Weeds. Another name for plants we don’t want!
Photo courtesy of celticblade at Flickr.com.
It is inevitable that weeds will invade your garden. Weeds will generally out compete the vegetables you are growing. They take up nutrients, water, sunlight and space that would otherwise go to your produce. No good!
Here are a few hints to help you get control of your weeds. Note that I do not suggest using herbicides of any kind.
Weeding.
While weeding is generally looked on as unpleasant, a weekly pass through your garden pulling every weed you can find is the best way to keep the weeds down. For quick work, use a hoe. After a few weeks, you will notice fewer weeds. Be sure to hit the weeds hard early on so their deep, expansive roots will not interlace with your vegetables thus making them impossible to pull later in the growing season.
Mulch.
What do weeds need? Sun. By placing a thick mulching layer around and between your crop, you can keep many weeds under control. While you can use inorganic mulches such as plastic sheeting or plastic weed fabrics, I suggest using organic mulches such as straw, grass clippings or weeds as these mulches will also feed your soil. Be sure to apply your mulch about 4 inches thick.
“Smother crops.”
These are vegetables or grains that effectively smother weeds by shading out their light. These include squash, beans, pumpkins, corn or potatoes. Winter rye can also be sown, grown, cut, and left in the field to suppress the spring growth of weeds.
Intensive planting.
I discussed this method of gardening elsewhere but its worth noting that this method allows for fewer weeds. The close proximity of the vegetable plants cuts off sunlight to the weeds.
Boiled water.
Boiled water will kill any plant it hits. Simply poor boiling water into the crown of the weed. Note that this will also kill the biota in the soil so it is not a method I prefer. If you do use it, be sure to carefully target your use area to avoid damaging your soil too much.
Check out this video on weeding an organic vegetable garden!
Weeding: Organic Vegetable Gardening Tips & Ideas — powered by eHow.com