We don't like weeding. Weeding can definitely be a zen experience, but it is not something we like to make s regular part of our gardening routine (planting and harvesting aka eating are our favorite parts). But weeds do compete for the same minerals and nutrients we want to direct to the plants we want to harvest. We are experimenting with various low impact/no till techniques to maintain our garden without weeding, and sheet-mulching is one of those techniques we've employed. The basic ideas is that you lay down a barrier to block sunlight from undesired plants to prevent them from growing. We tried this method on two of our main beds--which we later turned into one main bed housing our kale, chard, cucumbers, strawberries, and various herbs and flowers this season. We laid down cardboard and grocery bags to kill the weeds and retain nutrients and minerals (large, not small pieces so there are no gaps). We wet the cardboard, and then filled in a layer on top from soil found on the property (behind the fence in a wooded area for us). We watered again 1" deep. If you do need to weed, use a big fork to loosen the soil for easy removal and low impact on soil quality. More disturbing techniques like digging can break down the structural integrity of the soil molecules and negatively impact the soil life which is crucial to a healthy yield.
This is one of many techniques you can use to battle the weeds without exerting much effort or time, maintaining the health of your soil while reusing materials that would otherwise be sent into the waste stream. The results have been better than we expected, and we spent only several hours in the height of summer hand pulling weeds from our main beds. This is the same two beds, merged into one, with healthy high yielding plants that fed us throughout the season (and continue - frost sweetened our kale and chard!) Have you tried sheet mulching? Let us know how it has worked for you in the comments.
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