The garden hoe is one of humanity’s oldest farming tools, dating back more than 5,000 years. Early hoes were simple wooden handles fitted with stone, bone, or shell blades. Then as metalworking expanded along came copper, bronze and iron hoes. Hoes loosened soil, shaped planting rows, and controlled weeds long before the plow. By the 19th Century hoes were so valued that a good hoe could be traded for livestock or grain. Among the hoe’s many iterations the Dutch developed a hoe with two sharp ends for pushing and pulling. Today the hoe is still a most useful garden tool.
Growing Home - The Garden Hoe
