This is the fifth in a series of blogs, shared with permission, about weeds in the garden. Each blog will discuss a common and specific weed found in Maine, its history, uses, what story it tells about the soil it grows in, and how to get rid of it. The original blogs, along with other gardening related blogs, can be found here.

This perennial gets a terrible rap – but it has some vastly overlooked selling points. It is a very early flowering plant and can provide bees and pollinators with desperately needed early season food. It’s deep roots (up to 3 feet deep) are beneficial for many surrounding plants by bring nutrients up from deep underground. E. Pfeiffer says earthworms like to follow the root channels created by dandelions as well.

The plant is edible, and may be one of the healthiest vegetables on the planet. It was widely praised for it’s medicinal properties throughout the medieval period. They are analgesic, so if you want to try it start with making an infused oil to rub onto sore muscles. Also, the flowers are touted for their liver-tonifying properties.

Try the leaves for salad or in soup, flowers in alcohol and even the roots. During the 14th century, dandelion leaves were regularly harvested for use in salads or as an addative to pottage. Use of dandelions as a wine base dates quite far back as well. If you change your mind and decide to keep your dandelions, check out Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition and Craft of Live-Culture Foods as a source for some wine and beer recipes.

What does it mean?

Your soil may have low overall fertility, very low calcium, high chlorine and very high potassium. Additionally, your soil may be compacted but have good drainage. You should add gypsum/calcium lime, nitrogen and phosphorus. Avoid potassium and magnesium. Aerate the soil and mulch to increase organic matter and improve overall fertility. Another trick suggested by Pfeiffer is to plant a large number of beans and peas to suppress the dandelions.

Want to learn more?

If you would like to learn more about weeds, why they grow, and what that means about your garden, consider the following texts:

Weeds and Why they Grow, by Jay L. McCaman

Weeds and What They Tell Us, by Ehrenfried E. Pfeiffer

This is the fourth in a series of blogs, shared with permission, about weeds in the garden. Each blog will discuss a common and specific weed found in Maine, its history, uses, what story it tells about the soil it grows in, and how to get rid of it. The original blogs, along with other gardening related blogs, can be found here.

Canada thistle, or Cirsium arvense is not actually from Canada. It is a native of Europe and Asia, and in that area it is typically called creeping thistle. Other names include lettuce from hell thiste, prickly thistle, way thistle, small-flower thistle, cursed thistle, field thistle, hard thistle, green thistle and perennial thistle. It is a plant considered to have originated during the Mesozoic and Paleozoic eras, preferring areas with moderate sunlight and temperatures, plenty of carbon dioxide and a great deal of ground water. The plant spreads through strong, deep root structures as well as through seeds.

You may want to just keep this plant around if you aren’t afraid to keep cutting it back. Although it is a weed, the Canada thistle’s roots can delve up to 20 feet deep – and bring all the nutrients back up to the surface. Additionally, this ground breaking work makes it easier for less vigorous plants to survive in a space.

Birds love the seeds of the thistle, especially goldfinches; and it is at least as good as alfalfa for livestock. As a bee lover (and a food lover) the best reason to keep Canada thistle around is because it is considered a fantastic pollinator. One 2016 British study found it was considered the second best producer of nectar sugar. However, you can also eat them. In Portugal for instance, thistles are still collected and sold in markets. Thistles are considered to be higher in fiber, protein, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, copper, zinc and other nutrients than many other commonly eaten vegetables.

What does it mean?

Thistle is typically an indication your soil needs more acid. Correct this problem with soil amendments like ferrous sulfate or aluminum sulfate. Another way to get rid of thistles with is to use root secretions from tall marigolds Tagetes minuta or dahlias can kill it.

The easiest way to get rid of them is to have too much heat or too little water. Alternately preventing any sunlight from reaching the space after seedlings emerge will kill off the plants as well.  Even a small fragment of the root will spread to create new plants.  Avoid trying to dig up the plant, and instead chop it down before the flowers turn into seeds. If you do this several times, you will drain the root reserves and the plants will die.

Want to learn more?

If you would like to learn more about weeds, why they grow, and what that means about your garden, consider the following texts:

Weeds and Why they Grow, by Jay L. McCaman

Weeds and What They Tell Us, by Ehrenfried E. Pfeiffer

This is the third in a series of blogs, shared with permission, about weeds in the garden. Each blog will discuss a common and specific weed found in Maine, its history, uses, what story it tells about the soil it grows in, and how to get rid of it. The original blogs, along with other gardening related blogs, can be found here.

