The other day, while shopping in the plant section of the Montreal Botanical Garden’s gift store I came upon a long pair of forceps that a staff member must have forgotten, left sitting among the cacti.
In that moment it occurred to me, aha, yes, THIS is just the tool I need to help wrangle those spiny cactus creatures from one pot to another. No more evil, impossible to locate tiny daggers stuck in my fingers. The forceps could also be used to remove fluff and other debris from impossible to reach nooks and crannies in among the spines. I currently use a stiff bristle paintbrush but sometimes that only makes matters worse.
Yesterday afternoon I went to a surgical supply store to pick up boxes of tongue depressors for my forthcoming book launch party. No, we will not be checking your throat for swollen glands or your scalp for lice before allowing entry to the party! Although that does sound like fun.
I use the large tongue depressors as plant tags when I require a vast quantity for an event. They’re cheap at about $.03 each and can go into the compost bin at the end of the season.
While there, I perused the cabinet of surgical steel tools and low and behold, for 10 bucks they had the same type of 10″ forceps I was admiring at the garden shop.
It wasn’t my idea and I’m probably the last known gardener to come around to this, yet scoring the forceps somehow makes me feel like a bit of a genius and slightly more readied for a minor medical emergency.
If you’re looking online, I found this pair for half the price I paid.
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