Weeding out the weeds

Self seeded coriander

I have been bad and neglected weeding recently. While still dashing down to collect the last of the raspberries and fast swelling courgettes I just haven't had time to tackle the weeds. I am now regretting that haste as I am faced with an increasingly daunting task.

The advice is to hoe weeds however as I have seedlings in among them I am worried I will cut them too down in their prime so I have to hand weed. All fine apart from the nettles that sting my hands.

There are several types of weed. The weed that is beneficial like the stinging nettle whose tap root digs deep and brings up nitrogen from the soil. This means you can create a liquid (stinky) feed from it to feed other plants. You can also eat it a little like spinach but I am less excited by that though I have made soup out of it.

There are the dubiously edible or medicinal. Bittercress is actually edible (as the name implies it tastes like, you guessed it, bitter cress). Chickweed is a herb and chickweed water used to be a treatment for obesity. Even goosegrass (the sticky one that has velcro balls that get stuck in your pets' fur) is supposed to help cystitis, psoriasis and eczema. You can use the seeds of fat hen (if you REALLY want to) whole or ground into a flour for bread.

There are the weeds that serve no discernible function other than to self propagate and to annoy me.  Like the evergreen bugloss that is related to borage and comfrey but is a pain to uproot and spreads like mad. The petty spurge is also pretty prolific so keep on top of it if you don't want to be overrun but at least it can be easily uprooted.

And then there is the mystery weed that is prolific on my plot but that doesn't feature on any online guide to weeds I can find.  Any suggestions?