Until now, I have always associated spring with cool mornings, warm days, rain, and the planting season. After this past week on the farm, I can add weeds to that list of spring associations. April showers may bring May flowers, but it is also true that March showers bring April weeds, although not nearly as poetic. Several hours of each day of last week were spent "cultivating" in the main field. Although cultivation technically refers to the entire body of practices used to manipulate soil, in this case it was being used as a euphemism for weeding.
Honestly, I've never seen so many weeds. Without knowing it, I have been really spoiled by gardening in raised beds filled with practically weed-free soil. Or perhaps it is just that my garden is so small compared to the farm that it is really easy to keep up with the weeds. All I know is that the weeds are so plentiful on the farm that finding the crops can be a real challenge.
The main weeding focus this last week was our leaf/root block that was partially direct seeded and partially transplanted a couple weeks ago. The crops that went in as transplants were relatively easy to identify amongst the weeds, since they were several weeks old when they were put into the field, giving them a major headstart on the weeds sizewise. The direct seeded crops, on the other hand, are pretty much in a neck-and-neck race with the weeds. When the rains came, the crop seeds and the weed seeds both got watered and germinated, and both are growing side-by-side in the planting beds.
Weeding out the unwanted plants is no simple task. Hoes are useful for tackling the weeds that aren't right next to a wanted plant (aka, crop), but when it comes to getting the weeds that are crowded next to the crop, only hand weeding will do. Hand weeding is just what it sounds like--getting down on your hands and knees and pulling out the weeds with your hands. It's the same way I pull weeds in my garden, and most of us pull weeds in our yards. The difference is the scale in which hand weeding happens on the farm. At Soil Born, we plant in 200 foot beds. The area of our leaf/root block that we weeded this last week was around 10 beds worth, each with 3 rows of seedlings. In all, that comprises about 6000 feet of crop to weed, over a mile! That's a lot of crawling on your hands and knees, and trust me, my body felt it.
The curious aspect of weeding is the fleeting nature of your effectiveness. One of my favorite aspects of farming is having tangible results at the end of each day, and weeding is no exception. You start the day with a jungle, and finish with an orderly bed of three rows of plants standing tall. The problem is that there are always more weed seeds in the seed bank, and the orderly bed doesn't last long. Last Saturday, we weeded a bed of kale. By Thursday of the next week, it had to be weeded again. Weeding is truly a constant battle.
Already tiring of weeding after just one week, I clearly need to find a way to reconsider my definition of successful weeding. Rather than considering weeding a one-and-done task, perhaps I should think of it as more of a marathon tennis match--a five setter between Nadal and Federer--that will test both my mental and physical stamina. Let's just hope that in this battle, the plants win--I need to eat, and I don't really like weed salads!
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