Hi all,

I've got a very small 8ft by 8ft garden that has tomato and bean plants.
My problem is that for some reason each year thousands of little grass
type of weeds pop up. They are difficult to get to do to sheer number and
closeness to the other veggie plants.

Is there a small weeding tool that might help? Or do you have any
recommendations. It seems I'll weed one day and they have returned the
next.

P.S. I saw this little tool that looked like a serrated Sickle(sp) that
had a fork at the end that is for small weeding. would that amount to
anything?

Many thanks!
--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

A garden hoe will do the job and it will help aerate your garden in the
process.

Hoes come in many styles and sizes.

Have you considered mulching? Lay several layers of newspaper on the ground
(wet it with the hose to keep it from blowing as you work), then cover with
grass clippings or straw. This is very effective, looks neat, and helps
conserve moisture in the ground. Then you will only need to weed right next
to the plants, and as they grow and shade weed seedlings out, you should
have little or no weeding to do.

Cheers,
Sue

--

Zone 6, South-central PA

"Blarneystone" wrote in message
news
Hi all,

I've got a very small 8ft by 8ft garden that has tomato and bean plants.
My problem is that for some reason each year thousands of little grass
type of weeds pop up. They are difficult to get to do to sheer number and
closeness to the other veggie plants.

Is there a small weeding tool that might help? Or do you have any
recommendations. It seems I'll weed one day and they have returned the
next.

P.S. I saw this little tool that looked like a serrated Sickle(sp) that
had a fork at the end that is for small weeding. would that amount to
anything?

Many thanks!
--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

On Tue, 25 May 2004 14:00:25 GMT, Hound wrote:

A garden hoe will do the job and it will help aerate your garden in the
process.

Hoes come in many styles and sizes.

Thanks, this will sound dumb I am sure, but the hoe I do have is a 3
tine(?) fork sort of device. is that what you mean? Or a flat blade? I
am just not sure how to use either to get rid of these things.

--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

On Tue, 25 May 2004 15:28:23 GMT, SugarChile
wrote:

Have you considered mulching? Lay several layers of newspaper on the
ground
(wet it with the hose to keep it from blowing as you work), then cover
with
grass clippings or straw. This is very effective, looks neat, and helps
conserve moisture in the ground. Then you will only need to weed right
next
to the plants, and as they grow and shade weed seedlings out, you should
have little or no weeding to do.

Cheers,
Sue


That's a great idea. I have plenty of newspaper and grass clippings.
Must I weed first?


--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

My favorite weeding tool is a good paring knife. This allows me to
cut the roots below the soil and lift the weed out. It's very good
for small spaces and for weeds growing between bricks or through
pavement cracks.

--

David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/

I use Mozilla as my Web browser because I want a browser that
complies with Web standards. See http://www.mozilla.org/.

I like to do some weeding, just to get the big stuff so the paper will lie
more or less flat, but it's not crucial. If you have large established
perennial weeds, like burdock or poke, it's good to dig them out, as they
can sometimes push through. But for the most part, no, you don't need to
weed first. Make sure to overlap the layers of newspaper, and if your grass
clippings are still green and wet, use thin layers and let them dry so they
don't mat up and get stinky.

Sue

--

Zone 6, South-central PA


That's a great idea. I have plenty of newspaper and grass clippings.
Must I weed first?


--

I've got a very small 8ft by 8ft garden that has tomato and bean plants.
My problem is that for some reason each year thousands of little grass
type of weeds pop up. They are difficult to get to do to sheer number and
closeness to the other veggie plants.

My favorite when I'm doing stand up weeding is this sort of hoe:
http://www.plantea.com/weeding-tips-part2.htm -- called a stirrup hoe or
a scuffle hoe. For close-in work, I like something that looks sort of
like a hunting knife:
http://www.naturehills.com/new/produ...aspx?proid=355
(price is way out of line, though!)


Is there a small weeding tool that might help? Or do you have any
recommendations. It seems I'll weed one day and they have returned the
next.

