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| Vince surveys the corn struggling to breath among the thistles. |
Oh, the weeds you will find...when you are trying to grow things in fallow pasture. Vince plowed a new acre in which to plant most of the row crops this year. It is beautiful soil without a rock in sight, but the weeds love it too. Despite a cover crop planted last year, the plants are having a hard time competing with the weeds. Below are some of the ways we are combating the weeds.
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| Vince devised a cart that straddles the rows of onions so he can weed sitting and scoot down the row. | | | | |
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The best way we are combating weeds: good ol' fashioned pulling by hand. Better use the thick leather gloves for thistles! Sometimes a hoe can't get between veggies when they are small and closer together like these onions. Then hand weeding is the only thing that works.
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| Is it a slip 'n slide? Not unless you're a blueberry! |
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We covered the blueberries with black plastic this year after trying unsuccessfully to keep up with the weeds by hand and a sawdust covering. The plastic will smother weeds as well as warm the soil. It is one of the debates among organic growers because it requires fuel to make plastic, therefore is not helping the earth. On the other hand, it is important to grow good, healthy food and there doesn't seem to be a better solution yet.
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