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Angels
in My Garden Week 19 May 11, 2010 |
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“What
is a weed? A weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been
discovered.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson “A
weed is only a misplaced plant.” Hello Fellow Gardeners, I have definitely had a few “misplaced plants,” in my garden. Like most structures in Western Pennsylvania, our house sits on a hill. When the housing plan that we live in was developed the back yards were planted in crown vetch, a ground cover that is very effective at holding the soil in place, keeping it from washing downhill with the heavy rains we get. When I look out my back window in late June I see a beautiful sight, a steeply rising hill completely covered with the little purple flowers of crown vetch. But that virtue only lasts a few weeks. Most of the year it just looks like a weed-covered hill and over the years the crown vetch has permeated every flower and vegetable garden in my yard. Weeds grow in one of two ways. Crown vetch is one of the weeds that grows from the roots. The other type grows from seed. The root-spreading type is by far the hardest to get rid of. By the time the plant appears above the soil, it has firmly established itself below. Root-spreading weeds like crown vetch should be kept as far away from your vegetable garden as possible. Just like the creepy crawly critters we discussed last week, the best way to control weeds is to keep them out of your garden in the first place. That's not always possible but we can certainly make the effort. Like any other plant, weeds need water, sunlight and nutrients to survive and grow. Mulching will deprive the weeds of sunlight. Once your plants are established and the soil is well-warmed, you can mulch around the plants by laying down strips of newspaper (not the glossy kind and preferably without colored ink). The newspaper will act as a mulch itself but you can also cover it it with a natural mulch like straw, grass clippings or hay. These organic mulches, in addition to keeping the sunlight from the vegetable plants, help to retain moisture in the soil and act as a fertilizer as they break down. I don't recommend sawdust as it pulls nitrogen from the soil and therefore from the plants.
In my experience square foot gardens do not present a major weeding problem, especially if you've already taken the precaution of putting newspaper or cardboard beneath the soil. So it's not too difficult to control the weeds in your garden by removing them when they appear. Mel Bartholomew, the creator of the square foot garden concept, recommends that each time you go out to your garden you weed one square. He says that it takes so little time and you will be so pleased with the results that you will probably go on to weed one or two more squares and before you know it you will have a totally weed-free garden. Pulling the weeds when they are still small will allow you to remove these “misplaced plants” without disturbing the roots of the ones you placed there.
Reflection:
The Essene Gospel of Peace speaks of another type of weed, one that we
can avoid by engaging in productive activities – like taking care of
our gardens. The mind of the idle Is full of the weeds of discontent; But he who walks with the Angel of Work Has within him a field always fertile, Where corn and grapes And all manner of sweet-scented Herbs and flowers grow in abundance. As ye sow, so shall ye reap. The man of God who has found his task
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