Weed Control

Last week I discussed some of the farm practices we use, relating to soil fertility, seed purchases, and pest control. But one of the biggest differences between growing vegetables organically vs. conventionally is how we deal with weeds. Conventional growers often use chemical weed killers before planting their crops (or even after the crops are planted if the crop is resistant to that weed killer—like the genetically modified “Round-Up Ready” crops.) Organic growers control weeds through only non-chemical methods.

Because we do not have an easy way to eliminate weeds from our fields, we need to stay on top of them or they can quickly get out of hand. The many hours of extra labor costs spent on weeding are a major factor that makes organic vegetables more expensive to produce. Here on our farm, we remove weeds by hand weeding, flame weeding, and mechanical weeding. We use different approaches for different crops and at different stages of maturity.

This Allis Chalmers G tractor is one of the best tools we have for weeding. This is a small early-1950s tractor with cultivating knives under the belly that are spaced to fit around the rows of vegetables. It can efficiently clean out the weeds in between the rows, ideally getting very close to the crop plants without damaging them. The farmer can see the ground and cultivating knives under his feet while he drives through the field. You do have to be careful, because if you get just a little bit off, you might pull up a few feet of the crop you are trying to weed! It helps a great deal if you made your rows straight to begin with.

In these pictures, Steve is weeding some new plantings of lettuce and fennel with the Allis Chalmers G. The picture at the top of the page shows a close up of the red lettuce rows before he went through with the cultivator. The thick carpet of weeds coming in would soon overwhelm the lettuce crop if not dealt with.

In the background of the pictures with the tractor, you can see the crew weeding with long-handled hoes. After Steve drives through with the cultivator, they only need to get the weeds that are in between the crop plants within each row.