Baker’s Twine: The Most Versatile Gardening Tool
It’s crazy to me that I haven’t written about this before. I use this tool all the time in the garden, and I’ve mentioned it a few times, but I never just came out and admitted that this item is truly the best thing to have in your garden, PERIOD.
Baker’s twine.
Yep, seriously.
I love this stuff.
First off, it’s like $5 for a million yards of it.
Second, it lasts forever. I have some bits I used 6 years ago to tie tomato branches to my tomato cages that’s still tied, and still usable if I didn’t think to bring out my twine cone that day. I just take the frayed bits and, if they’re long enough, tie up what I need to.
Third, it’s cotton, so it’s biodegradable (eventually).
Fourth, it has so many uses.
- Tie up tomato branches to cages to keep tomatoes off the ground
- Make lines for beans, peas, gourds, hops, cucumbers, etc. to climb
- Tie bundles of herbs for drying
- Lash bamboo together when building trellises (though Bamboo Lashing is definitely superior for this task)
- Attach poles together for bean teepees
- Wrap around black plastic when suppressing nasty weeds like fennel and blackberry
- Tie down the corners of your pop-up greenhouse when the provided twine isn’t long enough
- Making bundles of cardboard for recycling pickup
- Wrapping gifts to give them a “rustic” look
- All those normal kitchen uses (if you haven’t dropped the cone in the soil 50 times already, like I have)
So, when you run out of whatever string-type alternative you use for similar purposes in your garden, do yourself a favor and buy an industrial-sized cone of baker’s twine and for the next 20 years or so, you and your garden will thank you.