Mulch. A couple three inches of dried grass, straw (not hay) or even multiple
layers of newspaper will do it. The secret to not having to weed is canopy
closure, and when the canopy is open when your plants are young, the weeds
will sprout. Give 'em some artificial shade with mulch.

Classic book on mulch gardening: Ruth Stout's How to Have A Green Thumb Without
an Aching Back. Most libraries should have a copy in the system.

P.S. I saw this little tool that looked like a serrated Sickle(sp) that
had a fork at the end that is for small weeding. would that amount to
anything?

Might. Anything that fits your hands and the way you use your muscles and
gives you enough control that you're not going to do in your string beans
while trying to nab a mile a minute vine will do nicely. In fact, it's good
to have several weeding tools and switch off so all muscles get a bit of
work, and nothing gets overused.

Blarneystone wrote:
I've got a very small 8ft by 8ft garden that has tomato and bean plants.
My problem is that for some reason each year thousands of little grass
type of weeds pop up. They are difficult to get to do to sheer number and
closeness to the other veggie plants.

Is there a small weeding tool that might help? Or do you have any
recommendations. It seems I'll weed one day and they have returned the
next.


I really like this hoe from Lee Valley: http://tinyurl.com/2h4by

With the small blade I have good control and get as close as I want. It's
also ideal for weeding large mulched areas with weeds scattered here and
there; all the while standing up with a straight back, no stooping.


Max

On 26 May 2004 07:07:19 -0700, (Max) wrote:

===Blarneystone wrote:
=== I've got a very small 8ft by 8ft garden that has tomato and bean plants.
=== My problem is that for some reason each year thousands of little grass
=== type of weeds pop up. They are difficult to get to do to sheer number and
=== closeness to the other veggie plants.
===
=== Is there a small weeding tool that might help? Or do you have any
=== recommendations. It seems I'll weed one day and they have returned the
=== next.
===
===
===I really like this hoe from Lee Valley: http://tinyurl.com/2h4by
===
===With the small blade I have good control and get as close as I want. It's
===also ideal for weeding large mulched areas with weeds scattered here and
===there; all the while standing up with a straight back, no stooping.
===
===
===Max

I usually pen up a few of my geese (brown china) in my garden after
the plants get some size to them, and they dop a mavelous job of
ridding all weeds.........after the initial burst of new weeds in the
spring, and the geese have things under control, I mulch it heavily
before itgets really hot out in this area, and I am pretty well
weedfree in the veggie garden the rest of the season. Have yet to have
planated plants get eaten by my geese, as they prefer nice young
tender greens be it grass or weeds, so once a plant is approx 6" tall
in come the geese.

I do use a typical garden hoe on occasion and have tried that stirrup
type, but found it cumbersome or awkward, for me at least. I did make
a home brew hoe out of an old machette blade that broke ata the
handle. Its on a pole attached at about an 80 deg angle and is
approximately 7" long, which is great for slicing under the soils and
cutting those roots.
Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wifes,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

"Roy" wrote in message
...
On 26 May 2004 07:07:19 -0700, (Max) wrote:

===Blarneystone wrote:
=== I've got a very small 8ft by 8ft garden that has tomato and bean
plants.
=== My problem is that for some reason each year thousands of little
grass
=== type of weeds pop up. They are difficult to get to do to sheer
number and
=== closeness to the other veggie plants.
===
=== Is there a small weeding tool that might help? Or do you have any
=== recommendations. It seems I'll weed one day and they have
returned the
=== next.
===
===
===I really like this hoe from Lee Valley: http://tinyurl.com/2h4by
===
===With the small blade I have good control and get as close as I want.
It's
===also ideal for weeding large mulched areas with weeds scattered here
and
===there; all the while standing up with a straight back, no stooping.
===
===
===Max

I usually pen up a few of my geese (brown china) in my garden after
the plants get some size to them, and they dop a mavelous job of
ridding all weeds.........after the initial burst of new weeds in the
spring, and the geese have things under control, I mulch it heavily
before itgets really hot out in this area, and I am pretty well
weedfree in the veggie garden the rest of the season. Have yet to have
planated plants get eaten by my geese, as they prefer nice young
tender greens be it grass or weeds, so once a plant is approx 6" tall
in come the geese.

