What to do this week
I’m putting my squash in and you should too. The weather is settled and warm, and they will be happy. They are heavy feeders, such big plants after all. Plant them in your richest soil or add lots of compost. They could grow in pure compost, so long as it is finished decomposing.
Crab grass
Once that is done, let’s get to those weeds.
With the rain we have had, the weeds are popping up everywhere. You won’t have to work so hard at this all summer, but now is the time to give it your best shot.
There are two kinds of weeds: perennial and annual. Let’s start with the perennials. They are the most important weeds to get out of the garden. We are talking crab grass, yarrow, vetch, white clover; all these plants have long runner roots that spread like crazy. We farmers say they breed like Mickey’s Broom! You will need a good fork or one of those dandelion diggers to get at the root.
It is best to dig up these weeds after a rain, when the soil is wet. Otherwise the root breaks. Sometimes those rhizome roots can go on for several feet. If you cut that root, you just end up with two plants. Try to get as much of the root as you can. You are never going to get it all, so don’t fret too much, but get as much as possible.
Don’t let these perennial weeds grow beyond six or eight inches. At that point, they start to put their energy into their roots, and you will have even longer roots to dig up. So, now is the time. If you beat them back early, you will have a chance.
When you get these weeds up, don’t put them on your backyard compost pile. They will survive and get back to you. Municipal compost processes will kill them, so you can put them in your green bin if you have compost service at garbage pickup, but not on your own pile. Burn them, drown them, put them in a garbage bag and solarize them; one way or another make sure they are very dead.
Now for the annuals, like lamb’s quarters or rough nettle or chickweed. There are hundreds of these kind of weeds, but you can tell if they are annual by the absence of rhizome roots. They are much easier to manage. For one thing, you could just eat the lamb’s quarters, they are closely related to beets and spinach, but you don’t want a quarter acre of them.
If you don’t get the full root with these annuals, you are okay. They won’t re-grow from a bit of root like the perennials do. You could even cut them and leave them in place as a green mulch.
You do have to get them before they set seed. Their survival strategy is to produce thousands and thousands of seeds that can lie dormant in the soil for years. So if you get them before they go to seed, you have already gotten a jump on next year’s weeds. There is an old expression, ‘One year’s seeding is seven years’ weeding,’ but I think it’s more like a decade or more of weeding if you let these weeds set seed.
Now, and over the next few weeks, is the important time for weed control. Once your crops get bigger, they will be able to hold their own against the weeds. You just have to help them get well established. After that, the weeds will not really affect your garden production that much. But they need your help now, so get to it!
Market gardener, farmer, workshop leader, seed-saver, political candidate and mother, Michelle Smith has spent over 30 years coping with the challenges of our bioregion and in the process has built a store of practical and technical knowledge. The Inverness resident has served on the board of Seeds of Diversity Canada and represented Alternative Producers with the Federation of Agriculture but can do nothing about her hair. She is pictured with a head of Club Wheat, a seed that shares her approach to hairdressing.
Backyard food gardener Madeline Yakimchuk caught the food-security bug in the early ’90s through Cuba’s Urban Agriculture Department, taking her first permaculture course and planting her first garden. She can often be found discussing food security, nurturing a plant-based lifestyle or trying to give away vegetables. Professionally, she is GRYPHON media productions but sometimes uses la bruja in her volunteer work, most notably in managing the garden column, which begins life as a telephone interview.
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