garden forks - broke 2 so far digging J artichokes!

[red]

and to be fair - I did not lean that hard on them, its to do with my (old) bad habits of leaving garden tools outside.. in all weather. The first was the fork himself had bought.. with its metal handle and 'indestructable' he says. well I destructed it! it was easy - all you have to do is leave it out in the rain for weeks on end, the water collects in the join between where prongs bit meets pole bit, that rusts.. and 'plonk' it falls off, next time you are digging. next I broke a cheapy wooden one. It was easy - all you have to do is leave it out in the rain for weeks on end, the water rots the wood.....

anyway... here are Red's tips on garden forks
1 Don't leave them out in the rain, be good and put them away.
2 dont let OH talk you into super dooper cant be broken much more pricey kind of fork, as it can still get nicked and still get broken. AND - the cheapy ones, I can stick in the fire, burn out the remaining wood and replace the handle. the metal one is good for nothing now.

[Millymollymandy]

Well if you must grow giant vegetables what can you expect?

[Andy Hamilton]

I leave mine on the allotement but cover them up and they have been fine. See if you can find some corregated iron or something to lay over the top of them.

[Christine]

Ouch, Red!
Thanks for the warning - guess where I leave mine! I've only worried about the tines - and they seem to be fine if you stick them deep into the ground. Didn't think about the handles ...