Cultivating a Relationship with Your Weeds

Farmers have different approaches to their weeds. Some have worked to integrate weeds into their ecosystem management by encouraging them in order to bring nutrients to the surface, cover bare soil, and regenerate their landscape. Bob Cannard purposely incorporates weeds in his rotation, but he realizes that managing them well is a learned skill, like many aspects of farm management. Jack Algiere, works with weeds in a large greenhouse and market garden at the Stone Barns Center in New York. Other farmers work with precise methods and timing of cultivation to eliminate weeds before crops are established.