I have a confession to make.  I am not a big fan of mowing a lawn.  Oh sure, it was one of my first businesses when I was a kid, and I did plenty of it for my own family as well.  I just don’t feel it’s a great use of my time, and I try to be very economical in my use of time.  Come to think of it, I try to make the most out of everything I have, including both time, and land.  A lawn, while sometimes looking great is rarely a great use of land.  It comes as no surprise then, that PJ & I have always tried to use most of whatever property we’ve had for growing food instead of a lawn.

We’ve had gardens, and I mean big gardens, everywhere we’ve ever lived together.  As we got more property the food we grew wasn’t always for us.  Sometimes it has also been food for horses, or a cow, or bees, or chickens, or sheep , and of course for goats.

Since we make use of most of our property for growing things, it should also be no surprise that we never use chemical pesticides.  Round Up and the like have no place at our place.  The weeds, however, are not as easy to keep out.  In the gardens we pull them.  In the hayfield we let them grow.  In the woods, we let the goats eat them.  But we also get dandelions and other tough weeds in the driveway, and in the sidewalk cracks.  These are hard to pull because they have their taproots locked in concrete or hard-packed gravel.  That’s a problem.

I’ve always looked for innovative solutions to our recurring problems and this is no exception.  This solution also happens to be a real blast.  Literally.

Yes, that is a backpack mounted LP flamethrower known commercially as the Weed Dragon*.

It is an effective, safe, chemical-free way to get rid of those pesky weeds.  Oh, yeah.  It is fun to use.  Just open the valves, squeeze the hand lever, spark it up, and blast away!

The instructions say that you only need to heat the weeds and the cells will break down and wilt.  Once this happens they no longer produce food for the roots and the weed will die.  As a former science teacher I understand that, and I’m sure it would work.  Practically though, I can’t seem to help myself.  I just torch ’em.

It’s just way more fun!

Oh, and as an added bonus, you can torch your sidewalks in the winter instead of using salt or other ice removal chemicals which can be not only bad for your concrete, but also for your soil.  It sure beats scraping, beating, and chipping away with a shovel to get the ice off!

Please note, if you live in a populated area, you may want to check with local ordinances before you get your Weed Dragon*, because when you’re handling weeds and ice looking this hard-core, someone is bound to freak out and they may have made this kind of fun illegal in your location.