Garden help

[miss_thenorth]

Last year, the weeds won over my garden, and I just gave up on it. Well, it is finally dry enough to get in there, but where do I start? I was thinking of getting a weed torch and burning all the weeds down. Good idea? Any other suggestions? And if so, will this take care of the seeds? I really don't want to use a round up sort of killer. So, how should I go about this? I hope to be planting by the long weekend.

 

[bjmstahl]

Rent a tiller and turn the weeds under.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Buring is a good start. Then till it all under. Plant and mulch heavily. Even between rows. You can use grass clippings if you need too.

 

[sparks]

Get it turned over and then ...weed..weed..weed! Just keep the green out(weeds) and eventually they will get fewer and fewer. If you can devote a small area, put some green cover crop in and till it under before it goes to seed. They grow fast and choke out the weeds. Have fun

 

[TanksHill]

Do you have time to cover the whole area for a couple weeks with heavy black plastic?? If not this year maybe something to consider for next year if the weeds are that invasive.

I agree with tilling and mulch.

g

 

[miss_thenorth]

Sparks, what would you recommend for a green cover?

It is still too wet to put a tiller in there--it is dry to about two inches down, but I'd kinda like to start with something. If the rain holds off, I should be able to get one in in about a week.

I was thinking, burn, till, add more composted manure, then plant. Tehn mulch. I have already told the kids they will be required to tend the garden every day for about 5-10 minutes a day. We all want organic veggies, so we all need to work together to make it so. Last year, it got to be too much for me. I still got a pretty good haul of some things, but need better production this year.

Not really enough time to cover this spring, not to mention, it is a fairly big garden =alot of black plastic.

 

[keljonma]

We like buckwheat or clover for a green cover as they come in quickly and are good for the soil.

 

[freemotion]

Put the hens in there if you can and they will keep it scratched up until you are ready to plant.

I put either white clover in between the rows or 4-6 inches of soiled animal bedding. Works great. I don't have a rototiller, just a small mantis type that my dad gave me that is tough to use. I spade with a fork, so I utilize the chickens and mulch as much as possible.

I have the neighbor's put their grass clippings in a wheelbarrow and leave it on my driveway all season and I mulch right around the plants with that. I've used paper feed sacks held down by rocks, which was ok, but in a very strong wind they come off.

 

[patandchickens]

If your garden is like mine and perennial weeds are your main problem (lawn grass, twitchgrass, thistles, dandelions, dock, etc) then if you have the time and energy, even for just a small portion of the garden, it is WAY WAY worthwhile to spend some time with a spading fork turning it all up in clods (whack them against the ground to remove excess dirt) and manually removing alllllll the weed roots you can find.

It makes a GIGANTIC difference in how much weeds come up during the season, and enables you to get good (rather than neutral-to-bad) results from mulching. (Mulching effectively suppresses most annual weeds, but just encourages the perennial ones)

Even if you can't do all of it, even just a 5x5' area or whatever is better than nothing -- it gives you an area of good weed-free soil to plant things like carrots etc that need direct-seeding, germinate slow, and are not highly amused by vigorous deep weeding.

For whatever portion you can't manually remove all weed roots, then yeah, burn and then till is probably your best option if you want to plant within the next few months.

For parts that you won't use til later, get discarded carpeting from the roadside on trash day, it is much better than black plastic for smothering

Good luck, have fun,

Pat, done a lot this weekend of digging in compost with a fork and planting potatoes, in the drier veg garden and in the higher part of the other one, but most of the lower/wetter one is still too soggy to do anything with.

 

[Wifezilla]

I no longer had to worry about weeds much once I STOPPED TILLING!!!

Tilling disturbs the natural, good bacteria in the soil and just make it easier for noxious, invasive weeds to take hold.

Google RUTH STOUT or LASAGNA GARDEN methods.