War on Weeds

Desperate times take desperate measures…

With the especially wet spring we’re having, the weeds have gone bonkers. And right in the middle of dandelion season, John came down with a bug. So he wasn’t able to get to weed-eating until this week, just as those bad boys were 2 feet high and had already gone to seed. 

And here I was with freshly weeded beds, all ready for seed-sowing. As John filled the weed-eater with gas, all I could imagine was those dandelion seeds flying through the air, and settling into my seed-ready soil!

The thing is, homestead-style food-growing is focused on aiming for maximum productivity, with minimal effort. The result can be less-than-aesthetically pleasing gardening spaces…or downright ugly!

Which is what’s happening this spring. Preparing for John’s first weed-eating this season, I had to move fast. Rather than leave my beds open, to fill with wall-to-wall weed seedlings—and face an entire summer fighting weeds—I chose practicality over good looks. 

I hauled out every tarp around our place, no matter how old and cruddy, and tracked down every single piece of cardboard and just covered everything up! I’ve used rocks and small chunks of lumber to weigh things down, which as you can see, only makes the yard look worse.

Some of the path areas are filled with horsetail, and I’ve used steel roof scraps as a killing mulch. I even employed used chicken feed sacks to cover up horsetail…they have like four layers of thick paper, and actually take several years to break down. 

Covering up weeds, whatever it takes!

Yep, it looks terrible. But I’ll be pulling off much of the cardboard to sow seeds in a few days. And after the solid warms up, uncovering more beds. 

And hopefully, the cardboard and tarps will save me hours of weeding this summer!

Left a little spot open for volunteer cilantro