The weeding begins....

Garlic and carrot bed

Charles always told me you should hoe on a hot windy day. Today wasn't exactly hot, 9 degrees that felt much much cooler in the shade, but the wind was brisk and busy. The carrot bed (sharing with garlic) has been netted since it was sown weeks ago. The netting was to protect the bed from inquisitive cats and birds and it did its job well. But now the garlic is really getting underway its time to take off the netting, and face the army of weeds beneath.

A Nasturtium towers over baby carrots and wild weed seedlings

I don't know about you but I have found that after a few years of gardening there are as many "cultivated" weeds as wild ones. Under the netting for every ragwort, dock, nettle and grass seedling there was a mustard, radish, rocket and nasturtium to match them. Actually there were far more weeds here than in the next bed, sown at the same time but without the netting. Did the netting help create a micro-climate a bit warmer than the next bed helping the weed seedlings to get going? An interesting idea.

There is no option but to hand weed the rows of carrots and garlic, a hoe will do the spaces in between. If this army of weeds gets any bigger it will seriously hinder the two crops in the bed. Seamus who is most keen on bloody carrots refused point blank to weed them, calling the job tedious and insane! He wants to wait until the weeds are bigger!!! The crazy fecker refused to listen to all the reasons why its better to do it earlier. So it was a one sided weeding job-but I don't mind. I like this kind of microscopic weeding, its very absorbing somehow-maybe I am mad!

If you dont know your weeds here is a handy website with links to pictures and full descriptions;
common garden weeds