6 Best Sickles With Wooden Handles For Tomatoes Old Farmers Swear By

You’re staring at your tomato patch, and the weeds are winning. That patch of purslane you ignored last week has become a sprawling mat, and the crabgrass is creeping right up to the stems of your best Brandywines. You could grab the string trimmer, but that risks girdling your plants, and a hoe feels clumsy in such a tight space. This is where the old-timers knew something we’ve forgotten: the simple, elegant power of a good sickle.

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The Japanese Kama: A Versatile Weeding Sickle

A Japanese Kama is the quintessential garden sickle for a reason. Its design is a masterclass in functional simplicity. The blade is thin, razor-sharp, and set at an aggressive angle to the handle, which encourages a slicing motion rather than a hacking one. You don’t swing a Kama; you pull it towards you with a quick flick of the wrist.

This tool excels at detailed work right around the base of your tomato plants. The sharp tip allows you to sever weed stems just below the soil surface without disturbing the tomato’s delicate feeder roots. It’s perfect for clearing out low-growing weeds like chickweed or clover that a hoe would just skim over. Think of it as a surgical tool for your garden bed, precise and efficient.

Beyond weeding, the Kama is a fantastic harvest tool. Use it to quickly cut bunches of herbs, snip lettuce heads at the base, or harvest cover crops like buckwheat. Its lightweight nature means you won’t get fatigued, even after an hour of steady work. It’s the kind of tool that, once you get the feel for it, becomes an extension of your hand.

Zenport K245: A Lightweight, Precision Weeder

If the standard Kama is a scalpel, the Zenport K245 is a microsurgery tool. It’s exceptionally light, with a very thin, high-carbon steel blade. This isn’t the tool for clearing thick, woody growth; its strength lies in its incredible precision and minimal soil disturbance.

The Zenport is what you reach for when weeds are growing through the cage or right against the main stem of a prized tomato plant. Its narrow profile lets you get into places a wider blade can’t reach. A quick, sharp pull is all it takes to slice a weed’s stem cleanly without collateral damage. This is the tool for the gardener who values tidiness and control above all else.

The tradeoff for this precision is a lack of brute force. Trying to chop through a thick thistle stem with this tool is a mistake. Its purpose is finesse. Keep it sharp, respect its limits, and it will reward you with the cleanest-looking tomato rows you’ve ever had.

Nisaku NJP650: The Ultimate Soil & Harvest Tool

The Nisaku NJP650, often called a Japanese weeding sickle, blurs the line between a sickle and a Hori Hori knife. It features a stout, slightly curved stainless steel blade that’s sharpened on its concave edge. This design gives it a dual personality that is incredibly useful in the tomato patch.

On one hand, it functions perfectly as a sickle for slicing through weeds with a pulling motion. On the other hand, its strong, pointed tip and sturdy construction mean you can use it to dig. See a stubborn dandelion or dock root next to your San Marzanos? You can slice the top off and then use the same tool to jab into the soil and pry the taproot out.

This multi-functionality makes it a fantastic tool for consolidating what you carry. Instead of a sickle and a trowel, you have one tool that does 80% of the work of both. It’s also excellent for harvesting root vegetables like carrots or potatoes that grow near your tomatoes, using it to loosen the soil before pulling them up.

Falci 107 Italian Sickle: Forged for Durability

When you pick up a Falci sickle, you immediately feel the difference. This isn’t a stamped-steel tool; it’s hand-forged in Italy, and that heritage comes through in its balance and durability. The steel is harder and holds an edge far longer than cheaper alternatives, but it requires a bit more skill to sharpen properly.

The Falci 107 is a workhorse. It has more heft than a Japanese Kama, making it better suited for clearing tougher, more established weeds between your tomato rows. If you’re dealing with thick-stemmed lambs-quarters or pigweed that has gotten a little out of hand, this sickle has the backbone to slice through it in a single, satisfying pull.

