How much weeding and "holes" on plant leaves

First question of the day - how many weeds do you get? I am almost embaressed to admit this, but in the spirit of learning, my neighbor broke my heart last night when he told me quite a few of what I thought were "strong and quick growing plants" were actually weeds. So I pulled them all out tonight and boy does my garden look bare. I was confused because I thought the Mel's Mix was supposed to prevent weeds. And I had been keeping upon a fair number of little weeds all along. My neighbor suggested it may be from the compost.

Second question, I've noticed quite a few of my plants have lots of little bites/holes in the leaves - brussle sprouts, eggplant, etc. I companion planted with different things in different places - marigolds, dill, oregano, etc - but something is getting them and I don't want it to kill them. I'm also not wanting to go get some chemical spray. Anyone have a suggestion?

Thanks from a DEFINITE garden newbie!

Oh , please don't be embarassed. We, all of us, were at one time didn't noobs. I have pulled my fair share of cultivated plans by accident or because I was not paying attention. You are learning! I'm glad your neighbor came over and helped, tho it seemed awkward, you learned something valuable!

The holes in your plants could be caused by any number of things. A pic or two would help diagnose what critter(s) you're dealing with.

And yes, you could be getting weeds from compost that wasn't properly composted. If it doesn't heat up enough it doesn't kill the seeds. ... Did you place your boxes over weeds/grass? Did you use a weed barrier or landscape fabric?

There is for sure a few things that I think are weeds, but I want to be 100% sure before I pull them. ;P I knew it semed strange that there was something 4' tall in the square where I only planted one broccoli seedling.

Originally, the beds are built in a grassy area, but we removed the grass there, tilled it, AND laid landscape fabric. I guess it could be the compost, but it still kind of boggles me since one bed is compost we made ourselves and the other two were mixtures of compost we bought - same dominant weed.

I'll take a few pictures of the leaves to help diagnose...thanks for the suggestion.

I have to weed my boxes, because of wind-blown seeds from nearby trees. I pulled out about a hundred little bitty elm trees yesterday. This evening when it cools off, I'll pull another hundred or so from my flower bed at the front of the house. (I waited for secondary leaves so I'd know what they are.)

Because of this, I am absolutely certain that come winter, I'll put a cover over the boxes, to help minimize tree-seeding in early spring.

One of the things I find most helpful about telling weeds from plants, is weeds do not grow on the grid system. I have learned a lot about weeds and baby plants that way. I have also learned that if the weed has a nice peat pot attached to the bottom of it, I had better put it back and give it a little TLC. As too holes in your plant foliage, if they are not too bad just leave them alone. Many plants will do just fine. If you cannot just let things be, just give it a little compost.

Patty in Yorktown

I have lots of holes in my leaves too. They are from birds - goldfinches. One landed on my plants and began to eat as I knelt nearby. I was relieved. At least they are not eating the vegetables! Perhaps it's just the birds.