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<\/p>\nWeeding can be a pleasure, a joy, and a source of happiness! It is also perhaps the garden's most skilled task.<\/p>\n
I work with mulching as a way to upgrade the originally quite poor and light soil to a rich, moisture-retaining, nutrient-rich, and easily worked growing soil. I also cover to suppress weeds. For who wants to be on their knees weeding all summer?<\/p>\n
Mulching does not mean completely weed-free. But the weeding becomes so much more satisfying. As soon as there is grass clippings, I cover, even if I haven't had time to weed underneath. This means that many weeds are smothered. But some grow through the cover and they become lush and juicy. This is good when it comes to lamb's quarters and chickweed which are excellent to eat. It is also good when it comes to those we do not eat because it is with great joy and satisfaction that I can then feed my compost piles! The compost pile, which largely consists of the element carbon in the form of sticks and twigs, now receives nitrogen and all the other important nutrients that the microorganisms need to turn everything into soil.<\/p>\n
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Image above: Delightfully juicy weeds to feed the microorganisms with. In the picture, there is a weed that I find a bit boring, Field milkweed, which cannot be pulled out of the ground by hand because the roots have such a good grip. But since I got my Japanese garden knife (Hori hori), it is a lesser problem (below).<\/p>\n
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Many visitors ask me where I get all the organic material for my compost piles. One answer is that I make use of all the twigs and branches when I prune bushes and trees, another is that I have so much large and lush weeds. Weeding the large weeds is pure joy because it is easy to harvest. I am harvesting for my compost piles.<\/p>\n
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Image above: The clever thing about a compost pile is that it is possible to grow in it while the composting is ongoing. It is also possible to continue feeding it as long as the pumpkins are small. The mature compost pile (after 2-4 years) is a deep, rich bed of excellent garden soil.<\/p>\n
The problem is purely aesthetic. We have been taught that it is beautiful and successful when the vegetables stand out against black soil. But the truth is that bare soil is completely unnatural. It is a wound in nature. A wound that nature tries to heal. What we call weeds are nature's band-aid to protect soil that has become bare for one reason or another. Bare soil dries out from sun and wind and clogs up from rain. Not something to strive for, then.<\/p>\n
As permaculturists often say: It is important that it is beautiful \u2013 but we may need to change our perception of what it looks like when it is beautiful.<\/p>\n
Another misconception is that weeds steal nutrients and therefore need to be removed. In reality, every plant contributes to increasing the soil's fertility.<\/p>\n
In photosynthesis, plants capture solar energy and convert it into sugar. A large part of the sugar is sent out by plants through the roots where they arrange candy rain for the soil microorganisms. This makes the plants not entirely selfless. It is a whole ecosystem of invisible small microorganisms (and some visible soil animals too) that are fed. All these in turn engage in making the nutrients that the plant needs available by breaking down organic and inorganic material into just the molecules that the plant requests and serving them in the right doses. In soil that is spared from spade and tiller, there are kilometers of microscopic thin fungal hyphae that even help transport nutrients and water from one end of the garden bed to where it is needed most. All these helpers need energy and that energy comes from the plants' (including weeds') candy rain.<\/p>\n
The most important thing we growers do is to long-term benefit the soil life which is responsible for the fertility in our soils. Therefore, the weed is not just a resource when we pull it up and put it on the compost but also while it stands and grows. The nutrients that the weed absorbs are not wasted but can be returned directly as cover material. In the meantime, the soil life has received its candy rain, which it would not have received if we had kept the soil bare between the vegetables. Moreover, the weeds have prevented the soil from drying out.<\/p>\n
Not all weeds are therefore bad. What we need to watch out for is that they do not compete for space and light with our sensitive vegetables. We need to weed at the right time, before the weeds take up too much space \u2013 and \u2013 before the seed weeds bloom. Timing is very important!!<\/p>\n
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Image (above): Under the currant bushes, I cover with wool which effectively keeps the couch grass away. But it is not possible to mow all the way up to the wool (destroys the mower) so there will be a small strip of couch grass that needs to be hand-weeded. The picture shows how the couch grass begins to bloom. It is high time to tear off the plants. Couch grass is not something one wants to propagate in the garden. However, the leaf mass is a treat for the compost!<\/p>\n
The most fun thing about weeding is that over time I can control which weeds I have. Since I love lamb's quarters, I always let some pigweed stay and spread its seeds. I do the same with garden orache. Doesn't it look delicious?<\/p>\n
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We harvest enormous amounts of garden orache, eat and freeze it throughout the spring and early summer.<\/p>\n
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Image (above): This is what it looked like when I had \u201dweeded\u201d yesterday. Lamb's quarters tastes like, and can be used as, spinach. The difference is that it grows itself. It's just to harvest! It is free food that grows on free land, land that I have not yet had time to sow or plant on, or the land between plants that are still small.<\/p>\n
I can hardly let anyone else weed for me. It is not just the lamb's quarters that I let self-seed. During yesterday's weeding, I found self-seeded plants of Milk Thistle, Coriander, Dill, Winter Lettuce, Winter Purslane, Marigolds, Purple Loosestrife, Poppy, Borage, Asparagus, Parsley, Swiss Chard, and Lettuce. It is important to recognize your friends even when they are small so that the self-seeded ones can either stay or be moved to another place if they are in the way.<\/p>\n
By recognizing the small poppy plants that have self-seeded in the weed mess, I can decide where they can stay. This way, I don't have to fuss about growing a bunch of flowers; instead, I let them come on their own. We get a diverse garden that also benefits a variety of pollinating insects.<\/p>\n
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Many plants seem to do best when they can self-seed. Winter lettuce is almost impossible to grow from seed, but by letting some plants flower and spread their seeds, one can harvest lettuce here and there throughout the spring and winter. The same applies to winter purslane.<\/p>\n
Image below: Borage fills the space between the asparagus nicely. But now they are turning into lovely green smoothies to make room for other things.<\/p>\n
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In the greenhouse, I allow the amaranth to self-seed. This is what it looks like right now:<\/p>\n
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Image (above): It is high time to weed\/harvest as the amaranth has started to compete a bit too much with the beans for space and light. Amaranth is an extremely nutritious leafy vegetable that we have so far used as a red garnish in salads or mixed into a stir-fry. But now that there are so many of them (since they have started to self-seed), we have also come up with the idea of mixing blanched leaves into the mince for bean patties. The patties turn out wonderfully red and packed with nutrients.<\/p>\n
One way to control weeds is to manage which weeds we want. Something needs to fill the space between the vegetables so that the soil is not bare. It can be something that is edible and\/or beautiful!<\/p>\n
Weeding feels absolutely meaningful when the weeds are edible. But above all, it is a wonderfully meditative task. Unlike sowing and planting, which I always find involves a certain tension (everything needs to be in the right place), weeding is pure meditation; it requires presence and concentration, but a relaxed kind.<\/p>\n
In the end, everything is covered with fresh grass clippings, and it feels like tucking in your babies. The day is complete!<\/p>\n
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Image (above): Some self-seeded coriander plants are allowed to stay next to the shallots. To the left, freshly dug leeks, fertilized, and covered with grass clippings.<\/p>\n