Keeping the Garden Green

I made the mistake of having a life this week and didn't weed my garden for a couple days.

You know, next year?

So today I spent about two hours in the garden, bribing my 7-year-old to help me yank out grass and some wicked prickly things that resembled clover earlier in the week but grew in to some ugly, mean thorny devils.

Everyone has trouble with weeds in their garden, and organic gardens are especially tricky. Since organic gardens don't use conventional herbicides like Roundup, you might think you're stuck picking each and every piece of grass, dandelion or prickly mystery brush out.

But you're not.

You can use vinegar.

It's cheaper than conventional herbicides (by a lot) and effective. Spraying straight vinegar on the weeds will kill them by drying out their leaves, making photosynthesis impossible, which is enough to kill many weeds. Vinegar will not, however, kill weeds at the root, so you may still want to pull the weed out – or continue to spray it if you see a little green return.

Another option? Boiling water. Pour it on the weed and it will die, quickly, without altering the PH of the garden or using chemicals.

Finally, there is always the free labor of your child on summer vacation, though you may have to deal with the whining that comes with their weed pulling...

Tomorrow I'm headed back in the garden with my son and loading his water gun with vinegar. I think that will make weeding much more fun.