Sunday, September 4, 2016

The vegetable garden is planted, we get rain and
lots of it and I hurt my back so for 2 weeks the
garden went untouched.
This is what I found yesterday.
Lots of green most of the green are weeds sprouting
from our plentiful rains, the orange and black
netting is to keep my cats out of the garden.
Sigh, the cats eat rodent pests but can tear up 
a garden in seconds. 

Close up in case you couldn't see it all in the other photo!
Yeah as if you could miss all that green.
The taller plants in the front were planted on purpose
and the other rows were planted with carrots, lettuce,
green onions etc.

This garden has always had a lot of weeds in it and the
extra rains seem to be fueling all those weed seeds
to sprout. I know I know, I should really do something
about all that. shush! I know!
Ladies Thumb, knotweed, Persicaria maculosa.
Edible, nope just a pain. Nope I am wrong, it is
edible and tender when young. I suppose since they are
all tiny I should try it?
If you do some research it is edible with
either little taste or sharp to bitter and it
does have medicinal qualities.
Link to some information.
I am not sure of the id on this one, Creeping Charlie maybe.
There aren't any flowers yet to help with the id and by
the time there are flowers we all know that
the garden is in big trouble with overgrown weeds.
If it is creeping charlie it is edible, best while
young but slightly bitter.
We are not eating this one, I am undecided on it.
This would be one of many tomatillo volunteers, I planted
it a few years ago and it just keeps coming back.
I will transplant a few to the ends of the rows and that will
be more then enough for a harvest. 
Note to self, don't let tomatillos loose in the garden
as they are like bunny rabbits. 

That big fuzzy leaf is borage, another rabbit type plant.
Plant one and it will reproduce in your garden forever and
ever and all over the place.  It isn't the leaves you care about
eating but do take care not to brush up against a mature
plant as they are pickery. Heck picking a baby plant
takes courage as they are pickery too!
The leaves can be used as medicinal but the flowers
are why we grow this. Beautiful blue or white,
the bees love them and they are the most beautiful edible
flower. Candy the flowers or put them in ice cubes,
stunning addition to your table.
Link for info.

A bindweed, possibly edible but I don't have enough
information about it to eat it. Next to the bindweed is
my nemisis creeping buttercup with the little yellow
flower and not edible, toxic if anything.
Nasturtium was planted intentionally between the larger
flowering plants in this garden bed with the thought
that it could help smother weeds as it gets bigger and
why not!

Lambsquarter, now this one I eat. I picked a bowl full of
the tiny plants, snipped off the roots and cooked it like spinach.
I prefer it over spinach cooked, it holds together quite well,
gets none of that slimy quality when cooked.
OH! and yes it is quite delicious, if you like cooked
spinach I think you will love this too.

Lambsquarter is a nutritional powerhouse.
Learned something new while researching, the leaves
are unwettable so with the heavy rains we get the
leaves don't get squishy/slimy/wet.
From what I've read the seeds are also edible and
quite nutritious.
Here is a video I found on youtube from Eat The Weeds.

Here is one more weed that is getting quite large, sigh, it's 
already gone to flower. Pretty colors eh!
This is one from the Dock family, it is edible
but not one we eat. I am going to try and save the
seeds heads for a bouquet , who knows
maybe they are edible.
Dock is more a medicinal then an edible,
more info here.
The garden is full of weeds and some veggies,
it rained after I watered so when we need rain
I should water the garden?
Of all of these weeds I am only frustrated
when they are in the beds suffocating the veggies,
if they would stay in the paths and act as a mulch
I would be alright with that.

Honestly though I thoroughly enjoyed eating
the lambsquarter.

Anyone else a weed eater?
PS if you have been visiting my blog
first off thank you and while I've been
quite busy and not visiting your blog lately
I will soon, I promise.
Thank you again for stopping by.
 
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