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They Love Their Ro-Ho Gardener
Bill and Jean King of Outlook, Sask., love their Ro-Ho Gardener, a versatile device they've used for more than 30 years. They're able to weed as much as 1,000 sq. ft. in 30 min. with the tool. With a 2-acre vegetable garden consisting of 120 100-ft. rows, the couple has plenty of need for it.
  "We call it our walking hoe, but it's twice as wide as a standard hoe and a lot easier," Jean says. "This is the fastest way we've found to weed the garden and it works best in weeds that are 2 in. tall or smaller. If they're big enough to pull by hand, they're too big for this. The best thing about it is that kids love to use them. They have fun racing."
  The Ro-ho is a hand-pushed tool that has a flat bar on one end which dislodges weeds below the surface, much like a rodweeder. The bar is closely followed by multiple, rotating, triangular blades which Kings say does a fantastic job of laying the dislodged weeds above ground, while simultaneously breaking up any lumps of dirt.
  You can flip the handle over to switch from the rodweeder feature to a set of five cultivator shovels. The Kings say they don't use this part much.
  "We've found that the walking hoe works best on a sandy loam soil and doesn't do well with roots, rocks or trash," Ken points out.
  The handle is also somewhat adjustable to the operator's height.
  The Ro-ho Gardener was made by Rowe Manufacturing Company in Galesburg, Ill. They apparently stopped production in the early 1990's, but units often turn up for sale at auctions and sites like eBay. In addition, Lehman's recently started remanufacturing an exact replica of the cultivator. It sells for $164.95 plus S&H. The company's contact information is: Lehman's, One Lehman Circle, Kidron, Ohio 44636 (ph 888 438-5346; www.lehmans.com).
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bill and Jean King, P.O. Box 311, Outlook, Sask., Canada S0L 2N0 (ph 306 867-9419).


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2009 - Volume #33, Issue #3