Pencil Rods and The $64 Tomato

Our pencil rod dilemma is rapidly approaching The $64 Tomato debacle status. It was a good deal to go over to Long Island to pick up some used pencil rods. When we were there, we bundled 2,000 in 3 hours. We brought the rest of the pencil rods home in a galvanized bucket and were able to add 1,000 more to the pile after about 5 more hours of work.

Now the law of diminishing returns is working with us. We had already retrieved the low hanging rods, as it were, what remained were good but bent rods, rusted rods, and a large pile of bent and rusted pencil rods. Yesterday, while my husband worked in the field in preparation for planting, I sorted the remaining pencil rods into piles and started scraping and sanding the rust off the pencil rods that remained like a Sisyphusian task before me.

I've gone through 2 gloves, one a pair of leather Stihl gloves, we've purchased numerous rust cleaning tools, and coarse sandpaper and in a moment of desperation, went to see our friend the welder to see if he had any ideas. I need to find 340 more rods that can be cleaned and then I'm off the hook. Luckily, my husband is a believer in the adage "Time is money!" and apparently, I am working too slowly for our used pencil rod find to pay off.