Saturday, June 28, 2008

Day 68 of our Green Year: A Natural Weed Killer

We have some weeds in our garden, and while I am one to leave weeds in the yard since they aren't really doing any harm, I do have to remove them from the garden. This is because they can choke out our vegetables, and those vegetables are feeding us over the winter.
Obviously, we are not going to be using herbicides on the weeds because we are a 'no chemical zone' here. Therefore, we can use our muscles and pull the weeds out by hand, but there is another way that goes along with our message of 'Re-use, then recycle'.

In this sense, we have chosen to use something we make nearly every day to get rid of weeds. That something, is boiled water. Whether it is making pasta, boiling potatoes, making tea or whatever, we have boiled water nearly on a daily basis. Now, instead of just dumping that water down the drain, which is a big waste, we are pouring it on weeds. Boiled water is a great weed killer because it essentially destroys the entire plant and the root system if it is shallow enough. No herbicides, or pulling it out by your hand. Just reusing the water you just boiled to kill a weed.

Many gardeners are going with this method over other methods because it is healthier for the environment without herbicides floating around everywhere. This, of course, is not to say that we will not be pulling weeds by hand. Nor will we be boiling water to specifically pour on weeds. Instead, we are only using the water that was already boiled for something else, on the weeds. Remember the motto of Our Green Year, "Reuse, then Recycle"

Got any other natural weed killers? Let us know!