Dealing with Weeds, A Fact of Life In Farming

by Andrea Yoder

Cultivating Strawberry Plants using
the Kult cultivator

Weeds are a central theme to our year round conversations on the farm.  During the growing season Richard and Rafael have daily conversations and plans for eliminating and preventing weeds in our fields.  During the winter months they still think about how they can eliminate weeds as they research new implements and machinery to help with mechanical cultivation as well as brainstorming other techniques for decreasing weed pressure, etc.  If all the weed control they both do in their sleep at night could actually take place in our fields, we wouldn’t have a single weed to worry about!  I hope you get the point that weed control is a big deal to the overall success of our crops and we invest a considerable amount of energy, time and resources towards weed control.  In conventional agriculture, chemical herbicides are often the main form of weed control, but in organic farming systems chemicals are a very limited option.  The only herbicide we use on our farm is 30% vinegar that we spray on weeds that may grow in places where we are limited in options for eradicating them, such as around our irrigation headers that stay in place at the end of a field for the duration of the season.  Our use of this type of herbicide is very limited, and over the years we have developed many other ways of battling weeds.  But first, what is a weed?

A thick stand of a diverse cover crop blend
including mammoth clover, vetch & rye grass

I asked Richard how he defines what a weed is and he said “A weed is a plant that interferes with an intentionally planted crop.”  This is an important distinction because in some cases we may consider a plant to be the intentional crop while at other times we may consider that same type of plant to be a weed that needs to be removed.  An example of this is burdock.  We plant whole fields to burdock intentionally because we want to harvest the roots.  We also send our crew members out to dig wild burdock out of the areas surrounding our fields, in pastures, etc. to prevent it from making seed and spreading!  While we often don’t think of them in this way, weeds are actually Mother Nature’s gift to the soil because we know Mother Nature likes to keep the ground covered at all times!  Weed seeds can actually remain viable in the soil for 20-30 years.  They remain dormant until the conditions are right and then they germinate.  This is part of nature’s design to protect the soil and deal with extremes such as droughts or excess moisture.  This collection of seeds in the soil is called the “Seed Bank.”  Our goal in weed control is to deplete the Seed Bank by germinating weeds and then eliminating those plants, but we also want to make sure we are not depositing into the Seed Bank either by letting weeds mature to the point where they produce seeds.

So why do we work so hard to eliminate weeds from our fields?  Well obviously it’s because a weed-free field is much more beautiful than one filled with weeds!  Ok, while that’s a true statement, aesthetics are not the main objective in weed control.  Plants that we consider weeds are competition for the crop for sunlight, nutrients and water.  Many times weeds grow faster than the crop and diminish the crop’s access to sunlight.  Plants that we consider weeds also extract fertility and moisture, thereby depriving the crop of vital nutrients.  The result of this competition is that the crop is not able to achieve its maximum potential, yields may be decreased, efficiency in harvest is diminished, and if nutrients are lacking there may be impact on fruiting, growth and the ability of the plant to defend itself against pests and disease.  

Sunchokes, an excellent weed competitor!

Some crops we grow are pretty aggressive and we don’t worry so much about weed pressure.  A good example of this is sunchokes which can quickly grow a sizeable plant that creates a canopy which shades the ground under them and prevents weeds from growing.  Even though sunchokes have a very long growing season, we seldom ever have to weed them because we’re able to deal with any weeds early on using mechanical cultivation and then once the plant is big enough weeds just aren’t much of an issue.  There are other crops, however, that are very poor weed competitors.  Onions, carrots, beets and parsnips are good examples of crops that can be a challenge.  In many cases, weeds grow faster than these crops which gives the weeds the advantage.  The other reason is that these crops do not produce as much leaf or plant material above ground to overshadow the weeds, or do not produce the leaves fast enough.  One thing a farmer needs to consider is the weed history of a field.  We have a lot of fields, but Richard and Rafael are very familiar with the weeds that are present in the different locations and take this information into consideration when planning where a crop will be planted.  

