Dead nettle ©Janet Allen
Dead nettle is one of our common weeds

Weeds are a major time consumer in the vegetable garden. Since we plant anew every year we give the weeds an opportunity to prosper. For us weeds in the paths between the raised beds are the hardest to deal with because the soil is packed down, which makes it hard to pull out the weeds but seems to have no impact on their ability to grow. In the actual garden beds the loose soil makes it fairly easy to pull the weeds.

We try to keep ahead of the weeds, especially in the vegetable garden, because every weed detracts from our harvest. We also don't want them to go to seed and create even more of a problem for the future.

We don't know the names of some of the weeds. Dead nettle, pictured here, is a common weed. Purslane is another but it is one that we now try to cultivate to use in salads. It is reported to be a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. Once the soil warms up purslane will appear everywhere and we aren't able to eat it all, so some is still pulled out and removed since it will root again if left on top of the soil.