On Tue, 17 Feb 2004 09:11:55 -0500, Dwight Sipler
wrote:

jackie wrote:

how do i get rid of garden weeds and dandilions without using
commercial weedkillers as id rather use organic as its safer for my
kids and pets if anyone can help id be very grateful




Safe magic bullet herbicides are non-existant. The safest way is to pull
them up. Alternatively, you could use a hoe. The hoe I like to use is
called a Coleman hoe or Collinear hoe. It's a very thin blade on a very
long handle. Instead of leaning over and chopping weeds, you stand
upright and sweep with the hoe, holding it like a broom, with your
thumbs pointing away from the blade. It takes a couple of tries to get
used to it, but it really saves your back.

Hoes work best when the weeds are very small (less than 1" high). This
means you have to keep at it. Fortunately, if you attack the weeds when
they're small, the job is much easier, so it takes little time. That
little time, applied often, works wonders. In fact, you should schedule
a couple of days a week to hoe your garden whether or not you see any
weeds. Frequently when you do that, you will see small white threads in
the soil you disturb. Those are weeds that haven't emerged yet, and you
just killed them.

There's a rule of thumb that seeds will only germinate if they are
buried less than seven times their maximum dimension. Most weed seeds
are fairly small, so if you don't disturb more than the top inch of soil
with your hoe, you won't bring up new weed seeds, and eventually the
weeds will stop coming up.

Dandelions are another matter. You don't usually see them until they are
fairly mature, at which time they have a long tap root. Your best bet is
to find a tool that pulls them up. That won't kill them since you rarely
get the whole root, but if you are persistent, you can tire them out. At
the very least, you should use the tool whenever you see a flower. As
soon as you see a dandelion flower, you have maybe 3-5 days before you
have dandelion seeds. If they get to that point, you have to start all
over again.

Personally, I like dandelions. They're mostly green and they
occasionally add a bit of nice color to a lawn. Ditto clover.

ayup.. and if you can't beat 'em...blanche 'em and eat 'em ;-)
I couldn't believe it when I saw dandelion seed for sale for salad
greens! LOL

Janice