Katherine Reece Wrote:
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> My vegtable garden is in raised beds... (our land
> slopes down and we're terracing the garden areas a
> bit at a time) ...to control weeds I use weed
> fabric and mulch and if something does creep in I
> pull it right out ...
>
> Kat

Have you considered reading up on Native American terracing & raised gardens...? Bernard has recommended some books in the past, and I've cited one or two.

If you do them right, you get water & nutrient flow cycling through each level, vastly improved drainage & growth conditions, etc, etc. Heh, you could even arrange to water at one spot & have the water go (via ditches & seepage) to the entire garden, all in proper proportions (via ditch constriction, etc).

Best way to control weeds is to keep them out in the first place, do stuff like double tilling (till once to loosen soil, water if doesn't rain.... wait till the weeds sprout, then till again to obliviate them!), cover crops (I know of folk who seed clover or alfalfa into any emptied section of garden, sometimes mowing before it goes to seed, sometimes just tilling it under next spring), or who intercrop to keep out weeds (plant squash all through it all, timed to only cover the ground AFTER the other stuff is tall enough to survive it).

Heh, what I've always wanted to try is killing them with water.... REAL hot water that is, boiling or even actual steam. I've read of commercial machinery (experimental, for certain crops) that used natural gas to produce live steam or scalding water, which is then sprayed in the rows where it doesn't quite touch the desired crop plants. The hot water/steam kills the weeds, but cools rapidly & won't affect crops just a few inches away.... and obviously, there is no toxic residue to worry about).

Kenuchelover.