Weeding is a necessary chore of any garden and mine is no different. I have tried many shortcuts over the years to prevent or reduce weeds. In the end, I have always returned to simply pulling them. I also use a garden hoe to scrape up the easy ones. These methods always take up a lot of perfectly good garden soil with the weeds. The regular soil in my area is red clay but my garden soil has been amended to be very fertile. I do not want to waste any of my good garden soil by throwing it in the compost pile or off to the side of the garden. So, I make use of my compost sifter to separate the dirt from the roots of the weeds.
A compost sifter is not a fancy piece of equipment. It is a simple wooden frame with some hardware cloth attached to one side. The hardware cloth acts like a large screen to catch plants, leaves, acorns, and sticks. But, the plain dirt can be broken up small enough to pass through the screen.
I use mine with a wheelbarrow to catch the dirt that falls through the screen. I can then take all the dirt and reuse it in the garden. Tomatoes often like a little extra dirt added to their base as they grow. But I can also use this dirt around the potatoes in a process called "hilling". This practice increases the yield from a potato plant.
A compost sifter is not a fancy piece of equipment. It is a simple wooden frame with some hardware cloth attached to one side. The hardware cloth acts like a large screen to catch plants, leaves, acorns, and sticks. But, the plain dirt can be broken up small enough to pass through the screen.
I use mine with a wheelbarrow to catch the dirt that falls through the screen. I can then take all the dirt and reuse it in the garden. Tomatoes often like a little extra dirt added to their base as they grow. But I can also use this dirt around the potatoes in a process called "hilling". This practice increases the yield from a potato plant.
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