Are you after a cheap, eco-friendly, kid-friendly weed killer that uses common ingredients from your kitchen AND works fast? If so, read on…
I hate weeding, I really do. I wish I could wave a magic wand and all the weeds in our garden would disappear. In the past I’ve resorted to buying commercial weed killer but it never sat comfortably with me and now I have kids I don’t want them to be around it. A few years ago I bought an eco-friendly weed killer from a garden show. I got home and realised it was basically a mixture of salt and vinegar. I paid around $6 for 500ml and as I had quite a few weeds to fight, I decided I could definitely make it myself cheaper. I mentioned this to an old gardening friend and they informed me I could indeed and all I would need to add to the concoction was a dash of dishwashing liquid to help break down the waxy coating found on many weeds. Simple!
So today, like many days since, I found myself mixing up a batch of this eco-friendly kid-friendly weed killer to use in the garden. Little Miss B had a wonderful time pumping and spraying the mixture over the broadleaf weeds growing in the white pebbles beside our driveway and the best part was knowing that my little girl was safe from toxic ingredients.
If you would like to make your own eco-friendly, kid-friendly weed killer you will need:

• 2 litres vinegar
• 2 quick squirts of liquid soap (dishwashing or hand is ideal)
• 1 cup salt*
• A spray or pump bottle
• A funnel (optional)

1. Pour the vinegar, liquid soap and salt into the bottle (using the funnel if desired).
2. Shake thoroughly to combine.
3. Head outside and spray on weeds in your garden.

This recipe is great for kids at home and at school. They can make it themselves which will help with their measuring and maths skills and the application out in the garden is easy. Be careful though that they in fact only spray weeds as this mixture is lethal and non-discriminatory when it comes to killing vegetation (just ask my husband who lost his much-loved bonsai Japanese maple).
*Salt can leech into the soil around the plant you are spraying which can cause the area to become unfit for growing plants for some time. If you are concerned, you can omit the salt and simply use the vinegar and soap though the results may vary.