Colleen Oleary

I like to put chicken in heavily salted water for a couple days. The salt preserves and tenderizes the meat and also gives beneficial probiotics.

I found the solution for cats in the garden! My neighbor's 3 cats think my garden beds are their new litter box. They especially like to poop in with my strawberries and I'm concerned about the parasites on soft fruit. I heard somewhere that coffee grounds were a deterant but I don't drink coffee. So I went to a coffee shop and asked for their used grounds. They gave me a small kitchen sized garbage bag full. I spread them all around the edges of the garden and among the plants. Have not seen a cat in the garden since!

I really appreciate everyone's help and imput here!
Good to know that some have had success in this battle. It's a shame these plants are so unruly because they are actually one of my favorite berries. I'll probably keep a small amount at the very back of the property as a barrier and be able to enjoy some berries as well. Great idea about having it along the road Daron Williams. Good job in your battle with them!
I'll keep everyone posted about my success or lack there of. I was thinking along the same lines Kurt Rider and Kim Goodwin, as the ground gets softer under the cardboard/chips then the roots will pull up more easily.
Also Kurt, we have entertained the idea of a pig doing this work for us... I just have a family member whose not won over to this idea yet. But it's by far my favorite idea!
I did hear of someone eradicating the blackberries by planting grass seed and the sod choked out a lot of new growth. He cut down the new canes with the lawn mower as he mowed the grass. Eventually had none.
But that takes years and we are itching to grow our own food and sell surplus at the farmers market and can't wait years to begin.
Thanks again and any other ideas appreciated!

Hi all! We recently bought a property for a small homestead and it is covered in Himalayan Blackberries! We have removed most of the vines and canes and are trying to dig the roots out but much of our soil is clay or rocky so it's extremely labor intensive. We want to do permaculture and Back to Eden method gardening and wonder if anyone has tried just cutting the canes down and covering with thick paper and THICK woodchips and having success eliminating the blackberries?
The network of roots is massive and they attatch to rocks and tree roots making it very difficult to dig out with a shovel or fork. I also hate to disturb my soil structure so much.
Any experience with this would be appreciated!