This is a "buy it for life" tool. The wooden handle is comfortable, and the forged blade can withstand years of hard work and sharpening. It’s not the most delicate tool for working right up against a plant stem, but for reclaiming the pathways and keeping the jungle at bay, its power is unmatched.

True Temper Grass Hook: Power for Tough Stems

Let’s be clear: the True Temper Grass Hook is not for weeding in your tomato bed. This is the tool for managing the space around your garden. It’s bigger, heavier, and built for clearing large areas of tall grass, thick clover, or woody-stemmed weeds with a powerful swinging motion.

Think of it as the manual version of a string trimmer. It’s perfect for clearing the overgrown edges of your plot or cutting down a patch of vetch you used as a cover crop before tilling it in. The long, sweeping curve of the blade builds momentum, allowing you to scythe through dense vegetation that would stop a lighter sickle in its tracks.

Using this tool requires more space and a different technique—a smooth, rhythmic swing from the core rather than a flick of the wrist. It’s a tool for managing boundaries and reclaiming territory. It’s overkill for delicate tasks, but essential for heavy-duty clearing.

Garrett Wade Folding Sickle: Portable & Safe

For the hobby farmer with a community garden plot or tools that travel, safety and portability are huge concerns. Tossing a razor-sharp, fixed-blade sickle into a canvas bag is asking for trouble. The Garrett Wade Folding Sickle solves this problem brilliantly.

The blade, made of good quality steel, folds securely into the wooden handle, completely protecting the edge and anything—or anyone—that might come into contact with it. This makes it incredibly safe to transport and store. When you’re ready to work, it locks open with a satisfying click, feeling just as sturdy as a fixed-blade tool.

While it might not have the specialized grace of a Kama or the forged heft of a Falci, its practicality is undeniable. It’s a fantastic general-purpose sickle for weeding and light clearing, with a safety feature that provides immense peace of mind. It’s the perfect tool for the gardener on the go.

Hoss Tools Sickle Bar for Wheel Hoe Precision

This one is in a different league entirely. The Hoss Tools Sickle Bar isn’t a hand tool; it’s a game-changing attachment for their wheel hoe. If you’ve graduated from a few tomato plants to dozens of long, straight rows, this is how you manage your time and save your back.

The sickle bar consists of two serrated blades that oscillate back and forth, powered by the forward motion of the wheel hoe. You simply walk down your rows, and it shears off all the weeds at the soil line in a wide path. It is incredibly fast and effective for managing the space between your rows.

This is an investment in efficiency. It won’t help you weed right up against the plant stem—that’s still a job for a hand sickle. But for keeping the main pathways clear, it reduces a task that could take an hour by hand to just a few minutes of walking. It’s the perfect example of using the right tool to scale up your efforts without scaling up your workload.

Lansky Puck Sharpener: Maintain a Razor Edge

A sickle is only as good as its edge. A dull sickle is not only frustrating and ineffective, it’s also dangerous because it requires you to use excessive force, which can lead to slips and injuries. The Lansky Puck is the perfect tool for keeping your curved blades in top condition.

This dual-grit ceramic sharpener is designed to be held in the palm of your hand. Its round shape allows you to follow the inside curve of a sickle blade with a smooth, circular motion. You start with the coarse side to remove any nicks and establish a new bevel, then switch to the fine side to hone it to a razor-sharp finish.

Always sharpen with the blade pointing away from your body, and wear a sturdy leather glove on the hand holding the tool. A few minutes with the Puck at the end of a gardening session ensures your sickle is ready to go for next time. Remember, a sharp tool is a safe and efficient tool.

Choosing the right sickle isn’t about finding the single "best" one, but about building a small arsenal of simple tools for specific jobs. A lightweight Kama for delicate work, a forged Falci for the tough stuff, and a sharpener to keep them honest will handle nearly any weeding task your tomato patch throws at you. Master these simple tools, and you’ll spend less time fighting weeds and more time enjoying the harvest.