Utilizing an old-fashioned method of weed
control....hand weeding 

We have many methods of controlling weeds and are always considering what is going to be both most effective as well as cost effective.  The first objective we set is to prevent weeds from going to seed.  This is an underlying goal in all of our efforts because we do not want to contribute to that Seed Bank or we’ll pay for it for the next 20-30 years!  This is why timely weed control is so very important and must be a priority.  In wet years this can be a challenge as many of our weed control efforts are not possible when the field is too wet to take equipment into without getting stuck.  In these cases we can sometimes do hand weeding, however that can be counterproductive at times unless you actually carry the weeds out of the field.  If you just pull the weed and put it on the ground between the beds, it will often have enough moisture to take root and keep growing.  We do a lot of hand weeding, but weeding by hand is not easy work!  It’s hard on the body, very time consuming and consequently very expensive.  So, we try as much to use machinery and other methods which are more cost effective and faster.

Wet, but dry enough to not get stuck!

I consider Richard and Rafael to be masters of mechanical weed control and together they have developed quite an arsenal of machinery and implements to combat weeds on our farm.  If a piece of machinery doesn’t exist on the market, they design it and we build it!  There are many factors they consider when choosing which mechanical cultivation technique they are going to employ.  How big is the crop?  Are the weeds in the row, in between the rows or in the wheel tracks?  How aggressive can we be with a plant?  Is the plant well established and tough enough to take a little impact or is it delicate and cannot be disturbed?  How big are the weeds?  They also do weed control at all stages of the crop.  Before a crop is planted, the ground is prepared and, ideally, we wait at least two weeks to plant the crop.  During this two weeks we can germinate the weed seeds in the top layer of soil and get a nice flush of weeds.  Just before we plant the crop, they can “clean up” the bed using the basket cultivator that passes over the bed and flicks the little weeds out with shallow tillage.  This technique is called “stale bedding” and it’s a noticeable difference when we are able to accomplish this versus planting into freshly prepared soil.  We will do another article to explore the topic of tillage versus no-till farming methods, but I want to make a comment about tillage as it relates to weed control.  We do use tillage in our crop systems, but only when deemed necessary and we try to limit it to shallow tillage because deep tillage stirs up weed seeds and brings them to the surface where they are more likely to germinate.  We have enough weed issues on the surface already, so it behooves us to not create more issues we have to then deal with!  

Rafael operating the flame weeder

We also utilize pre-emergent flame weeding.  With this technique we use a machine called “The Flamer” which is basically a big propane tank set on a frame with burners that passes over the width of the bed very close to the surface of the soil.  The flames from the burners will kill any plant on the bed.  For this method to be effective, it has to be timed properly.  We want to kill the maximum amount of weeds, but we don’t want to kill our crop.  Thus, we have to time the flaming just ahead of when the crop emerges.  We utilize pre-emergent flame weeding for parsnips, carrots, cilantro and dill.  Luis has been doing most of the flame weeding this year and has been doing an excellent job of tracking the crops that need to be flamed and checking them regularly.  A crop can emerge from the soil literally overnight, so he has to be very timely in his efforts or he’ll miss a critical opportunity and the resultant weed pressure in the crop is noticeable.

Freshly mulched field in preparation
for planting peppers

I mentioned earlier that Mother Nature does not like to have the surface of the soil barren.  With this in mind, we have a few other tactics we can use to stay ahead of the weeds.  One tactic we use for some crops is mulch.  We mostly use rye straw for mulching crops such as strawberries, garlic, peppers and tomatoes.  Having straw mulch in place functions as a cover for the soil to discourage weed growth or smother any weeds that try to emerge.  We also use cover crops extensively, especially in the fall.  As soon as we take the last crop off a field for the year, we plant a diverse mix of cover crop seeds so we can establish a nice blanket of green to cover the soil.  There are some types of weeds that actually germinate and become established in the fall and then become a problem for us the following spring.  If we can get a cover crop growing quickly and shade the ground, we can discourage the growth of these weeds and reap the benefits of our efforts in the spring!

