Garden Matthew Wilson's 5 Favourite Things

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5. My Penknife (Image 5 of 6)

Matthew says: 'I bought my penknife when I was at college. I didn't have any money at the time and the choice was between a cheap knife and a more expensive one. It was probably only about £25, but that was a lot of money to me, then. Being bloody minded, I convinced myself I couldn't live without the £25 knife. It was a good buy - its blade is always sharp and the wooden handle has a lovely patina where I've used it over the years. Having a penknife in your pocket is something a gardener does, although you can't anymore, due to obvious connotations. The knife reminds me of my dad. My mum used to empty his pockets before she put his trousers in the wash, and she'd pull out balls of string, pieces of paper, and his penknife. I'd like to hand mine on to one of my children. To go with it, I've got a whetstone for sharpening the knife. It's really old. I think it was my granddad's. I love the craft of sharpening the knife - it's very therapeutic. How many people know how to do that? I always say that gardening is a mixture of art, craft and graft, and using the whetstone is one of the bits of craft that I like.'

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