Re:FarmBot – Open-Source CNC Farming [video]
by HeyLaughingBoy on Friday June 10, 2016 @04:01PM
(#11879546)
If they do no harm, why do you want to spend time removing them?
I agree wholeheartedly. If. Unfortunately, if I ignore the thistles and many of the other unwanted plants, they will outcompete the plants I do want and completely overwhelm them. I'm not a big fan of doing unnecessary work. I know from experience that if I don't weed, I get almost zero yield. Squashes and potatoes are the only plants I have that survived.
OTOH, a few minutes here and there spent weeding (get them while they're small) and I get more veggies than I can eat.
This year I'm experimenting with using discarded heavy plastic bags as mulch to suppress the weeds. I'll see how that goes.
Re:FarmBot – Open-Source CNC Farming [video]
by treehau5 on Wednesday June 08, 2016 @11:38AM
(#11862942)
Was at a vineyard in Napa a couple weeks ago and they had a very diverse garden on display. One of the signs pointed out the type of weeds that grew there but referred to them as "volunteer plants" I got a kick out of that.
What about them? A weed is simply an unwanted plant. If they do no harm, why do you want to spend time removing them? Again, plant a good cover crop and don't weed. Your soil will be better, you will use less water, and there's no downside.
>(and snails)
Nothing about permaculture says you can't deal with snails. You can still deal with snails/slugs however you like. The obvious being simple copper wire or beer traps.
>Are you telling me, that you don't have to do weeding, like OP said, at all?
Correct. The only plants I pull out of the ground are root vegetables.
>So not in the protected greenhouse, but out in the open gardens, where there are seeds coming from everywhere?
Yes. Again, seeds coming from everywhere doesn't matter, because a dandelion in your potatoes doesn't hurt anything.