There are those who write about the value of eating weeds, giving us recipes for various teas and salads, extolling their virtues and flavour.
I have tried some of them with disappointing results and concluded that if these weeds were so tasty and life-sustaining our ancestors would have cultivated them and saved the seeds to provide the cherished family recipe for Scotch broom shortbread with Dandelion stew. Besides, because my crops are so nutrient dense and fresh I don’t need to eat things that taste dreadful.
I do grow a patch of comfrey because it’s rich in minerals like calcium, potassium and phosphorous as well as vitamin B12, which is not typically found in plant based sources. I add it with all the other weeds to the compost heap, except morning glory and cabbage crops infected with club root. These last two go into plastic bags and off to the garbage dump.
While most weeds end up in the compost heap, some of them join compost in my compost tea can to add their nutrients to the mix. For most, however, I shake out as much dirt as possible and dump the rest onto the pile to dry out. In the fall I add layers of clay, fresh crop residue, vegetable scraps, organic fertilizer mix, leaves and manure to create stronger compost. For the latter David insists I should add shredded throne speeches, but I suspect the product of chicken or cow is less toxic and easier to digest.
Some weeds grow well in certain soils so they can be an indication of a lack of some nutrients in these soils. Cat’s ear, also called false dandelion, has tall yellow flowers similar to dandelion but with rounded, hairy leaves indicating dry, free draining soil. Weeds that indicate acidic soil include buttercup, daisy, dandelion, horsetail, knotweed, moss, mullein and plantain. Some plants show that the soil is fertile, like stinging nettle, chickweed, chicory, lamb’s quarters and purple deadnettle, which grows like crazy in my garden. If they weren’t so invasive I’d be glad, but this spring the weeds are so prolific it’s been a major job to get them before they go to seed. Bittercress develop seeds very quickly that jump out in your face when you even think about removing them.
Good soil and clement weather are a mixed blessing. The possibility of a bountiful crop is joined with the arrival of all kinds of less welcome interlopers. Many can be dug under before I plant my crops, but the ones in permanent beds like asparagus and strawberries must be pulled out and removed. I toss them onto the compost pile to rot; after all, they’re loaded with nutrients from my excellent soil and moulds and yeasts and microorganisms will break them down, so they won’t proliferate in the heap.
I don’t despise their usefulness, but won’t eat them. It wouldn’t be in good taste.
Please contact mary_lowther@yahoo.ca with questions and suggestions since I need all the help I can get.