Freshly cultivated, weed-free 
field of potatoes

This is just a very little glimpse into the topic of weed control on a vegetable farm, but if we were to cover all there is to share we would have a book!  I hope you can appreciate the level of mastery of your farmers and have confidence that, while the battle against weeds is never ending, your team of farmers is doing their very best to continue to innovate and learn in an effort to manage weeds on our farm.  The result as it relates to you is that you will continue to receive wholesome, nutrient dense, flavorful and beautiful vegetables!

Dealing With Weeds At Harmony Valley Farm

By:  Richard de Wilde

“What we call a weed is in fact merely a plant growing where we do not want it.”

 —E.J. Salisbury, The Living Garden, 1935

Leeks after cultivation using "The Lilliston"

As organic farmers we do our best to understand and work with the natural world.  Nature is wise and knows the value of keeping soil in place and covered with plants which maximize each day of sunshine, capturing carbon and nitrogen from the air while exhaling oxygen that we need to live.  In nature, soil is never left bare to be wasted or eroded by wind and water.  Weeds have a purpose, and it really is a good one!  So why are we so set on killing and eradicating them from our fields?  Weeds can be very aggressive and can inhibit the potential of a crop by competing for sunlight and nutrients.  They impede our harvest efficiency and produce thousands of seeds which will haunt us for years.  Most weeds have accompanied agriculture from its beginning.  They moved around the world as early settlers brought their grain seed along with some tag along weed seeds and today they hitchhike with the global grain trade and then further spread by way of wind, animals, equipment, etc.

Potato field cultivated with "The Lilliston" 

Weed plants are very adaptive.  They can lie dormant in soils for 10-30 years, just waiting for their time of need to germinate.  Some weed seeds  only germinate at certain times of the year, such as in cool spring or fall temperatures.  Others are triggered in times of excess moisture, while others only germinate in summer heat or extreme drought.  Weed seeds are also triggered to geminate by exposure to light, usually caused by tillage.  Tillage is any disruption of the soil, which in our case could be cultivation or other work to prepare the soil for planting.  As the soil is stirred and disrupted, even just a flash of sunlight is enough to trigger some weeds to germinate!  In fact, I’ve read that in Europe some farmers even started cultivating at night to avoid triggering weed seeds!  Weed seeds may also be triggered by fertility needs in the soil.  Some weeds have the ability to correct soil nutrient deficiencies.  For example, if soil is deficient in phosphorus, a seed for a plant that has the ability to scavenge phosphorus may be triggered to germinate and grow.  As we try to minimize weeds in our crop, one thing we do is to provide balanced nutritional needs for the soil to prevent the need for weeds to correct the deficiency.

Cilantro:  Cultivated with "Basket Weeder" with shields & Kult Kress Duo.

There are really only two kinds of weeds, annual or bi-annual weeds and perennial weeds.  Annual or bi-annual weeds grow rapidly from seed, but only under the right conditions.  In order to thrive once they germinate, they need to grow and develop their green structures above ground to capture sunlight and utilize photosynthesis for energy.  When these types of weeds die at the end of the season, they are dead and won’t grow again.   Thus their main way to propagate themselves is to produce seeds that drop back into the soil and are available for a future season.  In contrast, perennial weeds survive from year to year and their main strength and the key to their survival is their underground root storage system which holds nutrients and energy.  When a new year rolls around, they don’t have to wait for the right conditions to germinate a seed and start photosynthesizing, rather they draw their energy from their roots.  The key to eradicating these types of weeds is depleting their root reserves.  Up until the plant is six inches tall, it is drawing its energy from its root reserves.  When it is about six inches tall, it starts utilizing photosynthesis to put energy back into the roots and replete the reserve.  One way we can battle this type of weed is to repeatedly mow it off when it is about six inches tall. This takes persistence, but after time the root reserves will be depleted and the plant will die.

Rafael using disc cultivator in the cilantro field.

