Seasonal Almanac

After 3 days of rain, the onion weeds (Nothoscordum gracile) and oxalis (Oxalis debilis var. corymbosa) sprouted all over the veggie patch and threaten to over take the young seedlings. I have been weeding by hand and finding the experience strangely satistfying.

Onion weed is declared a noxious weed in most Australian states. They are incrediably hard to be rid of with or without chemical use. Simply pulling out the bulb will cause the little bulbletts to detach from the parent thus multiplying their numbers. This description I read on Gardening Australia’s forum sounds like a script from a horror movie (of the zombie kind): ‘Bulb exhaustion can work but it often takes a long while and you have to be absolutely vigilant as if you allow them to photosynthesize for even a few days the bulb will be replenished and you are back to square one.’

Methods tried by the online gardening populace include drowning, scalding, burning, cooking and poisoning (sounding even more like a zombie movie). Trusty old Pete (Cundall) suggests heavy mulching with stacks of newspaper.