Tuesday, 09 August 2011 10:37

Weeding--enough said, right!?!? From the largest Iowa corn field to the backyard veggie plot, weeds are a constant issue for those looking to grow a certain plant at a specific place and time.

Stomping and cursing aside, there are many ways to deal with those unwanted plants. Hands are a great place to start--highlighting yet another evolutionary advantage of opposable thumbs. But one's back, knees, and digits can only handle so much at a time. If you have a lot of area to weed, it is helpful to utilize technological advancements. A garden hoe allows one to destroy weeds in an upright position--which slows fatigue and increases efficiency when dealing with smaller weeds. A wheel hoe goes a step further, allowing one to to push a weeding device through the soil versus dragging it with arms and hands. Moving into automation and small engines, most of our Fondy Farm farmers have used walk behind rototillers to address their weed issues.

The newest edition to the weeding arsenal at the Fondy Farm is tractor cultivation. We are using a Farmall Cub (first built in 1947; ours was probably made in the '50s). The Cub is about 9 horsepower (a little more than a push lawn mower--5 horsepower--and about half that of the average home riding lawn mower--20 horsepower), runs on gasoline, and has no power steering. As you can see in the middle picture (above), the engine is "offset," that is, not in the center of the tractor. This allows the driver to look directly below her/his feet to see what is going on at ground level. In the first picture (above), you can see the implements that kill weeds. The tractor has eight (six between the front and rear tires, two in the back) "sweeps." These sweeps are roughly triangular in shape, and once lowered will dig into the ground, lifting soil from the center of the triangle and pushing it to each side. The result of the digging and pushing kills weeds in one of two ways: it uproots the weed through its digging action, or buries the weed by pushing soil on top of it.

Check out the following blog post to see the Farmall Cub in action!

One final point--all these tools (and several not mentioned) are necessary on a diversified vegetable farm. As with most things in life, there is no "silver bullet," no one magical technique or machine that will solve all of our weeding problems.  Sometimes the tractor is the best method for killing weeds. However if you have wet soil and tall weeds, your best bet is the good ole opposable thumbs...

Stay flexible!!!

P.S. And for those who like to think outside the box, or those who are eternal optimists: Ralph Waldo Emerson (19th Century American transcendentalist) famously wrote, "What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have never been discovered."