Jim's "Item of the Week"

Just in time for Fall, the item of the week is the Casabella Grip Garden Rake. As usual, I was skeptical of this contraption, but after much protesting, Carrie talked me into giving it a try.

The unique feature of the rake is the removable end — the rake, actually. It has a convenient curved slot that allows you to hold the "raking" part of the rake, in effect turning you hands into rakes. Think Edward Scissorhands.

"What advantage does this give you while raking your leaves?" you may ask. Well, you know when you've got almost the whole pile of leaves placed into the bag, but there are still leaves on the ground? With the Casabella Grip Garden Rake, after removing the handle, you can easily gather up the remaining leaves with the detached end without having to stand up and re-rake, get back down on the ground and repeat until all of the leaves are bagged. This feature is also very helpful in flower beds or along the house; anywhere you may need to be on the ground or in tight surroundings. Trust me, it's much faster than trying to get those remaining leaves with just your hands. Clean-up's a snap!

This is from the product description... "a built-in grip in the head that allows you to easily scoop up leaves and debris after raking. The extra wide head and strong, yet flexible tines are designed for efficient clean up." (For those of you keeping score, that is the first time the word "tines" has appeared on our blog. Probably the last.)

The rake is also lightweight and the tines* (that's twice) do not seem to clog like our old, cheap Wal Mart rake. The sliding foam pad on the handle is also a nice touch.

We got our Grip Garden Rake at Bed Bath and Beyond for about $15. I liked it so much, we got two. Now Carrie has no excuse for not helping:)