Growing Vegetables

Weeds are one of the main dangers facing your vegetable garden. Without proper weed control your crop yield will be severely limited. Weeds will compete with your vegetables for water, sunlight and nutrients. Weeds will also harbor insects and host plant diseases. There are three methods of dealing with weeds. Cultural practices, mechanical chemical.

Cultural control stops weeds from developing mature seeds. This can be accomplished by always tilling weeds under before they produce seeds.

Mechanical practices are the ones you will be most familiar with if you have spent much time trying to pull weeds out by hand. Just remember that weeds are easiest to remove when they are small. You need to hoe weeds frequently and shallowly so you do not damage vegetable root systems or let moisture escape.

You can also use a variety of mulches to control weeds and contain soil moisture. There are two main mulches - organic mulch or black plastic. 

Black plastic mulch will absorb sunlight’s heat and warms your garden’s soil faster. Lay black plastic over your prepared garden bed a week before you plan on planting. You can lay rocks on the corners and edges or stake them down, I like to use long wood splinters or sticks to tack it down as these will decompose into the soil and need no removal. Cut small holes or slits in the desired planting locations then seed or transplant through them.

The most common organic mulches include leaves, straw, compost or grass clippings. If using grass clippings make sure not to collect weed seeds in them. Apply organic mulch three or four inches thick and till them into the soil at the end of the growing season. The mulch will block the majority of weeds from breaking through.

Chemical control methods are mostly used by commercial growers and are not recommended for the home vegetable garden. They can be difficult to use and none are effective on all weeds or last all season. Most defiantly cannot be used on an edible food crop. It is best to stick to traditional methods when gardening at home. Not only is it more effective in the long run, but they are more holistic to your environment doing more good than harm.