You Don't Need a Bunch of Different Garden Tools for Your Kitchen Garden

When it comes to working in a vegetable garden, particularly a raised-bed kitchen garden, there are only a few tools you need. And they're probably not the kind of tools you're thinking of.

You don't need a back hoe, for one. You don't need a pair of pruners as big as your arm. You don't even need a shovel.

No, no, the tools we use in the kitchen garden are much smaller and more precise. When we're working in raised beds filled with trellises and tons of plants growing, we need compact tools to help us get into small spaces.

I keep a little basket full of my favorite tools, and I bring it everywhere I go. Here are the six tools that are always inside that basket to keep my garden beautiful, productive, and easy to maintain.

My Top Tool for the Kitchen Garden Is a Long, Thin Trowel

The very first tool that I never step out to the garden space without is a long, thin trowel or spade. You definitely don't want (or need) to use a large shovel to plant in your raised beds. You want something long and thin so that you can dig deep into the soil without disturbing the plants growing nearby.

This is especially important if you're planting your raised beds intensively. You know me—I love to break the planting spacing rules and really pack in those plants. My favorite narrow trowel allows me to dig a nice, deep hole when adding a plant to the garden so that I can give it the space it needs, but nothing more.

Another option is a hori hori knife, which is basically three tools in one. It has a long blade that creates narrow but deep holes in the soil. It also has a serrated edge you can use to cut twine or even plant stems and then markings on the blade to tell you how deep you're planting something.

My 2nd Essential Garden Tool for Raised-Bed Gardening Is a Hand Rake

Keeping the soil clear of debris like leaf litter and other fallen plant parts goes a long way in controlling garden pests organically. Pests like caterpillars, slugs, and snails love to hide underneath dead plant parts and then munch on your leaves when you're not looking.

A little hand rake is so easy to use to keep the soil surface clean. Every time you're out in the garden space, just rake quickly around all your plants, then grab the large pieces of debris and toss them into the compost.

This type of hand rake is also really helpful when you're switching your garden over to a new growing season. Let's say you've pulled out last season's plants and are ready for a fresh start. Now's a great time to add 2 to 3 inches of compost to the top of the garden. Then, use your rake to clear any large debris and level the surface. Voila! Your garden's ready for the new season's seeds and plants.

A Dibber Is My 3rd Must-Have Gardening Tool

A dibber is really helpful to make sure your seeds are planted at the right depth and no deeper. So many of the herbs and veggies you most want to grow in the kitchen garden are particular about their planting depth. Too deep, and those seeds will germinate but never make it to the surface.

A seed should only be planted about twice as deep as its width. Dibbers have angled tips and markings that help you make holes at just the right depth. You can use a dibber to plant something that needs a hole only 1-inch deep, like a bean, or even a garlic clove that needs to be planted several inches down. You can even wiggle your dibber around to make a wider planting hole—while getting your hands a little less dirty.

Needlenose Pruners Are My Go-To Tool for Pruning & Harvesting

A good pair of pruners is essential for tending and harvesting from your kitchen garden. I use all kinds of pruners, including bush pruners, but when you're working in a small space, you'll want to have either needlenose or precision pruners. These tools allow you to get into every nook and cranny of your plants and ensure you're only pruning the plant parts you want to.

Because I intensively plant my raised beds, I really don't fertilize or weed much. I never mulch. Pruning is actually the top tending task that I do. I prune to direct a plant's energy toward producing more leaves or fruits. I prune to increase air circulation around my plants. I prune to prevent pests and disease. So it's worth it to me to have a really nice set of pruners. These pruners are also very satisfying to use when harvesting!

Twine Helps You Support the Plants Growing in Your Raised Beds

I keep a big ball of twine with me at all times in the garden. I even keep a little spool of twine that hangs on my arch trellises so it's always at the ready when I'm working with my plants. Whenever you're pruning your plants, take that opportunity to tie your plants to your trellises or some garden stakes with twine.

I use twine to secure all my vining plants to their trellises. That's tomatoes, pole beans, cucumbers, and nasturtiums in the the warm season, plus snow peas, fava beans, and sugar snap peas in the cool season. These plants are way more productive when they feel securely attached to their support structure.

You can buy little plastic clips and even plant velcro, but I love jute twine because it's natural, biodegradable, and most importantly, gentle on the plants' stems. It's super easy to tie loose knots and then untie them to adjust.

Twine is really your next best friend in the kitchen garden.

A Planting Line Is a Useful Gardening Tool to Keep Your Beds Looking Tidy

A planting line is the final must-have gardening tool. Roll out your line as you're sowing seeds or transplanting seedlings to make sure you're planting in a nice, straight row down your raised bed. When you're done, you scoot the line down and plant the next row. That way when everything grows in, your garden will be beautiful and neat, no matter how many different plants you added at the same time.

You can make your own planting line with two garden stakes and some twine or string running from one end to another. You only need your planting line to be as long as your raised bed. We've also got some planting lines in our shop if you're looking for something a little fancier.

Bonus Gardening Tool: A Seed Spacer for Planting

A seed spacing ruler is not a must, but it certainly comes in handy when you're sowing seeds. You basically run your ruler along your planting line to help you plant your seeds the correct distance apart. I'm a lazy gardener, so if I don't have my seed spacer with me when I'm planting, I just wing it and then pay for it later when I have to return and thin my seedlings.

A seed spacer is super easy to use. You simply place a seed inside each hole or every other hole, depending on what you're planting. You can buy a seed spacer or make your own by drilling holes at every inch mark in a wooden ruler.

Those Are the Only Kitchen Gardening Tools You Need

That is it. That's all you need to plant, tend, and harvest from your kitchen garden (okay, and maybe a beautiful harvest basket). Just six tools—but you might quickly find that you can't do without any of them. 

Kitchen gardening is so different from row gardening and farming. Mostly it's just easier. You don't have to dig out a bunch of dirt or clear a field. We're not talking about strenuous physical labor. It's more about tender, special labor—moving between densely growing plants in your raised beds and tending each one. And you just need a few small tools to get the job done. 

You can find all these tools and more in the Gardenary shop. I only carry tools in the shop that I actually use in my garden, so it's a great place to go and get more ideas for your gardening tool kit!