Effective weed barrier

[Ninjasquirrel]

Try using corn gluten as a pre-emergent thats organic and pretty safe. You just need to wait a couple of weeks after seeds germinate but if you are transplanting you can use it right away.

Ok...this might sound horribly ignorant...what is corn gluten?

Edit: also I'm starting everything indoors so seed emergence shouldnt be an issue

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

That would be good, too. I don't know what the difference would be in the amount of weeds from either solution. I would think that burning the seeds up would work better, but it also kills the good organisms. Then if you get compost that hasn't been heated properly and introduce more weeds...vicious cycle. Chickens would add nitrogen as they scratch through and eat the seeds and till it all up.You wouldn't necessarily have to add more compost, but it's always a good idea. It's too bad that it takes so long, either way, to actually get something accomplished! Short growing seasons are such a bummer

We dont let the chickens in the garden because...well...I would have NO tomatoes. We cant use the solarizing thing because our growing season is short. No such thing as a "fall garden" in indiana

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Mulch, or the stuff you can get for free from places that cut trees. My Mom got several dump-truck loads when the utility company was trimming things near her house (they had a big truck/chipper combination). The main idea is for it to be heavy and stay put, so nothing light and fluffy.

Boiling water is probably not efficient if you do a lot of it, but I can assure you that a well-cooked weed doesn't grow any more!

If I'm going to have to use mulch anyway why bother with the paper and cardboard?

 

[Henry&Friends]

My SO says I'm just being lazy but I dont think so (I dont see him pulling weeds )

 

[NatJ]

If I'm going to have to use mulch anyway why bother with the paper and cardboard?

Because it helps keep weeds from coming up through the mulch from below. That's why it need to be pretty thick, because the weeds can be persistent--especially the ones that spread by underground stems.

I think of the newpaper or cardboard as being what really blocks the weeds, with the mulch to keep it from blowing away in the wind.

Some seeds will land on top of the mulch and try to grow, but any seeds already underneath will either stay dormant, or will try to come up and then die from lack of light.

 

[Meg-in-MT]

We dont let the chickens in the garden because...well...I would have NO tomatoes. We cant use the solarizing thing because our growing season is short. No such thing as a "fall garden" in indiana

Right, which is why I said you'd either have to move the garden or not have one. Some, of course, don't have the room to start another one. I, for one, wouldn't want to have to kibosh my garden for the year So, I may try it one of these years, but it won't be this one. I feel your pain on the weed pulling. Such a nightmare.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Right, which is why I said you'd either have to move the garden or not have one. Some, of course, don't have the room to start another one. I, for one, wouldn't want to have to kibosh my garden for the year So, I may try it one of these years, but it won't be this one. I feel your pain on the weed pulling. Such a nightmare.

If I dont do it EVERY DAY they get out of control. And if I dont do it before 10 AM it gets waaaay to hot in the garden. If I do it before 10 AM I have to wear a long sleeve jacket and jean pants or the mosquitos bite me like crazy. The other alternative is doing it at night but its the same issue with the mosquitos. I dont understand how anyone has time to garden based on these conditions. Early in the spring there are no weeds. As soon as july hits though...they are everywhere. I usually give up the fight mid august when we get more rain. Last year I did everything in the garden by myself because I was out of work. The weeds still beat me

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

I'm at the point that I might just bring the whole garden indoors so there wont be any weeds to pull

 

[Meg-in-MT]

If I dont do it EVERY DAY they get out of control. And if I dont do it before 10 AM it gets waaaay to hot in the garden. If I do it before 10 AM I have to wear a long sleeve jacket and jean pants or the mosquitos bite me like crazy. The other alternative is doing it at night but its the same issue with the mosquitos. I dont understand how anyone has time to garden based on these conditions. Early in the spring there are no weeds. As soon as july hits though...they are everywhere. I usually give up the fight mid august when we get more rain. Last year I did everything in the garden by myself because I was out of work. The weeds still beat me

Oofta. Have to say your conditions are much harder than mine! It's a rare occasion I have to deal with a mosquito at home.

Greenhouse maybe??

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I've used all sorts of wee barriers. I think the most effective one and cheapest was newspaper (back when newspapers were more common).
I planted a huge garden (perhaps 1/4 acre) one spring. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up with watering and weeding/cultivating due to working 10 hour days. Hence my move to newspaper. To keep the newspaper in place, I brought in a few truckloads of horse manure that was mostly straw. It worked beautifully. It turned out to be one of our hottest and driest summers. I used soaker hoses and only watered once a week. The straw/manure covered newspaper kept the ground moist. I was one of the only people with a decent harvest that year. Especially for someone with such a large garden and little time to tend it. The only weed issue I had that year was morning glory vines. They would run under the newspaper a long way before they would find light.
I left for work at 5:30 and got home about 4:30. My wife was quite pregnant that year (late August birth). She would go out very early in the morning before it got too hot, pick veggies and put them out on a harvest table in the shade with a scale, bags, a sign with prices and a cigar box for money. When I'd get home, I'd collect the money, put everything away and move the hoses.
Never once did I get ripped off. One day I opened the box and there was no money. I thought, "Oh well, it was about to happen eventually. But then when I picked everything up, there was a stack of money under the cigar box. I guess someone put it under there for safekeeping.

When I started to reply to this thread, I wanted to mention that there are millions of weed seeds in the soil. Some have been burred for years and only sprout when we disturb the soil. Cultivating, whether with a rototiller, shovel or trowel brings the seeds to the surface giving them sunlight, air and moisture urging them to sprout. IMHO, the less one disturbs the soil, the longer those seeds stay buried.