that she was amazed - exclamation point - because "I have always employed more of a soak it and pull by hand weeding style, rather than using a tool for the job. Battling weeds this way is just that, a battle." No offense, but humans have been using tools now for, I don’t know, ages, and I wonder why she’d never given it a try until recently being given this one. M. Sinclair Stevens in Texas, do you suppose the term "Luddite" would apply here, too? (I was corrected when I referred to a computer-deprived tree-grower as a "Neanderthal" because apparently Neanderthals were enamored with technology, unlike the clueless Luddites of the world. Now I’m using "Luddite" every chance I can. Previously my favorite word was troglodyte, someone who lives in a cave. Very handy word, too, and it’s nice to know the subtle differences, as I know Sinclair would agree.)
And Andrea, have you guys set a date? Don’t keep us in the dark.
Posted in Equipment | 
| Permalink
April 16th, 2006 at 12:45 pm
I am a hand weeder too ( Luddite, I guess-
) but I am really looking forward to putting my Cobra to use this year. It’s going to make the cracks in my driveway a breeze, and I am interested to see how it does with the dreaded dandylion…
April 16th, 2006 at 12:59 pm
I tried this tool out a couple of weeks ago at Austin’s Flora Rama. I prefer the Korean Weeder/Cultivator shown on this page (http://www.garden-gear.com/html/hand_tools.html) of Specialty Hand Tools. Trouble is that the wooden handle came off after years of use and although we’ve tried various methods to put it back on, none have stuck. (I also used to have the Japanese hori hori knife shown on the same page but it disappeared. Maybe archaelogists will find it some day under a pile of mulch and marvel at the tool-infatuated lives of modern humans.)
I couldn’t garden in the heavy clay of the blackland prairies without my garden fork. Apart from my pruning shears, it is my most used tool. On new ground, however, I almost always am forced to resort to a pickax. (Doesn’t that need a hyphen? and yet my dictionary says it doesn’t.)
PS. Y’all can just call me “M”.
April 16th, 2006 at 1:00 pm
Rats. Could’t figure out how to put in the link on your site. I’ll try again. http://www.garden-gear.com/html/hand_tools.html
April 16th, 2006 at 6:09 pm
We have what we call a ‘cultivator’ which has a long handle and three tines shaped exactly like the one on your ‘cobra’. Years ago, two of the tines went ‘missing’ so we now have what amounts to a ‘cobra’ with a long handle. We also have a newer cultivator with three tines.
What we call a ‘garden fork’ usually has a handle waist high and four prongs. It’s used for digging when you don’t actually want to turn the soil over, as you would if you were using a spade. (Forks are generally kinder to the worms, too.)
We use a ‘hand fork’ when weeding or digging a hole to plant a seedling. It has a handle just to fit in your hand, and three or four tines/prongs.
Now that I think of it, I could line all of our regular garden tools up and post a photo on the blog. Could be interesting to see how tools and names vary from one country to another.
April 16th, 2006 at 8:42 pm
Ok, but WHERE is your essay on how you got started gardening?
April 17th, 2006 at 7:37 am
I agree with Alice as to what a garden fork is, and having clay as does M (though mine is not the blackland prairie variety) I find both my garden fork and hand fork invaluable for loosening the soil before pulling weeds. It’s what I used on my dock extirpation program last week.
April 17th, 2006 at 8:58 pm
Well, hey M. Isn’t that Korean tool just a giant Cobrahead? ;D
The Cobra Essay entrants are here:
http://www.heavypetal.ca/archives/2006/04/welcome_to_heavy_petal.html
April 21st, 2006 at 12:29 pm
Hey Susan! I’d be interested to see if you like the Cobrahead. I love mine.
Yep, we’ve set a date for the wedding: August 27, 2006. It’s coming up fast and furious!