Brenda Stroble, age 12, of Williamsport, Pa., for her question:
WHY DO WEEDS GROW BETTER THAN VEGETABLES?
Well, nobody promised that growing a vegetable garden is as easy as rolling off a log. Certainly it is not for dreary types who tend to regard every chore as a personal insult. It is for cheerful folk who enjoy doing things and relish the rewards. However, even these sensible types tend to feel aggravated by pesky garden problems, such as bugs and weeds.
The time to worry is when weeds refuse to grow in your garden. These wild plants manage to thrive in the poorest of poor soils and they grow wherever they can. If your garden dirt is too poor for weeds, then you can bet your boots that it is too poor for your tame flowers and vegetables.
Weeds, of course, are wild plants and in the beginning all the world's plants lived in the wild. Those that survived had to adjust and adapt to the harshest condition of nature. They extracted food and water from poor soils, coped with droughts and floods, cold winters and hot summer suns.
They also had to multiply in order to survive from one generation to the next. So the plants of the wild world developed a multitude of cunning devices to produce seeds and to spread them far and wide. These factors explain why weeds are so hardy and also why they pop up in unexpected places. Naturally they have no good reason to specialize in suitable food for humans.
Our remote ancestors dined on the scanty roots and shoots, fruits and seeds of wild plants. Gradually they selected the tastiest types and patiently learned to cultivate them. The cultivated plants were pampered with rich soil and extra water. The best kinds were crossbred to produce superior species.
Plant specialists still carry on this gardening wizardry, and every year new and improved species appear on the market. However, these cultivated plants need extra tender loving care. They cannot survive the hardships of nature, as their wild weedy ancestors did.
Weeds thrive in meadows and vacant lots and along the waysides. Every year they strew their seeds far and wide. Some are sure to land in your garden, where they grow faster and better than your pampered plants. The trick is to pull the weedy invaders up by the roots before they have time to produce and scatter another generation of seeds. This means fewer weeds next year, though a few uninvited wild guests are sure to arrive.