Garden Bloggers Fling - Welcome Evening at Lee Valley

I had said I would do a series of posts on the Garden Bloggers Fling and, wouldn't you know it, the summer has just been so busy, especially in the garden, that time has been in short supply.  Yes, I'm sure you're all shocked :)

The welcome party for the Garden Bloggers Fling was at Lee Valley Tools in downtown Toronto:

Lee Valley Tools on King Street West in Toronto

There were delicious drinks & yummy foods – I’m never one to pass up on that!

Service with a bit of pizzazz
 

But what this event was really about, for me anyhow, were the tools – so many wonderful gardening items everywhere.  I think I stood staring at the drip irrigation display for at least 20 minutes thinking of the many areas of my garden that would benefit from this sprayer or that dripper.

Drip Irrigation Display
 

When I saw the books in this tub, I couldn't help but laugh:

 

"What's Wrong with my Vegetable Garden" - now that's a catchy title if I ever heard one!

For those of you who have not heard of Lee Valley, they are a Canadian company that specializes in high end garden & woodworking tools.  They are also my go-to source when it comes to cabinet hardware - no kidding.  They have an amazing selection and I usually find their prices are better than the local box stores.

Other than cabinet hardware, I have purchased drip supplies (only 4 of my beds have drip right now, but that is going to change, hopefully by the end of this year) as well as a few kitchen items from them.  They often have unique products that you can't easily find elsewhere.  We needed something to hold kindling for our wood-burning fireplace and I coveted this coal scuttle for a long time before I finally purchased it a couple of years ago:

Ye Ol' Coal (or in our case kindling) Scuttle
 

I had not, however, purchased any gardening tools from them.  I would often oogle them in their catalogue (which they still send out), but I just couldn’t justify spending over $60 on a pair of Swiss pruners when my $20 pair from Home Depot worked just fine.  Like a lot of high quality tools, however, I probably wouldn’t say that if I actually owned a pair (Felco pruners…I’m looking at you!).  It’s the whole “once you have it, you can’t live without it” phenomenon, much like a good set of kitchen knives.

One item that really caught my eye was the mini-weed torch.

Added to my shopping list
 

We have several rocky areas, including a culvert, that have constant weed issues, not to mention our front walkway.  I can see how dealing with all the weeds would be something I actually enjoyed doing with that thing...instant gratification at it's best.  Perennial weeds may take a bit longer to deal with, but the actual process would be so quick (and satisfying) that I don't think that's too much of an issue.

The folks at Lee Vallery were nothing short of welcoming & incredibly generous.  I mean INCREDIBLY generous.  After years of making them for my kids parties, for once I was the one receiving a “goodie bag”.  And chocked full of goodies it was:

Lee Valley Goodie Bag
 

All of that PLUS a $50 gift card...didn’t I say they were generous?  Those tools are all constructed with solid beech and stainless steel.  I’ve hung them in the shed, but haven’t used them yet – they’re so gorgeous, it’s almost a shame to get them dirty.

Although I do need to get more drip supplies, the gift card has been earmarked for the mini-weed torch, which I'll pick up the next time I'm in Burlington or I may order it online if they have another free shipping event.  And no, I am not affiliated with Lee Valley in any way and they have no idea who I am...just so you know.

One of these days I’ll put down my $10 trowel but not quite yet.  I’m going to let my new set of tools be my reward for getting the veg areas of the garden finished – fencing, mulching, compost area – all of it.  Then I will do the ceremonial ground breaking with my shiny, new tools.  How’s that for incentive!

Till next time...