If you have any sort of garden, yard, or stone path that you take care of, you know weeds can be a pain. Weeding stone sidewalks was one of the earliest chores I had as a child – and I hated the job.
Now that I’m responsible for weeding flower gardens all around my house, I have a different perspective about weeding: I appreciate it. I’ve lived in dozens of different homes throughout my adult life, and most of them didn’t have outdoor room for gardening. Last summer as I complained to myself about weeding, I realized that it was a definite blessing to have flower gardens to care for.
Thankful for the green space outside, my complaints have stopped. As much as I used to dread weeding, there’s no way I would choose to use weed killers – they contaminate the soil, ground water and air. And they build up in humans (and animals) as body burdens.
Do you know what the toxins found in herbicides and pesticides can cause? Adrenal gland damage, attention Deficit Disorder, autism, birth defects, blurred vision, burning or itching skin, cancer, convulsions, damaged neurons, disrupted sex hormones, dizziness, eye irritation, genetic damage, headache, heart congestion, kidney damage, lethargy, low blood pressure, lung damage, miscarriages, muscle damage, nausea, nose bleeds, respiratory difficulties, reproductive health problems, skin rashes, sore throat, and weight loss.
So how do I safely and simply remove weeds? I choose old-fashioned weeding techniques. I pull them out by hand, or dig them out with gardening hand tools.
You also can remove weeds by spraying them with undiluted white vinegar (if you’d rather skip the vinegar, you can try to kill them by pouring boiling water on the weeds). Be careful with the vinegar weed removal method, though. Vinegar will kill any plant it comes in contact with, so carefully apply it to weeds.
Herbicide prevention
Just because you may choose to avoid chemical herbicides, not many people do. So how can you decrease your exposure to them?
- The most effective way is to take off your shoes when entering a home. Because herbicides (and pesticides) stick to your shoes, you’ll easily track them around wherever you walk. By removing your shoes, you’ll keep poisons at the door – and not all over your floor.
- Watch what you eat and drink. When possible, try to stick to organic food to avoid herbicides and pesticides (and genetically modified organisms). And drink filtered water.
How do you safely and simply remove weeds?
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