Okay, it can stop raining now!

What is going on with this weather? It seems to have rained continually for a week now. I had to slosh along the paths between the beds this morning to cut flowers for a delivery this afternoon. Thank goodness we raised the beds, otherwise I dread to think what state the plants would be in. Two things that don't seem to mind the wet at all are Docks and Chickweed. If there was money in Docks we'd be lying on an Antiguan beach right now.

Yesterday I was staring at a bed, scratching my chin sure that I had planted something in there when I realised that there were a hundred young Solidago (Goldenrod) plants struggling to out grow the encroaching Docks. So I downed whatever I was doing and spent the next couple of hours clearing some space for them to breathe and grow. Actually, strange though it may sound I'm quite happy with our choice of weeds on the farm. Dock is the only perennial problem we have and as weeds go it's quite upfront about things. Basically as long as you get the root up when you pull the plant and stop any of them from seeding, job done. I'm optimistic that as we loosen up the soil structure over the next couple of years we'll get on top of the docks.

Absolutely the worst weed I have had ever had the misfortune of working with/against is Ground Elder. I defy anyone to be organic and optimistic trying to defeat Ground Elder. It's roots are so persistent and it forms such a dense matt of growth. We tried everything , even attempting to smother it with African Marigold Tagetes erecta which releases a chemical from its roots which inhibits the Ground Elder's growth. I don't remember it working particularly well but I don't think we tried it for long enough.

Another really difficult weed, particularly with flowers is Bind Weed. It sneaks up when you turn your back and the wraps itself around all your precious flowers making harvesting a tortuous and impossible affair, and by that time it's too late to do anything about it. So no, I'm happy with Dock, it's there, you pull it, it's gone.