What is the best organic weed killer?

Thumb and forefinger; to pinch and uproot the weed, works well with small weeds. Pigweed, lamb's quarter and others are fine to eat in a salad or steamed like spinach.

The best defense is a good offense. Build your soil so your intended plants will thrive and choke out weeds. Test your soil pH. Composting yet? Plant winter cover crops like red clover or cereal rye. Buckwheat or velvet bean are good warm weather cover plant choices that build richer soil. Use mulch by midsummer to rob weeds of sunlight to sprout, consider using landscaping cloth as well as adding a drip irrigation system for your beds. Overspray is weed watering. Use containers within your bed of ground cover to add visual intrest or provide a different soil type to that container specimen. For example, a bowl of cactus mix soil, full of cacti in the bed of herbs.

Weeds are the survivors and bullies of the plant world.They tolerate mowing, heat and cold, sun or shade and arid or swampy conditions.They grow aggressively and invasively to crowd out nearby plants. They flower and reproduce quickly.Weed seeds will "rest" safely in your soil for years awaiting the proper conditions.

If weeds won't grow then something is really wrong with your soil. Any trace residue from something toxic enough to kill weeds can't be much good in the ground water or in the runoff from your next rainfall or watering. Remember New York's Love Canal or Viet Nam's Agent Orange? Those "weed killers" have no sensible place in a lawn, flower bed, vegetable garden or dinner plate.

Join a garden club. Visit your local "Mom and Pop" nurserys for suggestions and tips on your particular area's ecosystem. Those big box home improvement stores may have a wide selection and great prices but gardening wisdom and expirence may be hard to find in most of their apron-wearing employees, especially on a busy weekend.

Finally, relax and accept that every yard has some weeds. Limit your weeding to a few minutes every day. Soon you'll find better reasons to stay outdoors.