Weeds…the Process…Part 2

Lessons I have learned from weeding in my garden:

• The weed in relation to allergies such as alpha gal: What I feel alpha gal and other food allergies, intolerance and sensitivities are in the garden, and my mission to wipe them out so that they cannot reproduce again. This is my coined nickname now for alpha gal: a weed.
• The weed in relation to life situations, people and things: Must stop in the moments and pull the weed, even when we do not want to stop, take care of it and go on.  When I stopped in the moment to take care of a situation, or approach a person with an issue, the ending was always good. When I catch myself not saying or doing anything, turning my back or face to a problem person or situation, (going silent or leaving after a disagreement with a friend or my spouse, walking on when there is trash in the trail)  it never ends well, creating a lasting bruise or sever in friendship, or scar, and creating a tougher thing to fix.
• Weed before you water, before it rains: If we water before we weed, the weeds will flourish with the fruit, causing the fruit to produce less because the weed takes away from the fruit. Weeds and grass will consume the majority of the water and deprive the fruit of its needed moisture and nutrients. Watering a weed creates more weeds, bigger weeds, weeds with deeper roots.  If we weed and then water, or are aware of the skies to weed before the rain, then the fruit gets the water.
• Weeding must be complete, with root and all parts with it: The soil must be knocked off the weed roots or the weed will find a way to re-root. (ie: pull weed from close to ground to get root, or use a tool to dig it up completely, and then make sure it is turned upside down, root up, and soil knocked off) Weeding takes time, but it is worth it in the end. Weed the small stuff and the big stuff; the small stuff is what hides and becomes bigger when left alone or thought to be too small to worry about. Take the time to weed all strands of grass, tiny two leaf weeds, etc. Get the weeds when small because it is easier to weed them with your hands and takes less time.
• Weeding must be continuous: We have to be out in the garden daily to pick the fruit, yes, but also to take the time to weed. If we are weeding every day, then there is not chance there will ever be a take-over, and our fruit will last longer and be more abundant. Our fruit will rule the garden when the weeds are continuously taken out.
• Weeds grow around the plants, but sometimes they come in from the sides and walkways: We can overlook many weeds when they are outside our “circle” of produce/fruit/vegetables, such as fences, areas where plants are finished producing for the season, areas where we have picked out the produce plants (beets, carrots, root veggies, greens,etc.), areas outside the fence. Weeds can vine in from far outside the garden growing under the plant then choking it from the inside out…this is where we have to follow the vine and dig the root from its outside source, and not just cut the vine inside the fence.  Weeds and grass will grow in the walkways and trenches, spreading toward the good plants slowly and gradually.  We can leave them be because they are not “near the plant” but they take from the plant from that short distance and they eventually grow out of control surrounding the good plants, creating a long hard weeding process later, or a “too overwhelming” situation (and then the plants die slowly and fruit less).
• Weeds choke off the water ways: I have trenches in my garden for the water to go out, so that I do not have my plants flooded in big rains. Weeds grow in those trenches first because they are wet longer, but also because trenches are protection from the elements.  Waterway drains must be weeded regularly to avoid choking off the protection from a flood in the garden.  Weeds choke off water, and food, from all fruiting plants.  Weeds, even small, literally suck the water from the soil and the plants around them.
• A GOOD THOUGHT FOR WEEDS: Weeds can be turned into something good for the “community”, or garden. When I pull weeds, I turn them upside down onto the old mulch, and they then become good mulch, good nutrition and cool ground for the roots. Weeds can be converted into something good for the garden.
• Hidden evils under weeds: Weeds can look fine where they are, and not be a problem. They can however, be hiding some bad stuff under them. I pulled a bunch of weeds out and it revealed a den of fire ants! I had to extinguish the fire ants, leave the weeds for a while because if I touched the weeds in that spot, there would be bad consequences for me. We have to be aware of what is under the weeds. Snakes, wasps, other insects, crawlers, and spiky weeds can be under or around a weed; when there are groups of weeds, roots are deep and they are tough to pull, but groups also create dangerous situations. Take care and be aware.
• ONE MORE: Weeds and grasses are beautiful inside and out, just as all plants. Good loving management keeps them from hindering, challenging, or altering the face and growth of the fruit and vegetation.

Read Part 1 of Weeds, the Process.