Ruthless/Is that Rootless?

It's never been a secret that the best thing we grow here in the End of the Rainbow Valley is weed/ should I say weeds? 

You know a "weed" is any plant you don't want growing where it has decided to grow.  Burdock, Sour dock, Creeping Charlie, Honey Suckle, Buckthorn, Garlic Mustard, to mention major culprits... and the one all of us can recognize, the DANDELION.

But if you think about it you don't see dandelions growing in the woods. Not enough light. So where do they come from?(originally- England for food) When they go to seed, that seed is spread by the wind/ animals.

Given the fact that I was away from home for less than 2 weeks and had left before the trees had even leafed out, I returned to yellow everywhere. Yellow dandelions that is.

After Natureman and I finished spreading the 16 yards of screened one inch stone,  I self appointed myself on weed patrol for the front 3 flower garden beds. While Natureman roto-tilled the garden patches...

cuke section

one for cucumbers, 

Coop flowers- cosmos, batchelor buttons, zinnias, dahlias

the chicken coop area for flowers,

 I was still weeding.

tomatoes and peppers

                                                                 



then onto a section for  tomatoes & peppers and another for the corn he went.   

I weeded.

There's nettle left growing at the end of the garden bed...

Natureman even planted the tomatoes  in our new snazzy colored cages and also got in the pepper plants. 

I was still weeding... and he finished rototilling the bottom of the last section for beans, corn, and squash. 

 Then Natureman got out the riding lawnmower and mowed the apple orchard while I continued weeding. He even weed whacked  the stone steps to the coop as I continued filling the garbage can with those dang cheery dandelions.


I emptied five tall cans getting as much of their roots as possible. Why?

Well, we all know chances are great another dandelion will grow back if even part of its root is left behind and very rarely can one extract all of that root.  BUT it is something to strive for...  Ah, to be 'rootless.'  

So if you go out of town in the spring most likely you will return to weeds unless, of course, you spray poison. 

You might even need to buy a new weed digger / have an extra one on hand in case anybody else wants to come help you remove weeds . Nah/ it breaks as it did in my case. Yeah.  It's not easy not letting those boogers go to seed. Heck, it's just not easy being 'root'less. 

.