It’s an important part of weeding – recognising plants you want to keep when they are at seedling stage and this week it was the parsnips I was weeding.

The area I had to clear had the little bit of the onion patch on one side which I hadn’t quite finished, and the patch with the parsnips and beetroot, which I hadn’t started. It was a daunting task:

I find the best approach is just to start!

I work methodically, putting my mat on the ‘path’ between the two bays and weed one side then the other, before moving on down the bay. When I did it, it was a very sunny and hot day (for us at 23C) and the flies were a real problem.

If you are interested, there will be a video going up on my YouTube channel later this week about this which shows the seedlings in different stages of growth and what to look for in comparison to similar looking weeds. In the meantime, this is the end result and I must admit, I am very happy with it:

The onion patch is completed and the shallots will be coming out soon which is good as I have other seedlings to go in there. The parsnips and beetroot are done but the area to the right of the hoops will be getting more of a tidy.

I have had the blue plastic at the side of the main bays to suppress weeds but this year in particular, they have been fantastic hiding places for slugs and snails so a big clear up is on the cards very very soon!