Dibbles

Ryan Mooney

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The Gorge Area, Oregon
Real quick after work project, my mom had asked if I could make her a couple and so I made a few extra so she'd have some left once my aunt grabbed the first batch.

Still playing with the handle shapes, a bit too much unsupported end grain on a couple there, although they're also the more comfortable of the smaller ones (the ball end seems better for the bigger ones).

IMG_20160416_094203969.jpg
 
Beauties, Ryan. I think that unsupported end grain will do just fine.:thumb:

That's what I thought but one chipped out a bit so I had to carve the two sides to match (vague approximation of intentionality) so that one at least was a wee bit too far. These are lyptus though which is a nice wood for this because it's hard and rot resistant but fairly brittle so you have to give it a bit more support than say white oak.
 
noun: dibble; plural noun: dibbles
1. a pointed hand tool for making holes in the ground for seeds or young plants.

verb: dibble; 3rd person present: dibbles; past tense: dibbled; past participle: dibbled; gerund or present participle: dibbling
1. make (a hole) in soil with a dibble.

They're most useful for planting things like bulbs and small tubers but small ones can be handy for small numbers bigger seeds as well (like corn or peas). For really small seeds or planting large amounts of larger seeds I generally prefer the trench and cover method. Part of the trick is to make them pointy enough that they go in well, but not so pointy that the bottom of the hole is to small for the plant (although you can swirl it about a bit to open up the hole a little that's extra work). The handle should be nice to grab ahold of and not have any significant pressure points. You'll see them with a variety of designs (we also have a larger one shaped like a T with the handle being the top) and sizes depending on what folks want them for.

For planting a whole lot of stuff (like large beds of garlic) you'll often see a bunch of pegs mounted into the bottom of a board so you can make a whole bunch of holes at once. A coworker recently started a small garlic business and I was explaining to him how to make one with 2x36 holes and longer handles so you can place the holes standing up and stomping on the board with your foot. He figured that making that was unnecessary effort at first but after the first weekend planting he had make one with handles and was walking a bit straighter than he had before :rolleyes:

Here's a neat example for a raised bed..
http://beekman1802.com/a-homemade-dibble/

And if you're planning on going into serious garlic production (found via web search but I've seen other rotary marking "dibbles" like this before as well):
http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2023182/garlic-planting
 
Learn something new every day. Prior to this a dibble was defined by the wonderful sounds Mr. Brown can do...dibble, dibble, dibble, dop (sound of the rain, from Dr. Seuss).
 
Does that work with the sound of an old fashion percolator coffee pot. Gee that was a great sound and a fantastic smell.

Oh, the coffee purists are cringing at the thought of percolator coffee. I personally always loved when my mom made it. I ended up stealing her old percolator from her at their garage sale. I caught my daughter using it just the other day actually. ;)
 
At last count we're up to eight different ways to make coffee in this house and while the boss might disagree I'll say that there is nothing wrong with a properly made pot of percolator coffee. Heck cowboy campfire coffee in a plain pot is pretty good if well made to. Of course my memories of that are tempered by the smells of pure mountain air, old leather, and sweaty horse blankets so that might have something to do with it ;)

IMHO the folks who don't like one or the other of the various sorts either just have a strong preference for one thing (which is fine) or just haven't had coffee made right in the others.

Now having said that the 1930s vacuum pot we got at a yard sale for $5 and added a $15 new seal to (heh) still makes the most consistent and smoothest coffee I've had. It's main problem is that it requires a bit more cogitation to operate than most of us can come up with before coffee :rofl:
 
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