Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems. ~Rainer Maria Rilke

Friday, March 30, 2012

Attack of the Killer... Weeds?

 Look at this.
You would think that I fertilized these beauties wouldn't you?. They're all over the place and they are so healthy looking.
I think this all happened in the last forty eight hours or so. Honestly! They weren't here a few days ago.
OK, that's not necessarily true. But I haven't been outside that much because it has been raining and all of a sudden... THIS. 

.. as if the weeds decided to conquer the world... my world at least.
Yes, I did pull some a few days ago and I swear that they are here again... in the same place, looking bigger and greener.
It's alarming how fast they grow.
There's a scary screenplay idea, out there in the dirt, waiting for some  movie director with foresight, like John De Bello ( 1980? Attack of the Killer Tomatoes??), to jump all over this.
I can see it now. Killer Weeds Strike Back... The real story. 
 Records for "first weekend" sales would be broken. It might be bigger than The Hunger Games.
Maybe I should give the idea to Suzanne Collins (the author). She could write the screenplay. 
I know...I think that I have been computer-izing a bit too much this winter. I need to, as they say, get a life.
But...The weeds are everywhere.
They are flowing out of the containers...
... cascading down the hillside and undermining my integrity as a gardener.

I have the healthiest crop of Stinging Nettles that I've ever seen in the vegetable garden.
And I didn't even have to plant the seeds.
A friend told me that I can make tea out of these plants and cook them, like spinach. But, I think I'm going to pass on that. I have to get rid of this stuff. It's reseeding and every year there is more. Maybe I should put a sign up down on the highway. You know...
Free Nettles
Pick Your Own
(bring gloves)
Must be good soil in that bed. I want to plant some pumpkins there soon, so I will be the one who will "bring gloves" and pull these invasive plants out.

 The lettuce is coming up in the other bed.
And my divided iris are doing well.
 The goats are working as hard and fast as they can to keep the weeds at bay.
 But that's not in the vegetable garden. These goats are down the hillside. Note the two fences between them and the veggie garden. Double fencing is a functional solution for these big guys when vegetables are involved.
Brownie, in his glorious youth, got into the vegetable garden twice. That's why we are without a fig tree. It was pruned into nothingness. That's why there is a double fence.

Murph' says,
"I'm not partial to Nettles. With all the wonderful, Springtime selection to choose from, it would be my last choice. Even with our reputations, we goats do have a refined palate and prefer the soft, small plants with flowers.... and Fig leaves... and baby lettuce leaves as well."

Good grief, Murph'.
That's interesting, my strange and enigmatic goat, but please,,, JUST KEEP EATING THE WEEDS.
 

11 comments:

  1. That is a good crop of Bittercress in the tub!! Good in a salad!!

    Young nettle tips are good instead of spinach in a soup, curry or flan....

    It is good to see anything growing. Still waiting for the rain, here

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  2. Well Connie you certainly have the prize when it comes to dandelions and nettles! Our goats used to LOVE dandelion leaves and as for the nettles...last year I made delicious nettle pesto which I froze in cup cake sleeves in muffin tins and then stored them after they froze in a big airtight container. If you don't feel the love for that idea, it's really good chopped up and composted.
    That photo of Murph is gorgeous by the way! Keep the faith.

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  3. ok that is the best crop of Nettles I have ever seen, no weeds in that crop. If you get a chance check out this months Food and Wine Magazine, there is a recipe for pizza with Nettles on page 52, from a Napa Restaurant. I think you should contact them ... you could keep them in a bumper crop. It is not supposed to sting once it wilts or is heated.

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  4. And here I was thinking that I grew weeds bigger, better and faster than anyone on earth! But I have to admit you have a bigger variety than I do!

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  5. ha...the weeds are on the attack here as well...and i understand murph...think i would go for the soft ones as well...

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  6. I'd love to borrow Murph - I've got the same situation with the weeds. Thanks for the rattlesnake comparison..... geeez, I KNOW that I'd take the stink bugs over them. We have copperheads- silent deadly little buggers - no rattles, no warning.
    Your garden gives me hope!

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  7. What a horrendous nest of nettles. Yikes, yikes and more yikes! You’re right they, especially, would make an excellent horror film. I can’t get within 2 feet of them; I swear they jump right out to sting me. Last summer I warned my garden helper, an iron-pumping, ex-big rig driver, about nettles, suggested strongly that he wear gloves and tried to make him understand that they don’t call them stinging nettles for nothing. I'm sure he was thinking, "Oh you’re just a wimpy old broad; they won't bother a tough guy like me". Mr. Macho learned the hard way. Makes me think of Eddie (To Have and Have Not) asking, “Was you ever bit by a dead bee?” ~Dawn

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  8. nettles make a delicious and nutritious soup.

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  9. Dandelions are actually a beneficial. Their deep roots pull up nutrients for shallower rooted plants. Not that that makes you feel any better about them. I actually have an area and let them grow freely, they are great to feed my hens and highly nutritious for them.
    I use straw about 6 inches deep in beds I do not want to sprout anything like the stinging nettles in the Fall. It keeps anything from sprouting and the straw is relatively cheap. My Grandmother fought stinging nettles for years on her property in Stockton. It was her nemesis.

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  10. Nettle pesto??? Hmmmm, interesting. Love the pic of Murphy. Your lettuce is glorious. Reminds me I need to go out and check on my little baby lettuce. Weeds.... they are the bane of a gardener's existence.
    ~~Lori

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  11. I was out "weeding" this morning and here I see MORE! They are endless. I have a new type growing and it's prickly and hard to dig up. THISTLE. Never had until I started feeding the beautiful little finches :)

    Will have to decide...I love watching them.

    One weed at a time :) ♥

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