Rob, I had never heard of "Puncture Vine"... I googled it, and hope i never see it.
Interesting reading:
http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTN...
Back to weed control...
I used corn gluten this year for the first time, thanks to Arlyn's recommendation.. I got it out before the first rain in December, and it was very effective in preventing that first crop from sprouting. What did come up was easy to pull or hula hoe... I should have followed up with another application about 6 weeks later to get the next crop, but didn't get around to it.. but even so... preventing those first weeds was huge..
I also use a weed burner, which is really effective on the softer tissued, and newly emerged weeds.
The cracks in my fingers are tattooed with dirt from hand weeding. My fingernails are a mess, and that's just the way it is.