After feeding and watering, weed control is the most important element in creating a successful garden. Weeds are plants out of place and should be eliminated as soon as they are seen.
Herbicides should not and need not be used for weed control. Nor is black plastic a good idea. It becomes brittle and begins to tear, then water gets in, weeds begin to grow, and the plastic warms the soil, encouraging the weed growth and it also beomes a haven for bugs and diseases.
E & O Weeding is the secret to a beautiful, highly-productive, bug and disease-free garden (that’s Early & Often! 🙂 )
Sprout the surface weed seeds and kill them as soon as they appear – before they are 1/2″ tall! And continue the same process until there are no more seeds to sprout.
Using a rake or 2-way hoe, pull down the ridges and rebuild them again with the rake, and using the 2-way hoe, kill the weeds in the center of the bed between the two rows of plants. In this way, a 30-foot bed can be thoroughly weeded in less than 5 minutes
Of course you also use the hoe to remove any weeds that begin to grow in your aisles and the garden perimeter.
The best hoe available anywhere is the Kenyon 2-Way Hoe, available at some farm supply stores, and the hoe head is available from the Foundation at https://growfood.com/shop/kenyon-2-way-hoe-head/
