The Weedy Vegetable Garden - Hida Manns

[canadamike]

I totally agree. No till is totally impossible in my clay unless yield does not matter.

[ottawagardener]

She has been gardening in the same spot in sandy soil for a many years BUT the study she quoted about yeild stated there was no drop in production (don't know how long this study was run, might have been one year) compared to other organic methods. However, there was a loss of yield due to competition but this evened out the drop in yield due to pest and disease damage in other fields.

I am intrigued by the concept though like always, probably doesn't work in all circumstances. She did do it in Manitoba red clay though she said she wasn't sure how it would work in our special Ottawa Valley clay.

It would certainly be interesting to incoporate and experiement with this idea. Altering it to suit the specific circumstances.

Anyhow, I was inspired by it though over the years I have learend the hard way that good thinning produces better yields so we will see.

[flowerpower]

There is no clay here- just rocks. But if you are going to leave "weeds", wouldn't you go for those that have long taproots? I'm sure they help break up the clay a little.

[ottawagardener]

Make sense to me flowerpower. I think there is a lot to explore in this weedy 'field.'

[pattyp]

Hi Ottawa Gardener. How about trying Chickweed (Stellaria media), Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis), Sheep Sorrel (Rumex acetosella), or Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)? Each have edible and/or medicinal properties and qualify as weeds in many people's eyes.

The book The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants by Samuel Thayer has many other suggestions, along with beautiful photos and descriptions about how to prepare each plant.

I will be growing Chickweed and Evening Primrose for the first time this year and hope to sow Common Milkweed this fall.

Patty

[ottawagardener]

I grow many of those for food too though sheep sorrel gets on my nerves and I grow French Sorrel 'profusion' for food. I think Common Milkweed would make an excellent hedgerow planting. I've read that book and agree it's great.

My evening primrose did not produce edible sized roots - darnit, but the chickweed makes for a great salad plant for sure!

I'm thinking of making a seed mix that contains habitat for lots of beneficials, especially including some smaller flowering species related to carrot.

Don't you just love weeds!

[dirtsunrain]

This is an interesting thread to me since I created an unintentional weedy garden this past summer. I garden on what is an unimproved hayfield. It is grass hay (timothy, brome) but alfalfa, trefoil, vetch and clover have migrated into it. The bed was new ground for potatoes, 75 feet long and 15 feet wide. Instead of digging over the whole plot, I dug 5 trenches the length of the plot. Each trench was filled with good compost and a variety of potato was planted and covered with the original soil. My plan was to just keep bringing in more compost and mulch but things got busy and rainy and nothing much happened.
The potatoes flourished and I did manage to hill each plant with more compost. I just let the weeds go bewtween the rows and after the potatoes plants started to die back, they were quickly lost in the jungle. I have probably missed a few when harvesting. The garden was a weedy mess, not orderly like the rest of the beds. I did have an aphid problem but the ladybugs soon arrived and cleaned things up. The poatoes were fine, no worms or blight or rot.
Now that the seasons over, I'm layering chicken litter form the henbarn and goat/lamb compost to cover the whole surface. It will probably be a bean bed next year. I hope to be able create bean rows next year in this plot by making the same filled trenches.
I do think that leaving the trefoil, alfalfa and clover was beneficial to the raw ground since they were 'good' weeds. I collected most of the vetch to use as a mulch for tomatoes. In a way, I guess this is companion planting in an unorganised fashion.
I do think that a lot depends on the type of crop grown. Staked tomatoes would probably do fine but I could see corn having a big problem with weed competition. The squash that ventured over got tangled up and mired. A mono crop plot would have advantages over something like a mixed herb or greens bed.
The potato bed was surrounded by meadow on 3 sides. The taller meadow plants provided a bit of a windbreak in the early part of the season.
The ceaseless rain this summer hampered my poor potatoes more than the weeds. I can feel less guilty in future about not getting the mulch on.

[flowerpower]

The spoiled hay & manure from the goats/sheep does not need to age. I use it as a mulch on maters. I also make manure tea from the fresh droppings. The chicken/duck litter I spread in the Pumpkin Patch. I plant corn in there too, so I want a nice rich soil.

I also had to reclaim part of a hay field. Killing grass was the main reason I started piling the hay high in spots. The soil really improves after just a few yrs. You will definitely find weeds in my garden. I am trying to attract beneficial insects and reptiles. The veggie garden is one of the few places the snakes & frogs can avoid my chickens.