Testimonials

Here in the Algarve we call them "enchadas". I sent one to my father some years ago as a Christmas present - he said it was the best tool he had ever used. Thank you for bringing the British public's attention to what we consider an everyday item. C A Bennets, Portugal

This is not just another gimmick, it really works extremely well. I wish I'd heard of it 50 years ago.
Mr H J Raimbach Chairman, S Bucks Organic Gardeners (Aff. Soil Association)

Thanks for sending the heavy Azada so promptly. It has been just amazing! We've been able to clear ground that was really impossible with a spade, and which looked like a mechanical digger job!
Duncan Brown, Nairn, Scotland

The Azada has been invaluable in hacking off large areas of weed, levelling paths and lowering them and chopping the soil to use elsewhere. I am 68 years old and find a spade terribly hard on the back, but somehow the Azada, because the effort is chiefly in lifting it, is OK on my back.
Mr. D Easton, Ashford, Kent

Please send me one Medium Azada ..... I continue to be impressed by the versatility of the Heavy Azada I bought from you a couple of years ago. Apart from planting a large number of trees on steep, rocky slopes, I've used it in reclaiming an allotment which one might euphemistically term neglected. Amongst the other jobs, I dug out a medium sized elm which I was told would need a tractor. I've also trenched most of the plot, breaking up the panned subsoil to about two feet down. It takes and holds a knife edge and without the slightest doubt the Azada is more than twice as fast as a good stainless steel spade and far less tiring as one works in a more erect position and more muscle groups are used. I watched a neighbour of mine using a spade: the difference is impressed upon one.
Two comments from passers by remain with me:-
One: "Foreigners use them!" (They clearly know more than us!)
Two: "I see you've had a tractor on your allotment". I showed this chap my Azada - he took some convincing that it had done the job.
Mr Higginbottom
Bakewell, Derbyshire

I have to agree with the other comments you have received - I was able to dig far more ground in a short time than I ever could with conventional tools. Furthermore, my back did not suffer in the process.
Claire James - Coventry

Just a note to say that the heavy duty azada has done an excellent job in clearing a large tree root and helping me turn over my garden veg plot, even though I am a 53 year old with significant illness damage to my left shoulder and elbow which has limited my ability to use a standard spade. It really has proved to be an excellent tool. As I am 6' 2" tall one suggestion would be to offer the option of a slightly longer handle for taller members of the community, but this is a minor detail. I have therefore been more than happy to spread the word about azadas from Get Digging amongst gardening acquaintances in this corner of Greater Manchester.
Arnold Jeffares, Ashton under Lyne

Thank you, the tools arrived first thing Monday morning just as you predicted. We bought our house three years ago because the large garden appealed to us with having children, unfortunately the reality was that the garden was a neglected vegetable plot and was completely overgrown with weeds. My biggest problem was how I was going to tackle eradicating the large area of couch grass which formed a thick matting over the entire area. I came across your website whilst doing a google search for 'couch grass' and decided to give the Azada a try. I was amazed on Monday evening when the right angled fork just ripped the couch out at the roots with what seemed like no effort whatsoever, I couldn't believe I was finally making progress in what until now has seemed an impossible task. I'm very encouraged that with the help of the azada/fork that I'm at last going to make the garden a usable space for our children to play in. Thank you very much. Best Wishes
Carl Knight, Carnforth, Lancs

Hello, just got my mini trowels and used them at the weekend. What can I say? Brilliant service and brilliant tools. Thanks.
Ian Blundell, Stourport on Severn, Worcs

I bought one of these for my elderly father who was having trouble digging his vegetable plot. After five minutes with it myself, I had to have one for my allotment! Your long handled spade, which hitherto I swore by, has met its match!
Bill Phillpott, Haringay, London

Thank you for my tools, I am delighted with them. I will place a new order with you as soon as I can. A pleasure to do business with you.
Mrs J Thomas, Stafford

Hello and thank you for the Medium Azada and Right Angled Fork which came, as promised, last week. I rushed down to the allotments and used the fork to set about the couch grass on my number three plot. This plot has had no digging on it for three years so the couch grass has had time to get well established. I completely cleared in less than two hours an area the size of which had taken three sessions and over six hours the previous week with a spade and fork. This time, no backache, no sweating and no stopping! Hard, compacted path areas thick with couch grass are no longer left alone - I positively relish clearing every last trace of weed. The Azada saw service on that first day too, chopping out those annoying clumps of grass you get growing on the edge of pathways between plots which can make carrying full watering cans a risky business - all the paths are now flat and clear. Keeping three allotments cultivated will be a lot easier now and I've recommended the tools to everyone down at the site.
I say this to anyone umming and ahhing about spending the money: it'll be the best tool you've ever bought!!
Mike Brooking, Surrey