By now you may be wondering if there is a silver bullet for weed control.  Valid question and one farmers have been asking for years.  In a recent article in Acres U.S.A. written by Anneliese Abbott, she commented about the onset of agricultural herbicide use.  “It seemed so easy:  forget about plowing…and just spray chemicals to kill the weeds.  No tillage, no erosion and no weeds:  what could be better?  Unfortunately, herbicides caused as many problems as they solved. They polluted water, harmed non-target organisms and sometimes posed a threat to human health.  Worst of all, they only worked well for a short period of time.  Weeds quickly evolved resistance to every major type of herbicide, forcing farmers to spray more and more chemicals with less and less success every year.”   Sadly, as organic farmers there is no easy way to deal with weeds.  Rather we try to understand how weeds work, the conditions they thrive in, and then we utilize multiple methods to kill them and prevent their growth.  Aside from the occasional use of 30% vinegar, chemicals are not our answer.  So lets talk about the methods and tools we can use.

New weed control technique:
Low growing cover crops between rows of melons.

One of our weed control tools is planting cover crops of grains, grasses and clovers.  If we can satisfy the need to cover the soil, there’s no need for dormant weed seeds to germinate.  It helps that most grasses and cereal grains, such as rye, also exude chemicals to inhibit other seeds from germinating.  Historically we have planted most of our cover crops in the fall, which can serve to prevent the growth of bi-annual weeds.  Bi-annual weeds germinate in fall, but do their growing in the spring.  If we can inhibit germination with a fall cover crop planting, we won’t have those weeds in our spring planted crop.  We are also perfecting a new and exciting technique we’ve developed for controlling weeds that grow in the space between the beds where crops are planted.  Immediately after preparing the beds, we plant two very fast germinating cover crop plants, creeping red fescue and white Dutch clover.  Both grow fast and inhibit weeds.  They are also short in stature, only 6 inches tall at most, so they do not compete with our crop for sunshine.

Using Flame Weeder to kill small weeds before crop emerges

We can also deplete the “weed seed bank” in the soil by triggering weeds to germinate, then killing them when they are small with very shallow cultivation or flaming.  We typically utilize this method before we plant the crop, but it requires us to prepare the beds one week ahead of planting.  Then, just before we plant, we “basket” the beds.  A “Basket Weeder” is an implement mounted on a small tractor.  It has horizontal wires that flip small weeds out as they roll across the surface of the bed.  We can also utilize a “Flame Weeder” to kill weeds that germinate and emerge after the crop has been planted, but before it comes up.  In order for this to work, the timing and conditions have to be just right.  The flame weeder is a tank of propane mounted on the back of the tractor with burners that carry just over the surface of the bed.  The flames burn the weeds off, thereby killing them.  If you flame too soon, you won’t maximize the number of weeds you kill.  If you wait too long, the crop may start to emerge and you risk burning off your crop.  We utilize flame weeding for crops such as cilantro and dill that we plant every week for over twenty weeks.  Typically we have to time the flaming about 4-8 days after the crop is planted, depending on temperature.  We also use this technique on carrots and parsnips and the difference between a crop that has been flamed and one that has not is dramatic!!  We have a significant reduction in weeds with timely flaming.  When we do get weeds in our field, it is critical that “bad” weeds to go to seed in the field or areas around our fields.  If they do, they’ll make a deposit into the “weed seed bank” that we’ll pay for in years to come!

Vicente using "The Lilliston" to "hill" sweet corn

We have a few more tools in our collection of things for weed control.  Sometimes we use a tool called “The Lilliston” which aggressively throws dirt in one direction and can be used to smother weeds by throwing dirt on them.  We use this to smother weeds within the rows of crops such as potatoes, leeks and sunchokes when the plants are big enough to get partially covered by dirt without damaging them.  Another tool we use is called a “Lely Tine Weeder.”  This tool has little tines that rake out very small weeds.  This is a more gentle tool and can be used on small transplants and fast growing crops that are direct seeded, as long as the crop is larger than the weeds.  The “Basket Weeder” is also extensively used with tunnel shields that we put on the implement to carry over the rows of crops to protect them from dirt flying into the row and smothering the crop when the crop is too small.  While this method preserves the crop and kills weeds in between the rows, it doesn’t do anything to remove weeds that are in the row.  Later, when the crop is bigger and can take a little more aggressive cultivation, we remove the shields.

