On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 16:24:15 -0700, Tom Jaszewski
wrote:

or even wiser to learn to garden and develop soils without weeds?

I wish people would believe this. I have been in this house now since 1999.
This is the fourth spring my garden has been worked on. I am noticing a great
deal of highly successional plants which indicate good soil, not poor soil.
Many weeds do indicate poor soil. I'm glad you brought that up, because it is a
valid fact, one which I am experiencing in my own garden.

We were riddled with Johnson grass when we moved here. Each spring we'd water
out back and sink a nice long fork, loosen the soil and pull gently till we got
the whole rhizome. Each year, less and less. This year I think I've pulled
about 20 pieces of it on a half acre. I also use mulch, lots of it. Always
free every year after Christmas trees get shredded. Next year I'm going to rent
a giant trailer and get as many tons of it as my body allows me to hoist onto
the trailer.

Then again, many people are not gardeners. They want a garden, but not the
gardening. For me, gardening is an activity I can't live without.

Anyway, off on a tangent, but I'm glad you brought up the fact that if we build
healthy soils, we don't have the trouble with weeds that people who feed plants,
instead of soils, have.

v