Your tools & your service are superb. I would recommend you to anyone.
Mr T Smith, Bexhill-on-Sea

I thought I'd send you some feedback on my medium 7" Azada. I bought this to help me landscape my back garden. It's not a massive garden, but it feels the same to me as the Blenheim estate must have felt to Capability Brown. It has a slight slope downwards, and is covered with layers of membrane and pea gravel which need to be removed before any restructuring can be done.
I envy people who say they can dig or garden for hours and it doesn't affect them. I simply can't. I have undiagnosed painful symptoms through my head, neck, arm, back and leg and these not only make digging difficult, but they put me off going out to work in the overgrown garden altogether. This past weekend I have spent a couple of hours each day in the garden using the Azada, and you should see how much progress I've made. It's unbelievable and, although I'm aching slightly and have blisters on my hands, it's certainly been worth it. I have successfully dug over about a third to one half of the garden, and the difference is unbelievable. It took a while to get used to the technique, or rather lack of it. But then that's the beauty of the Azada - it can be used any which way is comfortable. I used a combination of swinging it over my head to swinging it from the side, from using it left and then right handed. It depended on how tired I was feeling. I had to dig a little and then stop for a breather, but even that little digging made more progress than a spade ever would. I was also stopping to marvel at how much I had done in just that short space of time. One strike cuts through the overgrowth so I can see where to cut next. The next strikes through the pea gravel and the membrane, and the next breaks into the mud pulling away the membrane and exposing the earth. I'd be lucky to get so far with a conventional spade in five minutes, let alone taking just a couple of minutes the Azada takes. If I had any gripes with it at all, and there is only one, it would be to put some shock absorbing material for the hands to grip on around the handle. Sometimes the handle slipped, and this might be what gave me blisters. I'd also warn people to take care near their shins too - I've a nasty bump and bruise after the tool slipped onto my leg. Aside from that there's absolutely nothing you can find wrong with this tool. To anyone considering getting an Azada - forget the conventional spades and forks. This is the last and only tool you will ever need. I don't understand why garden centres and DIY shops aren't selling more of these. They may look a little daunting at first but they are very useful. It reaches parts conventional spades cannot reach. The dream of having a beautiful garden is now finally becoming a reality - thanks to my Azada.
Julia Baker, Doncaster

What a tool, arrived today, job done, would have taken me days with a spade.
Paul Stone, Shrewsbury.

You should be ashamed of yourself for not letting me know a lot sooner about this superb tool! It arrived the other day with two postmen (who are now thinking of getting allotments themselves now thanks to the "Azada") wanting to know where it came from and how much it cost. I eventually got rid of them and headed straight for my allotment. To my amazement I dug in 15 minutes what would have taken me most of the day. I am very grateful open heart surgery patient, Thank you very much.
Peter Bennett, Wirral

The tools arrived Saturday and were put to good use the next day. As allotment novices, my husband was surprised that I had spent so much money instead of buying a cheap spade and fork from B&Q. His initial scepticism was quickly replaced by amazement when he started using the tools. The heavy ground that had not been cultivated for 3 years would have been impossible to dig without the Azada. Money well spent!
N Heathcote-Hems, Chesterfield

I didn't expect the chopping technique to kill off the vegetation quite as well as it did. As you say, practice makes perfect and I am very pleased with the azada. So is my friend for whom I bought the heavy azada. He manged to clear the stumps of about 20 leylandii in less than an afteroon. They had been defeating him for more than two years!
Michael Adkinson, Yorks

Just to give you soome feedback. Both the azada and the sickle are great. The azada in particular is wonderful - it makes light work of the soil at the allotment, which is full of ironstone pebbles which clog up my Mantis cultivator. It's much quicker just to use the azada. I'll be ordering one of the pointed ones in due course. Thanks again for making such terrific tools available.
John Woodman, Melton Mowbray

Received the scythe within a few days of ordering. What craftsmanship! It is well worth the money and will last years. Purchased a sickle a few months ago and this was the same. Thank you very much. Both tried and tested on a wilderness allotment and worked wonders.
Sharon Fradley, Derbyshire

