So last year my summer garden ended up literally overrun by pigweed. I couldn't keep it out of there. As soon as I would pull it, more would spring up. Never had the issue before. And I'm trying to narrow down the cause, as I begin my preparations for this go-round.

So my normal process includes a good tilling with the tractor about this time of year. Then I let it lay until time to start planting. Then I till my rows with a hand tiller, incorporating a combination of seasoned guano, black cow, bone meal and blood meal. I know where the guano comes from and I have used the same source for several, several years. And I don't see how bone or blood meal would have any impact. But I am really questioning the batch of black cow I used.

Is it possible all the pigweed came from there? Are there any remedies that can keep that mess at bay? Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Just move. You will not live long enough to get rid of it. That is, if we're talking about the same thing. Red root pigweed or Amaranth.

Yup, it's from the black kow. I've got a couple acre field full of rye grass because of some tainted chicken manure fertilizer. You can prep your beds now with your tiller and buy large tarp and tarp the whole area until spring. Weeds will sprout and die under the tarp, thus reducing the weed seed bank.

Yep, red root pigweed. Thorny, stinging little bastages. And moving is not an option. Finally have my little slice of heaven... so I guess I'll just deal.

I think it came from there too. No more black cow. May try worm castings this time around. But thanks for the advice. I have been thinking about tarping it for the next couple months. We'll see how it goes.

Here's the deal about chicken litter. Chicken litter doesn't have ANY viable seeds in it. ALL chicken feed is heated to 180 degrees when it's made so the grass didn't come from the chicken litter unless someone dumped ryegrass seed on the piled up litter before it was spread. Chicken litter is a soil building, long lasting, organic fertilizer that will cause seeds to germinate that have laid dormant in the soil for years.

Don't believe me? "Plant" some chicken litter in a pot of sterile potting soil and keep it watered.

Regarding the pigweed. In ideal conditions, each plant will produce up to 250,000 seeds. We've been spraying it on our farm for 25 years and I don't think we are any closer to having it eradicated than we were 25 years ago.

I deal with it too. My main straegy is tilling and then after the garden matures doiing my best to not let it seed out

I hate that crap and mint is also bad.

Putting black plastic on the soil and "sealing" the edges with boards during the summer will kill most of the seeds.

That or nuclear weapons.