The Gardener's Hollow Leg : "A Pruner's Perfect Companion"

It was a bad day. Stuck in a dead-end research project in the morning, then stuck getting dirty looks from mothers on the playground when my son and I showed up in short sleeves under charcoal-colored storm clouds.  

When my husband got home, his cell phone having lost the message I left, "SOS, get takeout!", I figured that the capper to the day would be the bowls of cereals we were going to have for dinner.

"You could go get something from the garden," my husband suggested.

Nice try, I thought. A few weeks away from winter solstice, night had already shut the curtains on our raised beds. Besides, I was already cold, and the idea of taking out the metal scissors and the metal colander, where I usually stashed the clippings, made my hands ice over in anticipation. The way the day was going, I'd probably trip over all the veggies I'd harvested and stab myself in the thigh with the points of the scissors.

Then I remembered the odd-looking package at the back of my closet.   It arrived just as we were leaving for Thanksgiving, and its unusual name, "The Gardener's Hollow Leg," prompted more than a few jokes from my family. But the novelty of it--a bag I could hook around my waist to gather up garden clippings on the go--made me pull out a fleece jacket, a beanie, and a headlamp, and head into the garden.

After I cinched the sack around my waist, I slipped on my headphones, too. The Gardener's Hollow Leg has a small pocket that's just the perfect size for my iPod. (The pocket would work for a cell phone, too, but the last thing I want to do in my garden is talk to anyone). I headed out into the night, cheery Mexican pop music blaring in my ears, and hunkered down over the collard greens.

I snipped, and snipped, and snipped some more.   It was so easy to toss the greens into the pouch on my hip that, well, I just kept cutting. The ring opening at the top of the bag keeps the mouth open, making it easy to drop in everything I'd clipped with one hand.

There was plenty of room in the sack, so I gathered up enough greens for two night's worth of veggie tacos, then bent down to throw in a few radishes and some finger-sized carrots.  The bag still didn't seem full, so I moved to the other bed, and hacked away at some of the curly-leaved kale.  I couldn't even feel the cold. I was starting to wonder what other gardening I could get done by the light of my headlamp.

When I looked up, I saw the full moon rising over the trees, and when I came inside, I had enough greens for several meals. Not such a bad day after all.

I know the bag was designed with pruners in mind, but collecting our dinner was a wonderful way to get used to my new favorite gardening tool.

Size: 10" diameter opening, 23" deep; holds more than five gallons of clippings. Belt adjusts from 30" to 52".

Bottom Line: Quirky, yet ultra-practical. Now I won't garden without it--C.W. (Dec 09)

Price: $24.95 (discounts if you buy four or more)

Manufacturer's Site: www.thegardenershollowleg.com

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