We won't be starting anything in the garden for at least another month and a half (there's snow on it today!), but took walk through it yesterday and noticed where there were gaps in our newspaper & straw mulch lots of bull thistle is growing. There are some big ones which already have a 12 inch diameter. Some of the thistle is or will be in paths - I'm not worried about those since I'll just give a quick cut and smother them some more with mulch. But there are others where we're planning on creating wide raised beds. I'm still going to roto till this year to start those beds but hopefully get away from tilling later on.

What to do with the thistle? I've read on other posts strong vinnegar solutions will kill the thistle but will that much vinnegar sour the soil where we'll be putting seedlings and direct seeds? There really is A LOT of this thistle. I've also got a propane torch at my disposal but don't know how well it would work on thistle that's so large already.

I yank them and let them sit in he sun in a pile until really wilted or crisp, then throw them in the compost heap. I've found no organic solution other than bending over and pulling them out.

I just spent a good amount of time pulling thistle from our "dog run" (which the dog has never been IN!)yesterday--and there is still more! It's my own fault, though. It got really thick last year with TALL thistles that I let go. This year I have vowed to stay on top of them so they won't go to seed!! I don't have another solution, but I sure have sympathy.

Thistle responds really well to the 20% vinegar solution. Mix it up with a little molasses and a couple of drops of soap and spray it on the plant pretty thoroughly. Get the tops and bottoms of the leaves and. It is best if this is done on a sunny day. Since you are spraying the plant not the earth I wouldn't worry too much. The thistle may come back; if it does just do it again.

If your not worried about total organic you can use RoundUp and spray the whole garden, we do all the garden when the weeds start popping up then wait 2 weeks and till and plant, won't hurt a thing and I know many that do this every year. LOL

Bend and pull. Use a weeding fork or shovel to get as much of the root as possible, after a good rainfall to make it easier to pull... blah, blah, you already know the drill.

Instead of garden work gloves to pull thistles, I use cheap leather driving gloves -- the ones that do nothing to keep your hands warm in winter, but which DO turn thistle thorns aside. Invariably, I end up with a mismatched pair, or sometimes to lefties or two righties -- whatever hand the glove is on does the thistle-pulling.

Or you could just cut the thistle down, and pile more newspaper on top of it to cover the gap in the previous layer.

Good luck, and all that. I know this response is more than 2 weeks "late" for you.

oh no..... here we go again. i've made my coments off list.

20% vinegar works but is dangerous to use. Be sure you are wearing protective clothing, eye protection and a breather.

Vinegar like RoundUp will kill everything it touches.

I find deep digging the thistle works wekk. Just pulling and letting the tops die means more tops will come up to replace those you pulled. but if you dig deep (around 18" to 24") you can get the branching tap roots out.

or if you can wait let them got to flower but not to seed and mow/cut them down at that point. They do not have the energy to regrow greens and a flower stalk if cut at this point. You know you have the correct point if their stalks are hollow when you cut them.

I have done this for many years and it is the most effective control I have found as it takes carew of the seed problem.