I do use a typical garden hoe on occasion and have tried that stirrup
type, but found it cumbersome or awkward, for me at least. I did make
a home brew hoe out of an old machette blade that broke ata the
handle. Its on a pole attached at about an 80 deg angle and is
approximately 7" long, which is great for slicing under the soils and
cutting those roots.
Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wifes,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

Utilizing the geese is a great idea. And you get the added benefit of them
fertilizing your garden at the same time.

Brigitte

On Tue, 25 May 2004 13:24:03 +0000, Blarneystone wrote:

Hi all,

I've got a very small 8ft by 8ft garden that has tomato and bean plants.
My problem is that for some reason each year thousands of little grass
type of weeds pop up. They are difficult to get to do to sheer number and
closeness to the other veggie plants.

Is there a small weeding tool that might help? Or do you have any
recommendations. It seems I'll weed one day and they have returned the
next.

P.S. I saw this little tool that looked like a serrated Sickle(sp) that
had a fork at the end that is for small weeding. would that amount to
anything?

Many thanks!


Imho the bestlittle weeder tool is a hula hoe hands down. With regular use
most all weeds will be gone. Takes little time and effort to use. I use
one in my business everyday. Here's what they look like:

http://www.seedsofchange.com/garden_...item_no=S12394

Cheaper ones can be found other places.

"Blarneystone" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 25 May 2004 13:24:03 GMT, Blarneystone
wrote:

Hi all,

I've got a very small 8ft by 8ft garden that has tomato and bean
plants. My problem is that for some reason each year thousands of
little grass type of weeds pop up. They are difficult to get to do to
sheer number and closeness to the other veggie plants.

Is there a small weeding tool that might help? Or do you have any
recommendations. It seems I'll weed one day and they have returned the
next.

P.S. I saw this little tool that looked like a serrated Sickle(sp) that
had a fork at the end that is for small weeding. would that amount to
anything?

Many thanks!

Thanks again all for the great suggestions! I'm going to look around town
for some hula weeders and such.

After reading all of the advise in this thread, I decided to purchase a
stirrup/hula hoe. Someone mentioned sharpening it. The one I purchased,
and all the ones I looked at were not at all sharp. Rather dull and more of
a rounded surface. Is this how they are intended to be? Seems it would
work much better if it were sharp. I should I sharpen it? I have a large
file, would that work?

Thanks,
Brigitte

--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

Hi,

"Brigitte J." wrote in message
...

After reading all of the advise in this thread, I decided to
purchase a
stirrup/hula hoe. Someone mentioned sharpening it. The one I
purchased,
and all the ones I looked at were not at all sharp. Rather dull and
more of
a rounded surface. Is this how they are intended to be? Seems it
would
work much better if it were sharp. I should I sharpen it? I have a
large
file, would that work?

No. You should not sharpen it.

I do not use hula hoe before, but for what I know, all tools that work
in the soil will become dull in no time. Sharpening just a waste of
time.

Instead of the sharp angle, the blade should be round, especially when
there is some small stone in the soil. This work best for soil tools,
also are the shape it will develop itself after using sometime.

Regards,
Wong

--
Latitude: 06.10N Longitude: 102.17E Altitude: 5m

On Sat, 29 May 2004 11:23:37 -0500, Brigitte J. wrote:

After reading all of the advise in this thread, I decided to purchase a
stirrup/hula hoe. Someone mentioned sharpening it. The one I purchased,
and all the ones I looked at were not at all sharp. Rather dull and more
of a rounded surface. Is this how they are intended to be? Seems it
would work much better if it were sharp. I should I sharpen it? I have a
large file, would that work?

I sharpen all my weeders and shovels. To sharpen the hula hoe, flat
sharpen the bottom of the tool and angle sharpen the inside edge of the
tool. Do not give the tools too sharp of an edge. This will only dull with
use and the thin edge will chip and bend. I also suggest that you sharpen
your shovels. A light edge on the schoop side of the shovel will make it a
lot easier to dig with.