Crop friendly weed control?

[wsarah]

Hi all,
I finally got to see my lottie plot for the first time today - its V big! Unfortunately it was tamping down with rain so I didn't dare get out my precious camera, but the allotment manager pointed out that there are already raspberries, a couple of rather sorry looking curly kales, some strawberries and some potatoes. The plot was only given up in march, but already the weeds have a good strong hold. The manager sprayed the empty beds last week, but left those that had crops in. The weeds include dandelions and couch grass, and I need to know how to get rid of them without damaging the crops? Should I just hoe the tops off for now or risk digging them up and disturbing the roots of the rasps etc?
Also, the potatoes and kale don't look very healthy, in my very humble opinion. The kale is yellow mostly and the potatoes are tiny compared to other plots, without any earthing up around them. Do you think I should leave them and see what develops or empty the bed now in order to plant something else?
There are many other questions, but i won't bombard you all with them in one go! Thanks guys!
Sarah

[binley100]

Raspberries are pretty shallow rooted so be careful if you hoe. I went over our raspberry
with a hand fork and carefully got out as much as possible. Then I covered it with sheets of wet newspaper and mulched on top with grass cuttings. It's a lot better this year and as stuff pokes thru, which is mainly couch and mares tail I 've been pulling it out.
Sounds like you could try earthing up the spuds but I'm not sure on the kale as have never grown it.

[zazen999]

Cover it all with newspaper and cardboard; and weed as you either plant stuff or harvest stuff. What did he spray with? It's a bit naughty spraying when it isn't his plot as you might not be able to eat stuff from that area without knowing what he sprayed with.

[wsarah]

He sprayed with glucosumate? Have no idea if thats how you spell it but hopefully you experts will know what I mean! He said the ground will be ok to sow into after two weeks. Does that sound about right? I want to avoid chemicals as much as I can, but am not naive about the chances of a fully organic plot.

[Two_Sheds]

He sprayed with glucosumate?

Lol.
Glyphosate, aka Roundup. It needs to be absorbed by the leaves before it can kill off the roots. Don't hoe or even touch the sprayed weeds, let it do its job.

Kale is at the end of it's season. Compost it.
Spuds are at the beginning of their season - earth them up.

Enjoy

[wsarah]

I knew one of you brainy types would know what I meant! lol

[Snadger]

There's a product on the market called 'Gardeners Shadow'. Thats the best stuff for getting rid of weeds!