MOTHER EARTH NEWS

Organic Weed Control

Anyone who has grown a backyard garden knows all too well that vegetables can quickly disappear in a jungle of weeds. So how do you keep a garden weed-free? And can it be done effectively using hand tools?

It’s important to acknowledge that weeds compete with vegetables for water, nutrients, and growing space. Despite the views in some “natural” gardening circles, the idea that it’s possible to grow beautiful vegetables in harmony with weeds is simply untrue; just as seeking a cropping system that would not require weeding in some form or another is unrealistic.

So-called natural organic herbicides claiming to control weeds may do so in the short term, but they destroy the long-term biological health of the

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