Maine Garden Hod's 15 Minutes of Fame

We had planned to write about something entirely different this morning, but that all changed as we watched "Iron Chef America" last night. If you missed it, here's a brief synopsis: Bobby Flay, Emeril Lagasse and Mario Batali go to Washington, D.C., for an epic battle. Flay pairs up with White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford against the formidable Lagasse-Batali team. The secret ingredient? Anything from the White House garden (as an aside, the garden campaign was spearheaded by Scarborough-based Kitchen Gardeners International).

Yes, the show packed plenty of culinary star power, and the garden was incredibly impressive. But we were distracted by the simple baskets that the chefs used to haul their produce out of the garden (pictured above, photo from www.foodnetwork.com). They were custom-decorated Pike's Original Maine Garden Hods, which may be the most useful garden accessory ever.

For the uninitiated, a hod is typically used for shellfish digging. It's a wooden basket with a wire bottom and sides, which makes hosing off the mud a lot easier. Rockland-based Maine Garden Products took the idea and adapted it for gardeners. If you've ever pulled carrots and radishes from the garden, you'll understand why a wire-bottomed basket is ideal for collecting veggies. We have one and use it every day in the summer.

Sure, it's only January, but chances are, the seed catalogs have arrived and you're already thinking about next summer's garden. So when you place your order, do yourself a favor and add a Maine Garden Hod to your list.

We figure if it's good enough for Mario Batali, it's good enough for us.

To order Pike's Original Maine Garden Hod, click here.

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