I recently went to a Permaculture workshop up at USU  It was excellent. If you ever have a chance to hear Joel Glanzberg, don’t miss it. One of the principles we talked about was that the problem is the solution. Here’s two writer who did just that: a gardener started eating the weeds growing in her vegetable garden, and a native-plant enthusiast  used her “weedy” driveway as a plant nursery.

Other ways to turn the problem into the solution? Here are a few:

• Use fall leaves as mulch. (Or drop them off at my house. It is beyond me why anyone would willingly get rid of their leaves….it is the best form of free mulch.)
• Let the clover grow and provide free fertilizer in the lawn
• Feed grasshoppers to chicken or other animals
• Use the death of a plant to plant something better
• Put kitchen gardens close to the house or in the front yard
• Use unique native or adapted plants for hard-to-grow areas