Over the years I have learned that it is best to do preventative planting. By that I mean staving off the weeds before they take over. This is especially true for plants like lettuce, carrots and basil, where it is difficult to pull the weeds without hurting the plants.

This is how I plant my Tomatoes to help prevent weeds:

•  Put the stakes into one side of the bed
•  Plant Basil seed tapes or seedlings down the middle (work from the side without the stakes)
•  Cut a length of landscaping fabric the length of the bed plus about 8 inches
•  Cut that in half lengthwise
•  Place the fabric on either side of the Basil row, tucking it into the dirt on the ends
•  Put in the remaining stakes
•  Plant the Tomatoes down deep (about to their waists)
•  Make sure I have a drip or soaker hose watering system
•  Straw works well on top of the fabric, or you can use newspaper and straw instead of fabric

Here are a few pics of planting day 5/17/10 (Mouse over for comments or click on the pics for a better view)

Tomato blog: Staking