Weeds are a nuisance to every gardener.  They take over areas if left untended, and deplete the soil of nutrients.  They should not be put straight into the compost bin because they tend to spread easily throughout the rest of the garden.

I like to find a use for everything, and was determined to find a use for the weeds that I remove from my garden on a weekly basis.  I started thinking about how the weeds pull nutrients from the soil, and have read that weeds can be added into a compost pile if they have been heated at a high enough temperature to kill the weed seeds.  I decided to try an experiment of boiling the weeds to make a tea, similar to the concept of making compost tea.

I gathered all of the weeds I pulled from the garden, and put them in a large pot (I used my canning pot) with ample water.  I brought the water to a boil, and then let the weeds brew in boiling water for about 15-20 minutes.  After that I let the water cool, and removed the weeds from the water.  I felt they would be safe now to put in the compost bin.

I used the weed compost tea in a dilution of water in a 10-1 ratio to fertilize everything in my garden, flowers and edibles.  Within just a few days, I started noticing a huge increase in growth!  I harvested some amazingly huge squash and cucumbers just a few days later.  This is definitely going to be added to my regular gardening routine!