Crabgrass is actually a short form for a number of types of the same species of plant. In this article I talk about large crabgrass or Digitaria sanguinalius which is a remarkable plant with the ability to smother other weeds and act as its own mulch. A variety of other common names for it exist, including Polish Millet, hairy crabgrass, hairy finger-grass, crab finger grass, and purple crabgrass. About 10% of people are allergic to it, but if you aren’t among that 10%, rethink your hate of crabgrass.

Crabgrass, like many weeds I’ve been learning about, was brought to the United States. The grass is highly nutritious and is used by farmers for graze for animals. The seed is edible, and the plant is considered to produce a high amount of grain. Each plant can produce about 150,000 seeds each! The seed can be used as a flour, grain or fermented for use in beer. It is also very fast growing – producing edible seeds in just eight weeks. Eastern Europeans used it as a grain, called kasha, and cultivated it in sandy soils in Poland. We basically decided that corn sold better, and thus stopped cultivating it here in the U.S!

What does it mean?

Crabgrass indicates very low levels of calcium and phosphorus, low pH, low humus, very high chlorine levels and high levels of magnesium and potassium.  Basically,  you have poor soil. You will need to really work to fix the soil health to fully eliminate it, but it is a grain – so if you don’t also stop future spread, it could simply become healthier as you improve the soil.

It is difficult to kill because it prefers bad soil and drought. Also, it easily regenerates and is fairly tolerant to chemicals. The best way to get rid of it is to keep your lawn at least 2-3 inches tall and properly moist. Fertilize regularly and choose grasses suitable for your climate. You could also apply corn gluten meal to your lawn 2-3 weeks before the seeds begin to germinate, but this can inhibit all grass seed germination. One last option: remove large sections of turf around the crab grass and kill off any remaining weed seeds in that area before reseeding.

Want to learn more?

If you would like to learn more about weeds, why they grow, and what that means about your garden, consider the following texts:

Weeds and Why they Grow, by Jay L. McCaman

Weeds and What They Tell Us, by Ehrenfried E. Pfeiffer

This is the second in a series of blogs, shared with permission, about weeds in the garden. Each blog will discuss a common and specific weed found in Maine, its history, uses, what story it tells about the soil it grows in, and how to get rid of it. The original blogs, along with other gardening related blogs, can be found here.

Queen Anne’s Lace, daucus carota, is the ancestor of cultivated carrots. Tall and airy in appearance, it’s beautiful flowers are a haven for pollinators on the sides of roads or abandoned city plots. It can be distinguished from poison hemlock through its hairy stems and distinct, closely-bunched, flat-topped flower head. I was always told it was poisonous (not unlike Henry Holly), but have since learned that isn’t accurate.

It is generally edible. The seeds are good in soups and stews, the flower head can be battered and fried. The root is good grated, and tastes like carrots, but can become woody (like any plant in the family that has gone to seed). It contains vitamins A, B and C, biotin and also pectin.

Pliny and Dioscorides thought it had aphrodisiac properties, which may be because carrot leaves contain porphyrins which lead to the release of increased sex hormones. Chinese medicine also considers the plant useful for use as a treatment for parasites, diuretic and a bactericidal. Its thick sap has been used for cough and congestion.

Despite all of these positive qualities – there is a significant reason why women should be careful when consuming it. The plant, since Hippocrates, was prescribed as a contraceptive and abortifacient. Scribonius used it in a concoction for sterility. Pliny discusses the use of seeds for this purpose. Much later, Culpeper does as well, also preferring the seeds to the roots. Even today, some women use the seeds as a contraceptive – chewing the seeds daily during the period prior to ovulation and for a week after ovulation. There is a theory, based on Chinese research, that the seeds block progesterone synthesis.

What does it mean?

Soil where Queen Anne’s Lace thrives is typically along roadsides, pastures, building lots or really anyplace humans have disturbed the soil. McCaman suggests it’s deep taproots indicate deep soil that could be used for growing things.

The soil typically has very low amounts of phosphate, low amounts of calcium and potash, and high amounts of iron, boron, chlorine and selenium. All four of these should only be trace minerals. Pfeiffer suggests the soil itself may have good drainage and a good ability to break down dead plants in it, but may lack adequate moisture, decaying plant matter or bacteria. McCaman agrees, there is a positive correlation between the number of plants in an area and its soil fertility.

To stop it’s growth and spread, apply well-rotted humus over manure in areas when you fertilize.  The plant primarily spreads through seeds, so another good way to halt it’s growth is by cutting off the plant close to the ground after it start to go to seed. Do not cut it before the flowers start to die though, or like any carrot, it will spread from the root instead.

Want to learn more?

If you would like to learn more about weeds, why they grow, and what that means about your garden, consider the following texts:

Weeds and Why they Grow, by Jay L. McCaman

Weeds and What They Tell Us, by Ehrenfried E. Pfeiffer