Is it a weed?

I just read an article from a fellow gardener in France about the erotic love - hatred relationship we gardeners have with ego - sowing weed . The one that come up every year or so it seems . I had to chortle - in Provence they have many ‘ weeds ’ that pop up everywhere . So it start me started to thinking about my ‘ sens ’ that come up in the garden every time of year .

What ’s the definition of a weed ? solution : Any plant turn in the wrong location for us . And what ’s this dear - hatred thing ?

For example here are some edible dope :

common_purslane_portulaca_oleracea_001

courtesy ofhttp://courses.missouristate.edu/pbtrewatha/kochia.htm

Purslane - Last year I let wild purslane grow wherever it need and even ate a chip of it in my salad as it has higher Omega-3 acids than Salmon River does ! And a nurseryman friend of mine named Poki from Gaia garden here in Santa Fe even has a expectant purslane pesto he play to the Farmer ’s Market and it was toothsome . ( I ’m going to have to get the formula . ) So there was the love affair but then it started growing everywhere ( everywhere I did n’t desire it ) and presently was flowering . I thought oh - oh I better pull it before it sets source and so I did . Way to much for me to wipe out but as luck would have it my goats and Gallus gallus love it as a treat .

White Horehound - I lastly ID a plant life that is growing all over - both at my place and in Santa Fe . It is White Horehound which is actually a herb that suppose to have beneficial aspects for lung and bronchial problems by loosening phlegm . Some multitude make coughing drib out of them and some utilize the dry leave-taking to make a teatime . They actually sell the germ in Baker Heirloom Seeds but around my place it grows like a weed . I use to pull out it out because it is not a peculiarly attractive industrial plant but since I became a beekeeper , I noticed the all bee are wild about it with its minuscule white flowers so now I leave it bee for them .

I do control it moderately by pulling the industrial plant right after the bees are done with it but before it put the big cum heads . interest the US Drug Administration wo n’t allow the American cough cliff manufacturers to use horehound in their cough drops but Europe has used it in their coughing drop forever and successfully . Seems it is n’t a ‘ try ’ herb for the US but you could still purchase European cough drop with it in them at the store - they’re called Riccola and they ’re from Switzerland and ya know what ? When I had pneumonia a few years ago and was coughing my brains out , it was the ONLY cough dip that stop the horrible coughing and I did n’t even know about horehound then . Wake up America !

Borage - Next ‘ pot ’ was my Borago officinalis . It ’s not really a gage but a edible flush . I started 2 plants and put them in my strawberry plot of ground as I scan it is a great companion plant for strawberry - and so it is - there ’s the love affair . The strawberry mark are thriving but the borage has reseeded so much I have to pull some of them out or they would take over the plot of ground . you could also eat the Borago officinalis flowers . They go well on salad and have a cucumber taste and the flower is really , really beautiful and the honeybees bed them too . I think I ’m going to move them to an international garden area where I do n’t care if it reseeds .

Dandelionsare always considered a weed and yet I read many people put the foliage in salads and that they are super healthy for us . I just keep cut the leaves off ( my goats love these too ) and make certain I do n’t allow it reseed .

moo-cow Pen Daisy - Now this next one is n’t edible for us but for the bee . Ever see that sunflower / daisy type of plant life with grey - green leaves ? It grows here in the summer . It ’s actually called Cowpen Daisy or Golden Crownbeard and has great yellow flowers that see like little sunflowers . It ’s name comes from it develop in a lot of moo-cow pens or corrals where the soil has been touch . I like the heyday but the only problem for me is its shitty when you disturb it . I let grow if it wants to as I discovered it is a wonderful bee flora . I go to pull them out of our cow pen a few class ago ( before Koko the horse came ) and discovered the bees all over them so I impart them ( great , one less weed to commit ! ) . Then later I find out that the flowers allow for bees solid food in the late summertime / spill so now I happily co - live with them .

closeup of white horehound

courtesy ofhttp://courses.missouristate.edu/pbtrewatha/kochia.htm

And then there ’s Kochia - Kochia scoparia . So rampant this year and out of ascendence for many of us living in the land . Again I would n’t eat it but I hear we can - its suppose to taste like a salty green . Imported from Eurasia eons ago - opps ! ideate if I could sell it at the Farmer ’s mart ! I ’d be a millionaire ! But I ’ll distinguish you who does love it - my horse cavalry Koko and my goats ! I understand it was used for intellectual nourishment for livestock as it is high in protein for them so I let the horse and goats out and pout ( exhaust ) it down periodically . I also have to literally mow or draw it as well before it reseeds . I have smothered it on my paths under about 3 in of horse manure when it has just evolve or best yet before it germinate in early summer . This ‘ smothering ’ keeps the twinkle out and it needs light to germinate and originate . But right now it has grown too big , so rent those Capricorn out , if you got any !

I like to let plants grow and reseed if potential as not much else can raise here without over-the-top effort although this year with all this fabulous rainfall we ’ve pose , everything is growing - especially ‘ weeds ’ .

14borage_closeup