Why do we control weeds?

Weeds can make the difference between healthy productive plants and sick and diseased ones. Weeds compete with plants for water, sunlight and nutrition, as well as reducing airflow around plants. This reduced airflow can lead to fungal diseases and provides a home for pests to hang out and reproduce. 

How do we control weeds?

We use many techniques to control weeds. The most simple is pulling by hand, but this is time-consuming and hard on the body. We also use hoes to disturb tiny thread-stage weeds before they have a chance to grow. However, one of the best ways is to stop weeds from germinating amongst our crops in the first place, a technique called stale seed bedding. 

What is stale seed bedding?

Stale seed bedding is a farming technique aimed at getting weeds in the top 10cm of soil to germinate before a crop is planted. By leaving a prepared bed for 2-3 weeks and watering it, weeds will germinate. These can then be killed off with a tarp, a flame weeder, or a hoe. The process can be repeated a few times for beds with a heavy weed-seed load. The crop is then planted into a relatively weed-free bed. This technique is particularly good for slow-germinating vegetables like carrots and spring onions. 

Still to come

Next time I will talk about storage crops and their benefits for a small market garden. 

This week's recipe links

Corn Chowder from Love & Lemons. 

Cucumber Sandwiches from Budget Bytes. 

Chocolate Zucchini Cake from Sally's Baking Addiction. 

Onion Bhaji from Kitchen Sanctuary. 

More info

To read more about what's happening on our local organic farm this week as we grow and care for veggies for our box delivery, check out this week's newsletter here.