Weedy Woes

Lauren Rothman from Serious Eats has a serious issue: She can't stand weeding. Her garden—much like mine—is getting overrun with weeds. So what's a girl to do?

Get dirty, for starters. She gives several excellent tips for gardeners in her Weeding 101 primer, including go slow, get all the roots, and to make sure never to compost weeds (they'll just come back to plague you later). She has a lot of good advice, but I disagree with her on one point: I've found that the best way to get rid of weeds is not to wait for a dry day and do it all at once, but rather to do a little digging, every single day. Don't let them choke out your plants. Practice preventative measure and nip them in the bud. Literally.

Sure, it's a pain. But in my garden, I'm dealing with some serious invasive species. See that picture at the top? That's knotweed, and it is a killer. It's also, interestingly enough, edible. It tastes a bit like rhubarb, and can be used much in the same way. While this by no means makes up for its repeated efforts to strangle my spinach, it is good to know that even the lowliest weeds can serve a purpose.

The Urban Gardener: Weeding Stinks from Serious Eats