Jaime and Felix G using "The Kult" in celeriac

In more recent years we’ve started using a steerable cultivator that we call “The Kult.”  It requires a team of two people to operate it.  One person drives the tractor and the other rides on the cultivator to steer the machine.  This tool is more effective at killing weeds within the rows of crops and it is indispensable at killing new weeds in larger, more established crops where we have to be careful not to disturb the crop’s root system or damage the plants.  It’s also adaptable and can be set up in a variety of ways to best meet our needs.  We have even more cultivating tools, but I think you can see we try to utilize mechanical options as they are our most efficient and cost-effective means of killing weeds.

Ascension using a hoe and his hands to remove weeds
in the strawberry field

We can also smother weeds by covering the soil with plastic or straw mulch.  Some of our crops are planted on plastic covered beds.  We use the plastic mulch for a variety of reasons, one being weed control.  As a last resort, when we’ve exhausted all other methods, we turn to old-fashioned hand weeding.  Yes, we do still do more than our fair share of hand weeding and this too is a skill.  We try to avoid weeding by hand because it is time consuming, but sometimes that’s the only option.

Will we ever kill all the weeds in our fields?  No, but the sum total of all our efforts will pay off this year and in years to come as we minimize the impact weeds have on our crops.

Cover Crops...Our Allies in Nutrient Management

by Richard de Wilde
Every year we are intrigued by cover crops and find ourselves wondering why more farmers don’t utilize them.  Late summer and fall is an important time of year when we start to wrap things up for the growing season, making our final passes through the fields and putting them to bed for the winter.  We remove the mulch and irrigation lines, take down tomato stakes and chop any remaining plant material (such as broccoli stalks) in the field.  Starting in mid-late summer, as soon as a crop is finished, we start this process with the goal of getting a cover crop planted as soon as possible.  We’ve been planting cover crops since August, so many fields are already covered with a lush blanket of green growth.  Cover crops are a very important part of our production system and are important for maintaining the health of our soil as well as investing in future crops we’ll take off the land.

Richard kneeling in a cover crop planting

Cover crops are an excellent example of how it pays to work in alignment with nature.  While we plant most of our cover crops in the fall, they could be planted at other times of the year in certain scenarios.  We choose cereal grains, grasses and legumes as our plants.  It’s important to understand why we plant them and what purpose they serve.  First, cover crops will out-compete any fall weeds that might germinate in a field….and we hate weeds!  There are actually some weeds that germinate and start their growth cycle in the fall. Once they are established, we have to deal with them in the spring when they start to bloom.   The more weeds we can prevent from getting established in the fall, the better it will be in the spring.   Cover crops also help hold soil in place.  Winter winds and moisture can carry precious topsoil away if there isn’t something to hold onto it.  We try to get cover crops established as soon as possible so we can maximize their growth potential and form a strong root structure to hold the soil in place and prevent erosion.

Field planted with a cover crop mix of annual rye grass,
oats, crimson clover, Japanese millet and Austrian winter peas

Another important reason for planting cover crops is to build soil health and nutrition while building a system for holding nutrients.  Cover crop plants can both synthesize and extract nutrients from their environment and then act like a sponge to take these nutrients up and hold onto them.  Through photosynthesis they are able to take carbon from the air and use it to build nutrients in the plant and soil system.  Some scientists studying climate change have theorized that if all farmers used cover crop systems, we could mitigate the problem of excess carbon and the effects of climate change.  Many nutrients in the soil are water-soluble and can be lost when they wash away with melting snow and moisture over the winter and in the spring.  If you have a plant in the soil, it will take up the nutrients and utilize or hold onto them.

