Weeding

Weeding has become the endless chore at this point in the season.  Every time I water it seems like the weeds grow faster than the plants that are supposed to be there.  I know that eventually the plants will become established enough to out compete the weeds, but until they do I need to keep the weeds from choking them out.  So I spend my evenings pulling weeds.  This year's addition is by far the worst as far as keeping up with the weeds,  Last year's addition is faring slightly better and hasn't needed as much of my time.  The beds in the original garden have needed very minimal weeding so far.  The paths are a different story all together.  In this area I have a never ending battle with some very nasty thistles that I just can't seem to get rid of.  I have even used dandelion poppers to break off their taproots deep in the soil.  Somehow they keep coming back and once they get big their thorns are so big they poke me through my gloves.  My hope this year is to get rid of all of them before they go to seed.  The trick is that even though I think I get rid of them in the garden there are always a few hiding along the fence line and they tend to get overlooked there.  This year I will do my best to get every last one that I see.  As for the rest of the garden.....I will just have to do the best I can.  Soon harvest season will be upon us and most of my time will be devoted to picking and preserving the fruits of my labor.