The true curse of weeds

In the Bible, when Adam sinned, God told him that the ground would bring forth thorns and thistles, and that when he tried to grow good things, the weeds would fight him. In the New Testament, Jesus told a parable about the wheat and tares, which is referring to weeds. They are certainly a thorn in our flesh; it seems like they are always there and things that can and will kill the good plants we want, won’t even come close to touching a weed. 

Take these last cold spells we have had. The asparagus was starting to come up, the fruit trees were beginning to bloom and the lilacs were getting close to blooming too. Then we hit 23 degrees and that all stops, if not ends completely, for this year. The white top though is just perking along totally good. At one spot in my yard I walked across a patch of white top on one of those cold mornings, it was frozen hard enough to be crunchy, but did it affect it at all? Nope! It just keeps on growing and putting on flower buds. 

Another really annoying weed is the tansy mustard. It starts very early in the spring and if it gets past the rosette stage when it is a tiny plant almost nothing will kill it. I use flame a lot to control weeds, because it cuts down on chemical usage and I have burned a mustard plant until it is charred only to see new growth on it a week later. 

Then there are the weeds that are late germinators. Here we are spraying this time of year to control weeds, and there are several that we will get right now, but then about the middle of June along comes the puncture vine aka goat heads. Probably one of the nastiest weeds we have. Nothing is safe from it, it leaves bicycle tires flat, dogs lame, and will even cause a slow leak in a car tire. By the time it is big enough to notice it already has at least 4-8 seeds on it. 

And last but not least are the weeds that mimic the things we plant. The ones that look just like our garden plants when they are small. My hubby pulled out a whole patch of dill once because he thought it was mustard. Radishes and pig weed are very similar when small, and carrots look like grass when they first come up. 

So we fight the weeds year after year, never really getting ahead, but we keep trying. Today I was helping a neighbor with their driveway, and yes I was using chemicals. Tomorrow I might be knocking the weeds down in my front yard, which is all gravel and I will probably use fire. I like to use the least residual way to kill weeds, and a weed burner does wonders. As does just pulling them, but that is definitely not on my list of favorite things to do. 

DIY Non-Selective Weed Killer

1 gallon white vinegar (5%-20% acidity, higher acid is stronger

2 cups Epsom salt

¼ cup dawn dish soap, helps the spray stick. 

Mix ingredients in a spray bottle or pump sprayer, make sure the Epsom salt is completely dissolved. Spray directly onto the leaves of the weeds until they are soaking wet. Apply on a hot, sunny and dry day.

This formula if used extensively can leave a salt build up in the soil, so it is best for driveways and such.