This is my favorite way to deal with weeds when the season begins—no uprooting required! It saves you time and also increases worm activity in your soil so that if you do eventually want to work the soil, it is soft and pliable. You will need a lot of cardboard, which you can often get for free at bike shops, grocery stores, and random Dumpsters near you. Alternatively, you can use thick layers of newspapers. This method also works for planting bulbs in the fall that you want to come up weed-free in the spring, since the cardboard will have disintegrated in time. Before you start, don’t forget to eat at least a few handfuls of your delicious edible weeds before covering them! Purslane, dandelion greens, and wild garlic are some of my favorites. This, my friends, is How to Weed by Not Weeding!
How to Weed By Not Weeding:
Check out my video tutorial first from my Modern Pioneering series.
p.s. If you liked this video you can subscribe to the whole series for free!
Here are the written instructions:
Early In The Season
Early in the season, lay the cardboard over the weedy area that you want to garden, then cover the cardboard with a 6-inch layer of mulch, compost, straw, grass clippings, and the like.
Let The Worms Do The Work For You
Now wait for the worms to do the work for you. Without light the weeds will die; in the meantime, the cardboard will begin to deteriorate. You will be able to plant right into the new bed. Check every few weeks to see if the cardboard has rotted and the soil is pliable.
Then you can get to mixing your own soil!
