A Word About Weeds

My job isn't to create a pristine and sterile environment for plants to grow. My job is to work with nature to nudge healthy soil and plants into a healthy state. Weeds are a big part of nature working to fix itself. Each plant we may consider weeds has a specific job of repairing damaged and degraded soil. Many of us have noticed that as soon as we uncover soil weeds appear within days, even without water. They are the scabs trying to cover the wound of the earth. They will only germinate and thrive in weak environments, often in areas that or oxidized and lacking nutrients. Some weeds will dig deep with tap roots to break up the soil, add organic matter, and pull nutrients like calcium back to the top. As they die off, the minerals they have mined stay on top to feed the next generation of plants.

You'll notice in my garden that I keep weeks as long as possible. For me, this means until they are in the way or are interfering with the crop I'm trying to grow. When I do pull weeds, I generally cut them off at ground level and simply flip them upside down to compost in place. This allows the organic matter of the root to feed my microbiology in the ground, lets me keep the minerals it mined where they are needed, and gives me a natural mulch to cool my soil and allow for better water retention.

As I mentioned earlier, each weed has specific jobs. Dandelions, for instance, are looking for areas with low calcium, low hummus, and low bacteria. This is why dandelions are often the first weed we see after we expose soil. Work with nature, honor the work of weeds.

This little weed looks healthy, but I need to plant seeds here. Sorry little buddy.

I try to retain as much of the soil and soil biology as I can.

Flipping it upside down oxidizes it and reduces its likelihood of regrowing.