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Secret organic weapon for weeding
Sometimes the easiest solutions can be found in your cupboard.
Fri, Jun 04 2010 at 2:10 PM
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Photo: Auntie P/Flickr
Yes, it’s that time of year, when weeds arise and rise again. Even the most devout organic gardener might be tempted to pull out the evil chemicals at times — especially when it comes to those hard-to-weed places like cracks in between rocks and gravel walkways, where there’s no food growing that could be tainted by a toxic treatment. But now, thanks to the advice of an old friend of mine, Nancy Small, I have a new solution. A very simple, easy solution.I use a teapot.
Yes, a teapot. It turns out that boiling water will kill weeds — especially little, profuse patches of weeds in gravel, walkways or rocky areas. I tried it and it works. At first, when you pour the boiling water over weeds they look, well, rather cooked. Blanched. Bright green and almost edible. Walk away and come back a few hours later and you will have a hard time finding evidence at all. Some larger weeds will need to be pulled, but they are a fragile carcass of their former selves and lift right out.
It may be a lot of trips back and forth from the kitchen to the yard, but water is free and clear of anything bad. If you live in an area where water is especially precious, you can use waste water from cleaning food or dishes — the boiling will kill any little bugs that might be in there.
I would hesitate to use this method on your garden soil, since good garden soil is alive with microbes and worms and we don’t want to hurt any of them so they can’t do their job to help your garden grow. (For little weeds in a veggie patch, there is nothing better than a good, sharp hoe!) But for those other areas, plain ol’ boiling water works wonders.
Try it and let me know if it works for you. And … please share! What other organic weeding secrets do you have?
This article was reprinted with permission. For more from Maria Rodale, go to www.mariasfarmcountrykitchen.com.
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I use a steam cleaner and just steam blast weeds and unwanted growth
My weeds are growing in cracks on my driveway. I have to do something. I hate the thought of killing the ants that live there. Think I'll try the salt. Seems more humane than boiling water.
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I use a heavy-duty hunting knife to get the whole plant, roots and all. Also aerates the soil. 10 minutes a week keeps things looking great! And yes, dandelion petals and roots are edible, a zesty addition to the salads. I haven't used pesticides or herbicides in years just so I can "snack" when the urge hits me.
I use dandelions in a salad as they are highly nutritious. This is how I beat the weed problem!
We are of Greek descent and my YiaYia (Grandmother) would go into the yard with a garbage bag and a knife. She would dig up every dandelion in our yard, and if there weren't enough there she would go into the field behind the house and fill the bag there. We would bring them in, clean them, boil them and they are amazing with a little olive oil and lemon juice. You can now purchase them at the produce market......and they are totally expensive....lol
When I was in Indonesia, they also poured big pots of boiling water over anthills.
The salt is a good idea, especially if you use it between cracks and where you don't want stuff to come back for awhile. But it doesn't work forever anyway, diluted by rain and snow.
I also don't mind being selective about the plants i want around. I'm selective about what i read, what i eat the people i have for friends etc.
I have had good luck just pouring table salt over them. In a line in the cracks works fine. The good thing is too, they don't come back quickly at all. Sometimes not till next season!
I'm sure this is quite effective short term, but I'd really be worried about how long that salt is hanging around in your soil. It's eventually going to burn the plants you *do* want there.
"salting the earth" isn't just a quip. Really, it was an aggressive spiteful tactic, used by enemies to ensure that no crops would grow on that soil again.
Salt pretty much washes away with the next good rain.
I'm a little teapot, short and stout, so I'm getting a real kick out of this...
Call B.P.weed remover they can kill anything with just a spill
I just use a little hand trowel for those hard to pull weeds with deep roots. They don't come back and there is minimal disturbance to my garden!
Eat More Dirt by Ellen Sandbeck gives many organic alternatives for killing weeds, she even mentions boiling water for walkways. Also, it is never a waste of time to educate and/or remind people that getting rid of undesirable plant species can be as simple as walking outside with the remaining boiling water after cooking, or making a cup of tea.
Why don't you just pull them out with your hands? You guys think you're sOOooO GREEN!!! Even a steak-loving heathen with a size-ten carbon boot-print like me knows better: Using your hands...Is more natural...And less lazy...Than disturbing everything to boil some water....
Ummm.... Well because some weeds have deep tap roots and merely pulling them doesn't remove them. It just keeps them gone until next spring. If you want insult people, there are better sites for that purpose.
Releasing water into its natural habitat is the right thing to do. Even if it kills weeds in the process. Water is our most precious resource! Set it free!
...Just ridicule. So who deemed weeds evil, anyways? Is it natural for them to not exist? Are you the kind of moron that kills flies in your house instead of taking out the trash that they're helping you decompose?
Keeping in mind that water makes up about 70% of the earth...I'd say anywhere is it's natural habitat as long as it stays ON THE EARTH...If we returned everything to its natural habitat where the hell would we find shelter for everyone? We are humans, and right now we're on top. Until nature or nuclear war destroys us, which it will, just like everything else that comes and goes (see: dinosaurs), we make the rules.
Just eat the weeds in your driveway. Dandelions make a great tea, and hemlock is to die for.
Equal rights for weeds.
I think I'll try this on my ant farms in the back yard. Can't hurt, and it will certainly work as well as the commercial ant killer I tried last year, which is to say it didn't work at all... :-(
Dry ice works on ground-ants.
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