Many thanks for the prompt delivery of the tools ordered, (long handled fork and an azada). From the off I realised that they were going to be easy to use, no laborious messing around with unnecessary packing, which then needs to be disposed of! The azada has been a great success in chopping through a long neglected allotment, and I only wish that I had found your website earlier in the year, as I could have saved money, time and pain!! The tool has succeeded in clearing ground that a heavy duty rotivator could not cope with. It has raised some comments from fellow allotment holders, who are both bemused and impressed with it. Although one 'old timer' recognised it from his days in Africa, and said that it was the common way of working the land there. I think it is also worth while pointing out that I am not the fittest or most mobile person, suffering from severe arthritis in my spine and lower joints, and although it has not made the task of digging and clearing a pain-free job, it has certainly made it something I am more able to cope with. I would heartily recommend your long handled tools to anyone in a similar position as myself.
Thanks again
Dave Goddard, Merseyside.

May I say thank you for supplying a wonderful tool namely the medium 8" Azada which I received this week. I've used it twice so far, with ease and comfort in spite of being slightly unfit with back problems. Getting a good sweat on and looking back at what has been achieved in such a short time made me feel so good. It has taken me about 10 mins to clear a patch of ground of approx 2 metres square on my 10 rod allotment. Though this a new tool for me I wish I had got one years ago. Thank you yet again.
John Beresford, Portsmouth

I wish to say how pleased I am with my purchase of the Medium Azada. It arrived quickly in the post and was well wrapped. I waited until the snow disappeared and went to my allotment which I have just taken over, but has not been dug for over 12 months. Despite having serious back problems I had prepared my potato bed in 1 hour 40 minutes despite, as my next door allotment holder claimed, that I had spent half that time sitting down after working on each row. I am happy with my purchase and will be recommending it to my friends and recommending a spade to my enemies.
Maurice Dolphin, Birmingham.

We have recently taken over a plot that hasn't been touched for 5 years. I must admit I had never heard of an Azada until I read about them on the Real Seeds website. With such a lot of brambles and weeds to clear we thought we would give them a try and I ordered both the medium and lightweight Azada in February. I am so glad we did - we cannot believe how easy to use and effective they are! I am sure we wouldn't have been able to clear the huge amount of brambles and weeds on our plot as much as we have in the past few weeks without them. I am sure they will give years of service - thank you for such a great product.
Susan Tulloch, Cumbria

I would just like to provide you with some feedback on the Azada I bought for my father. He was 70 in 2006 and had a very difficult year with his mother dying after a long illness and after her death he had to take on much of the responsibility for dealing with her estate. His allotment had taken a back seat and as he went into 2007 I think he was despairing about whether he would ever be able to get it in shape again. However, he says the Azada has been absolutely wonderful and he never would have been able to make the excellent progress he has without it. I think there may be some more orders in future, both from envious fellow allotment holders on his site and from other members of our family.
M. Nicholls, Reading

Thanks for the speedy dispatch of my new Azada. It arrived this morning and so I went down to my allotment and have managed to put nine rows of potatoes in in the time would take me to do two with a spade. I have taken over a derelict allotment tool and I am turning over the rock hard soil at a rate that has astonished not only myself but others too. It is a real bonus to own one of these. What a work-saver, and so easy to use. Thanks.
Nick Hill,

These things are amazing -I am raving about them to everyone I can. My Malaysian friend at work says he would call them "cang kul" and was surprised they were not more common.
I have found that with my Heavy Duty Azada I can both clear surface weeds and then dig over the ground extremely quickly. It is far less effort than a spade and takes a fraction of the time. Meanwhile I have convinced my other half that her Light Medium Azada can pretty much do any job both at the allotment and also in our rather small garden. I can see people looking enviously at these things as we use them and would be more than happy to recommend them to anyone who wants a change (for the better) from a spade!
Ben Murton, Cambridge

Dear Simon, the Azada arrived on time and intact. I have found it very easy to use as well as very efficient for turning over and breaking up the heavy soil on my allotment. I wish I had found out about this tool sooner!
D Parry, Staffordshire

Just to let you know I've had the chance to use my azada for the first time today. It was really great - it chopped out several shrubs, roots and all and the fork end whipped out nettle roots easily. Its good to get something that lives up to its promise! I'm clearing a garden that has been overgrown for several years now and I think it's going to be a very much quicker job than anticipated. The postman who delivered the tool said he had bought an azada as well and thoroughly recommended it.
Clare, Sheffield