This year we’ve chosen to diversify our cover crop plant mixes.  We have two different mixes.  The first mix is a combination of four different plants that have the ability to overwinter.  This means they will start to grow again in the spring time.  We plant this mix in fields that we do not plan to plant early crops in.  This mix includes hairy vetch and mammoth red clover which are both legumes.  The other two components are annual rye grass and cereal rye.  Each component of the mix has a specific purpose.  The legumes are important because they have the ability to take nitrogen from the air and fix it in the soil.  Annual rye grass is a fast-growing, aggressive plant that can out-compete weeds.  While it’s part of the overwinter mix for this purpose, it’s actually one component that will not come back in the spring.  Cereal rye is important because it takes up the nutrients, including the nitrogen synthesized by the legumes, and acts like the sponge to hold onto them.  They release them into the soil as needed, or at the end of their life cycle when we cut the cover crop and work it back into the soil.

Austrian winter peas, rye and clover in our cover crop mix.

Our second mix contains five components that will winter-kill.  While this means that the plants will die when we get temperatures of 10°F or less, these amazing plants can and will continue to grow (slowly) up until this point.  This is yet another reason that cover crops are so amazing!  We use this mix on fields that we know we’ll need to get into early in the spring to plant some of our early crops such as parsnips, salad greens, early cabbage, kohlrabi, peas, etc.  This mix also contains the annual rye grass for its fast-growing abilities.  The nitrogen-fixing legumes in this mix include winter peas and crimson clover.  The sponges in this mix include two cereal grains, oats & Japanese millet.  While creating these mixes has added a level of complexity to the process, it also has added a higher level of diversity to our cover crop system which in turn will create a wider diversity of microbes in the soil.

Our standard operating procedure when we finish harvesting a crop is to immediately follow with the chopper to break down any remaining plant material, then do a light disking.  Next, we spread compost and then the cover crop seeds are planted.  This happens fast and the whole process can be completed in 24-36 hours!  This is very time-sensitive and every day matters because you really want to maximize the growth of the cover crop while the fall days are still warm.  Of course we need moisture in the soil to germinate the seeds, so sometimes we dance with the weather and try to time the seeding right before or after a rain.

Using cover crops is a very efficient way to hold and add nutrients to the soil.  Once the crop is planted, everything happens in place.  There is no additional need to haul or spread additional fertilizer…the plant does all the work for us!  Management, teamwork and timeliness are key components to making this all come together.

Managing Weeds at Harmony Valley Farm

How do you manage weeds? That is a great question we’re often asked and it has a variety of answers depending on the crop, the stage of growth of the crop, the weather conditions, etc.  While conventional farmers often use chemical forces in their battle against weeds, we turn to non-chemical methods including mechanical cultivation and flaming. Richard and Rafael keep a close watch over our fields. Richard referred to Rafael as the “Weed Manager”. His observations have been extremely helpful in deciding when to cultivate and which implement to use on each crop. The goal is to reduce the weed seed, also known as the ‘seed bank’ in the soil. Weed seeds can live for 10 – 30 years in the soil, just waiting for the perfect time and conditions to grow. Our job is to remove weeds and not let them produce any more seeds. Below I will summarize some of our equipment, crew and processes that take on the task of keeping the weeds at bay!

Rafael flaming the cilantro
field before the crop sprouted.

If you have ever been to our farm or seen field pictures, you have seen our raised bed fields. Our first line of defense is to reduce the weed seed in the top 2 inches of soil before planting a crop. We try, but do not always have the perfect weather conditions or enough time, to make the beds 2 weeks prior to planting, thus giving the weeds time to sprout. If that happens, we can use the ‘Flamer’ to burn off the weeds that have sprouted prior to planting. Juan or Rafael have been Richard’s go to guys when it comes to flaming our fields. The ‘Flamer’ is a piece of equipment that takes the propane from the large tank mounted on the implement and through the pipes to create, in essence a flame thrower.  Sounds pretty cool right!  No, there is no big ball of flames; it is really just enough heat/flames close to the ground to burn the weeds that are already growing, but can save a huge amount of time and manpower.  We can also use the ‘Flamer’ after the crop is                                                          planted but before the plants push through the ground to                                                                  burn the weeds that are already growing.

