Let the grass sprout up a few inches so it has some leaf surface, perhaps then you could cover all your veggies with plastic trash bags, then hit the grass with a good dose of glyphosate, early in the morning when there is no wind..

Perhaps treat the soil with a pre-emergent herbicide as well?

Problem solved?

Can you use roundup when the leaves are wet? We've had a lot of rain here. I've about had it with these weeds.

I heard from my mother that even my hippie human ecology teacher from years back uses roundup on her property, otherwise she "just can't keep up with it" (her words)

I'm ready for it now...just need to know if I should wait until the rains stop.

At the very least, wait for the leaves to dry and rain to be gone from the weather forecast. You don't want any water washing the stuff off. If it gets rained on a day or two later that's OK. Although I suspect the best results are when the plants have little surplus water available, but I'm not really sure about that.

Well, it dried up pretty nicely here by afternoon, so I went out and did it. I didn't use bags, because my veggies are everywhere (and twining around weeds) so I just tried to keep it contained.
Little drops of roundup were ending up on my tomato and bean plants, so I was pinching off leaves here and there.

Just how much roundup kills a plant? I was really soaking the weeds, but I think some stray drops got on the veggies.

I really didn't think it would come to this, but it seems I have few other options.

What is "barnyard" grass?

How about using a hoe? I just stroll my gardens most every day and hoe a little here and there as needed. It is easy to keep up if you do a little bit every day.

Same question: What is barnyard grass?!

But if it is hard to pull and spraying can hurt your veggies, make a round up solution, put it in small bucket, use a paint prust and get the leaves real wet.

What I have heard is that most herbacides are just very strong fertilizer(mostly nitrogen) that is absorbed by the broad leaves and sent to the root. The root has noway to get rid of it and therefore it will die of extreme thirst (haha).
That is why it is better to make the treatment when there is no rain in the forcast and it is hot. Otherwise, if the root can get water (foliary through leaves or from moist soil) it might survive.

I have barnyard grass and never knew it...here is a pic I found on the internet. It is hard to get rid of, but it would seem a shot of RU in the center of it? or maybe easily painted with RU? I try to pull up grass after I've either watered or when it's rained, and it's pretty easy to get up.

This stuff however, roots tends to break away/off as you pull, unless you gather all the leaves/runners at once and then gently pull.

{{gwi:71228}}

I have johnsongrass which is similar to barnyard grass, but it has stolens bigger then your finger. I found that the best way to deal with it was to cover everything with black plastic, cut holes for the plants and water with drip hose and an emitter for each plant. Since you are trying to work around the growing vegetables, I think the best way is to apply RU with a paint brush. I keep a pickle jar filled with full strength RU and apply it to any weeds that escape my black plastic

So that is what is called barnyard grass. There are lots of them around here. No big deal.

rj has the right approach to deal with

Fluazifop/Fusilade is an herbicide that can be sprayed on broadleaf plants (like your vegetables) without hurting them but it will take care of any unwanted grass. Sometimes it is sold premixed as 'Grass be Gone'.

Don't try it on corn tho', corn is a grass and will be killed.

Might be a little more persistent in the environment than RU, not really sure.

Here is a link that might be useful: Some info on Fluazifop

Ditto for rj and cyrus. It sometimes helps if you work your fingers under the soil just a little (to get better hold of the roots).

If the roots are stubborn, use a weeder. Work it into the soil right next to the plant and lever the roots up. Goes in easily, makes a tiny hole (so won't disturb neighboring plants), loosens and raises the roots. Your hardware store or garden center should have one.

Here is a link that might be useful: Weeder