WEEDING....WHAT A WONDERFUL AND IMPORTANT GARDEN ACTIVITY!!!!

Greetings, I am delighted to talk with you about keeping the weeds out of the garden.  Most people are not enamored with this practice of gardening and many will just take out the chemicals and spray the weeds (and sometimes the veggies take a "hit" also and die) because it is easier.

First of all, weeds are natural in gardens.  Insects like to lay their eggs on the leaves and the beneficial insects are good however the non-beneficial insects you want to not provide a place for them to propagate their eggs.  Weeds compete for soil nutrition along with your vegetables so you want to minimize these by pulling them up and getting them out of the garden or put on your compost pile if they have not been exposed to soil or plant disease or have been treated with chemicals.

For those of you who like to use chemicals in your gardens (I don't advocate because our Blessed Mother Earth is already choking and being poisoned by so many chemicals) please note that when you spray these herbicides on the plants and also the soil you kill the billions of beneficial bacteria, fungi and micro-organisms that reside in the soil and provide for soil health.  So, your soil looses some of its ability to provide nutrition for your plants and you have to keep spraying these chemicals the rest of the season because the microorganisms just don't "re-invent" themselves over night.  You want to maintain soil health not destroy it.

Weeding is one of my favorite activities in the garden.  I know, I know that sounds a little "Off".  For me, I love to get down on my hands and knees and get "up front and personal" with earth, getting my hands in the soil, nurturing our Mother Earth and experiencing the same in return.  I am a huge advocate of helping our Mother Earth improve and maintain her ability to provide us healthy experiences.

When I am weeding I also get a close look at the plants, both on top, bottom, stems, checking soil moisture; checking for insects and insect damage; checking for any virus, bacteria or fungal infections in the plants and then intervene in organic natural ways.  And I also get to enjoy the on-growing growth and vibrancy of my plants.  I spent 3 hours yesterday weeding out the oat grass from the oat seeds in the oat straw I had used for mulch for my tomatoes and also the walkways.  I try to weed on a regular basis, such as 1-2 times a week to keep on top of it.  It can get overwhelming if left for long periods of times.

So, you can make the experience of weeding a "drudgery" or "a friendly earth" experience and take credit for the vitality of your garden and garden plants.  Enjoy!!!

Pictures below....

Before weeding of my tomato patch.  Lots of grown up weed seeds of the oat straw.  Post weeding, notice how many less weeds there are.  I left the field peas from cover crops that had been tilled in before planting.  The field peas will provide some added nitrogen to the soil.