Rafael cultivating the cilantro field
with the 5 Row Basket Weeder

A closer look at Rafael basketing the
cilantro field!

Once the crop is out of the ground we lose the option to flame. Now we have to turn to a variety of different cultivating implements for help. This will depend on the crop and how big it is in the field. A good example is our cilantro. It is planted on raised beds in rows of 5 on top of each raised bed.  We use the 5 row ‘basket weeder’ to loosen the soil and pull out any small weeds that are already growing in the top inch of soil. Rafael has done an excellent job with perfecting his basketing procedures.  Rogelio, Ramon and Jose Manuel have also done a great job with the basket weeder.

Oscar (driving the tractor) and Luis operating 'The Kult'
to take care of those pesky weeds in our beautiful parsnip field.

A closer look at the fingers of 'The Kult' working!

Last year we purchased an awesome German made K.U.L.T. Kress Cultivator. We refer to this as ‘The Kult’. Rafael learned how to operate this implement and has now taught Oscar and Luis how to use it. Weeds growing in the row are a huge problem as they are hard to get to without damaging the crop. This implement, when conditions are good, will help to reduce those pesky weeds in the row. There is one person (Oscar) driving the tractor and another (Luis) steering the implement to make sure the crop does not get pulled out. The Kult has little fingers that come close to weaving together near the base of the crop loosening the soil and ‘stirring’ out the small weeds. We use this machine with our transplanted brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower, etc). We transplant our brassicas to give them a head start on the weeds, giving them the advantage of being larger than the sprouting weeds.  It is way easier to get rid of smaller weeds when our crop is larger and easier to see in the row and the Kult works very well with these crops.    

Vicente using the 2 row Lilliston
cultivator in the corn field.

Vicente using the disc Lilliston
to bury the weeds in the potato field.

For other larger crops, it makes more sense to bury the weeds with dirt. This is a great option for crops like potatoes or corn.
 Vicente has learned how to use the Lilliston cultivator with ease. The open steel fingers on this implement pull up the soil between each crop row and push the loose soil around the plant, essentially burying the weeds.
       

Corn row before (top) and
after (bottom) the Lilliston.

When all mechanical attempts have been applied,
we have one more tool: our hands to do hand weeding. This is very time consuming but also necessary in some cases.  With carrots or parsnips, both of which have longer germination rates, the weeds generally pop up before the crop. After the field is flamed with the flame weeder and the crop starts coming up, we need to make sure the hand weeding gets started soon.  This takes very good eye-hand coordination as well as knowing the difference between the crop and a weed.
I can’t stress this enough, but extreme precision while using any of these implements makes the difference between a well weeded crop and not having any crop at all because it was all pulled out or buried.   You have to watch the front of the tractor to see where you are going, but also the back to make sure you are not pulling up any plants.  Even the hand weeders need to be careful.

Picture of the tool room where we
store the hand weeding tools.

Here are some parting thoughts on weeds.  Richard estimates that we kill 90 -95% of the weeds in our fields with the mechanical weeding techniques, leaving only a smaller amount for the hand weeders. Did you know that 1 weed that has gone to seed can produce up to 20,000 seeds and that these seeds can and will be carried by birds, water and the wind? This means that even though we remove most of the weeds, we will always have some weeds to deal with on the farm. Did you also know that Mother Nature does not like bare ground? Turns out she doesn’t like to be naked!  We use cover crops to help with the weeds (and other reasons) since if we don’t cover it, she will use the weed seeds in her seed bank to cover herself up. I know we have only touched briefly on the weed subject and there is a lot of information out there we didn’t discuss.  Rest assured that Richard and Rafael are on top of the weed battle. Discussing when to cultivate, which crops, upcoming weather, which implements to use, should they use fingers, discs, knives or how deep to go when cultivating are just some of the conversions that they have on a daily basis. In the end, we are grateful to all of our cultivating crew for their attention to detail, which allows us to have healthy crops to harvest and eat!