Weeds

[Oliver Buckle]

One of my hobbies is writing, mostly stories, but I thought "How about something factual?" and came up with this.

Weeds.
Every gardener knows weeds, plants self sown, growing in the wrong place, in continuous conflict with him, or he with them. There is some gain in them, the way they are growing will give some idea of the state of the soil, and they help build the compost heap. Chopped into the tilth with the hoe they are green manure, I knew a man who tolerated dandelions and docks on the edge of the plot for just that reason, “They are drawing nutrients from deep tap roots”s. The tiny spot of colour of scarlet pimpernel, or speedwell jumps out of the agricultural browns and greens, it must have been amazing to our forebears, colours even The Church only imitated in its windows. Weeds are not all bad, but they are always part of life, and the enemy for those who eat only what they grow.
Why is it a continual war? Why are weeds so tough? A pavement crack will do, frost and drought mean nothing, they survive flood, and fireweed is an actual thing. It is as though they have evolved to contest the ground with man, but agriculture has not been around long enough for that.
Let us put aside weeds that are imports, giant hogweed, Himalayan balsam, Japanese knotweed; cultivated escapes. Our own, homegrown, weeds are the wild flowers that evolved and grew in a country forested from coast to coast. They grabbed the few small light spaces there were, sand dunes, shallow soil on the edge of rock formations, clinging on where the trees couldn’t make it, in open spaces, few and far apart, where herbivores grazed to have sight of approaching predators. They lived to reproduce, and got really good at spreading their seed. Then came man, he chopped down the trees, ploughed the land, and hunted the herbivores, bonanza!

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I have done a bit of editing and re-writing, what do you think?

Every gardener knows weeds, plants self sown, growing in the wrong place, in continuous conflict with the gardener, or the gardener with them. There can be some gain in them, the way they are growing will give some idea of the state of the soil, for example lush and vigorous chick weed is a good indicator of nitrogen in the soil for example, if it is yellow and struggling it probably indicates a nitrogen deficiency. Even if you can not read them like this they help build the compost heap, but beware, some are capable of flowering and setting seed after they are pulled up and are lying in the sun on the top of the heap. Chopped into the tilth with the hoe their benefits are more directly available as green manure, I knew a man who tolerated dandelions and docks on the edge of his vegetable plot for just that reason, “They draw nutrients from deep tap roots” he said..
There are aesthetic benefits, the main colours of agriculture are browns and greens, the tiny spot of colour of scarlet pimpernel, or speedwell jumps out from them, it must have been amazing to our forebears, colours even The Church could only poorly imitate in its windows. They provide nectar and pollen to sustain the insects needed by the plants we grow. I said this to a farmer of dandelions in his orchard when he cursed them, “I walk the orchard every morning and have never seen a bee on a dandelion” he said. That would be because they .don’t produce nectar before 11 or 12 o’clock when the sun has been on them for some time.
Weeds are not all bad, but they are always there, competing with the cultivated plants, an enemy to those who eat only what they grow.
Why is it a continual war? Why are weeds so tough? A pavement crack will do for a weed to grow, they survive frost, drought and flood. Fireweed is triggered by the heat and destruction, covering the clearings made by fires. It is as though they have evolved to contest the ground with man, but agriculture has not been around long enough for that evolution is much more long term than the history of agriculture.
Let us put aside weeds that are imports, giant hogweed, himalayan balsam, japanese knotweed, Oxford ragwort. These are things people cultivated as curiosities, or for their appearance, which then escaped, A good illustration why countries like Australia are so careful of what organic matter may be imported.
Our own, British, homegrown weeds are the wild flowers that grew and evolved in a country forested from coast to coast. They grabbed the few, small, light spaces there were, places like the shallow soil on the edge of rock formations. They clung on where the trees couldn’t make it, in open spaces, few and far apart, where herbivores grazed, secure on open ground where approaching predators could be seen coming. The distance between these places meant they got really good at producing large numbers of seed and spreading it over the distances between suitable environments. Competition for limited space and the grazing meant they became tough and competitive, and developed things like thorny protection and roots that could regrow when the green part had been eaten Then came man, he chopped down the trees, ploughed the land, and hunted the herbivores, bonanza!, almost every seed had somewhere to grow, unmolested by the hungry beasts.

 

[Meadowlark]

... Then came man, he chopped down the trees, ploughed the land, and hunted the herbivores, bonanza!, almost every seed had somewhere to grow, unmolested by the hungry beasts.

That last sentence reveals the best and most effective way to control weeds in my garden...cover. Never allow your garden soil to remain uncovered and you will see a remarkable reduction/elimination of weeds.

My garden soil was once used as a production hay field and it was incredibly full of weed seeds. Through extensive use of cover cropping, I don't have a weed problem...and as a bonus don't require the use of synthetic fertilizers.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

That last sentence reveals the best and most effective way to control weeds in my garden...cover. Never allow your garden soil to remain uncovered and you will see a remarkable reduction/elimination of weeds.

My garden soil was once used as a production hay field and it was incredibly full of weed seeds. Through extensive use of cover cropping, I don't have a weed problem...and as a bonus don't require the use of synthetic fertilizers.

Thanks for reading, the first version seemed a bit 'Bare bones', there's a balance between keeping it interesting and accessible and running away with yourself.
I go for hoeing, not that different really once a tilth is established it covers the ground, and where you are turning in cover crop I am hoeing in weeds. keep it regular and it is not long before the seeds have germinated and there is a clean tilth.
I am not ignoring you however, I have saved a bunch of seed from borlotti beans to grow come Spring and I have a crop of broad beans in for seed I can grow next winter. The mature seed plants go into the compost, of course, whilst their roots stay in the soil, so I add something while preparing for a cover crop.

 

[big rockpile]

Why do they call Marijuana, Weed? A Weed is a plant with no use and seems Marijuana has many uses.

Funny last Summer had a Marijuana Plant growing in my driveway in the gravel. No it wasn't mine.

big rockpile

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Funny last Summer had a Marijuana Plant growing in my driveway in the gravel. No it wasn't mine.

Probably a weed.