Horticulture Guy"Live Long and Garden" – Peter Punzi

The Hori Hori Knife is one of the most popular gardening tools to be imported from Japan. Hori is a form of the verb horu, which means “to dig”. Although most people describe the Hori Hori Knife as a tool used in Japan by bonsai collectors I always wondered why it looked so much like a weapon.My theory is that the Hori Hori Knife evolved because Japanese farmers needed their farming tools to double as weapons.

During the middle ages (1536-1598) there were farmer-warriors who earned this title because in addition to being farmers they were also part time warriors. The feudal Lords perceived this as a threat in the form of armed rebellion. During Toyotom Hideyoshi’s rule of Japan a clear distinction was made between four castes warrior (Samurai), farmer, artisan and merchant. He implemented what was called Katanagari (sword hunt) to confiscate arms from all non-warrior castes – especially the warrior-farmers. So it seems plausible that in response the farmers who were stripped of conventional weaponry would fashion their farming tools to double as “legal” weapons.

The Hori Hori Knife has a straight edge and a serrated edge and can cut plant roots, weed and be used for digging and planting. The modern Hori Hori Knife is slightly smaller than the Japanese short sword (shoto – wakizashi). Gardeners interested in having the versatile Hori Hori Knife to use in their own gardens have their choice of the black high carbon steel Hori Hori Knife or the Stainless Steel Hori Hori Knife.

I am heading up the the Northwest Flower and Garden Show  Saturday February 23rd to the DIY (Do-it-yourself) Stage to demonstrate making a simple batbox.  I always enjoy seeing if I can build something in less than an 3/4 of an hour in front of hundreds of people.  I especially like to challenge all my battery operated equipment to function properly and test my memory to see if I can remember to bring all the supplies and tools I need! For those of you who come to the show here are some links for you about bats and building bat boxes:

Bats Northwest

Bat Conservation International

Rocket Box Plans

My alma matter Rutgers has done some interesting research on how domesticated flowers have a positive emotional effect on us. A 2005 article published in in Evolutionary Psychology Confirming what most of us gardeners know intuitively. The information is being used to promote cut flower and pot flower giving by the Society of American Florists but I want to make sure you are growing some flowers in your garden this year. I always try to incorporate fragrant flowers like the warm cinnamon scents of carnations, or the hints of vanilla in heliotrope or the powdery or the wide ranging scents of different varieties of sweet peas . If you are interested in and like scientific reading check out the article:
An Environment Approach to Positive Emotion: Flowers