June 24, 2011

Weeds and leaves

Whether you’re a veggie gardener, flower gardener or a lawn lover you will find yourself weeding at some point through the season.  Ever since I was a kid I remember hearing people complaining about weeds and weeding their gardens.  At a very young age, I learned what weeding was all about.  My mom would send me out back to weed the veggie garden.  Oh, man!!! Why did I tell her I was bored?!? What was I thinking?  I’d drag myself out to the garden, sit on the edge of the bed and start in.  I consider this to have been my first Plant ID class. (This is also when I snacked on everything in the garden!)

If you’re going to weed a garden, you definitely need to know what to pull and what to keep.  If you’re not sure, leave it a few days or a week (or longer if necessary) until you can identify what it is.  Once you’ve got your plant ID down or at least know what the plants you put there are “supposed to look like”, the rest would be considered “weeds” (a.k.a. – any plant in a place you don’t want it).

I used the “leave it” method on a plant in my backyard a couple of years ago.  When I first noticed it, it wasn’t very big, but I wasn’t sure what it was. It was in a very bad spot in my flowerbed, but I was too curious to pull it.  By the time it got to be 7 feet tall (I kid you not) it had multi-lobed leaves and strongly resembled Mary J. except that I don’t have any experience growing that so I couldn’t say for sure one way or the other.  So I waited, curious to see what it would “do”.  Finally, near the end of the summer, it blossomed. Since the bloom was so far above my head, I may be short-changing it, but it ended up with a little, non-showy cluster of nondescript flowers.  Then, it got pulled.

Before you start weeding, I should back up a moment… make sure you know what you planted and what it looks like in each stage of growth.  Most seeds start with 2 cotyledon/seed leaves.  Seed leaves are made using energy stored within the seed and don’t have much character, so it makes it really hard to tell plants apart at this stage.  It’s not until they develop their 2nd set of leaves, their “true leaves”, that plant ID really becomes possible and weeding becomes safe.  As a side note, some plants will also have juvenile leaves which won’t look like their seed leaves or their mature leaves.  This can sometimes trip you up a little, but once you know what you’re looking for, you’ll be fine.

The best time to weed is after a lot of rain or after you’ve watered.  This makes the soil loosen up and allows weeds to come out by the root, which is always the goal.  It’s not always possible, but when it is, try not to just snap off the top or the root will just regenerate new top growth and you’ll literally end up weeding the same plant over and over again.

That’s it for now.

More edible weeds to come.

Kate

Posted in Edible Weeds, Plant Biology 101, Weeds | 1 Comment »

June 22, 2011

Small blessings

Rain or no rain, the sun is shining on me today.

Since August of 2009 I’ve been “dealing with” a low-grade fever and fatigue.  I had tons of testing done, which all showed something was off kilter, but I didn’t have any other symptoms so nothing could be pin-pointed.  The best that they could figure was that I’d gotten some kind of virus that my body would just have to get rid of on its own.  After already dealing with it for well over a year, that was hard news to take.  My prescription was to get lots of rest, eat well and exercise as I could. In other words, live a healthy life.  So I did, or at least tried my best.

As part of all the testing that took place in the beginning, I had a CT scan that showed a “nodule” on my lung.  Since then, I’ve been getting repeat CT scans every 6 months to make sure nothing has changed.  Other quirks showed up on the follow-up scans as well, but thankfully those have disappeared and the nodule hadn’t changed.  Much as I’ve tried to ignore it, in the back of my mind it’s been a constant concern, always wondering if my next scan will be different.  I’ve lived each day being hyper-sensitive to what’s going on in my body wondering what every little change “means”.

My most recent CT scan was at the end of May. The report came back “no change” but the nodule size had changed compared to previous reports.  Since I don’t have background in the medical field, I didn’t understand how a size difference could mean “no change”.   Literally, the next day, a newsletter came in the mail from Allina and in it was an article on a new Lung Nodule Clinic that opened in Minneapolis.  I called. Last Friday I went in and met with a great team of doctors who reviewed my CT scans, PET scan, history, etc.  I actually got to see the scans and they showed me how they were measured, explained why my nodule “looks good” and reassured me that it is highly unlikely to be Cancer. Whenever a nodule is found, they monitor it for 2 years.  This fall will be 2 years for me, but just to be certain that there is no change, they are scheduling my final CT a year from now.  My Dr. reassured me that there is no concern that this will change between now and then and after the final blessing a year from now, I never have to think about it again.

Whew! I walked out relieved, yet in a daze.  It was like a dream.  It hadn’t settled in yet.

In addition to this news, I haven’t had a fever since the beginning of May and my energy level has been gradually increasing.  Another cause for celebration, but again, I was leery. I’ve lived with this for 2 years, sometimes it would go away for a few days or a week only to return again, so I was fearing it was taking a short vacation and then would be back.

It hasn’t.  I’m going on 2 months with no fever.  Today I woke up energized.  Smiling. Ready to face the world head on.  I feel good.  I have more energy today than I have in nearly 2 years!! I’m so thankful. And excited!!!

Thank you so much to my family and friends for the many, many prayers. They worked!

The unknown is a very scary place to be.  I’m so glad to be back!

Kate

p.s. – It sunk in. 🙂

Posted in Favorites, Mindful Living | 3 Comments »

June 14, 2011

Children’s garden harvest and edible weed #1

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that teaching my son about plants, gardening, cooking and the environment is very important to me.

In addition to helping out in the garden at home, he also has a 4′ x 16′ garden that he shares with a buddy at the MN Landscape Arboretum as part of the Seed Sowers (children’s garden) summer program.  The group has had two weekend planting days prior to today, one in late May and one in early June.  Today was the first day of the weekly program where they tend to their garden by watering, weeding, harvesting and cooking.

Since Grandma brought him to and from the Arboretum today, I was anxious to hear how it went and what he did.  He came busting in the door, so proud to tell me all about his day.  He had been very busy watering, weeding, making his own hummus with “beans, garlic, lemon juice and goosefoot”.  Plus he brought a bag home with a head of lettuce and a radish!

His garden harvest made a nice addition to the Quinoa Risotto with carrots and sugar snap peas we had for dinner and was he ever proud to put the salad on the table!

As he was telling me about his day, I decided to ask a little more about goosefoot.  “Goosefoot?” I asked.  “Yep, goosefoot, mom.  It’s a weed we can eat.” he explained.  (Since Seed Sowers planting day #2, he’s been on the search for goosefoot in our garden as well).  “We put it on top of our hummus.”

Not knowing a lot about goosefoot, I did a little internet research tonight so I know what to look for in our garden.  While researching, I found that goosefoot is indeed edible and very nutritious, another interesting tidbit… goosefoot and quinoa (that we coincidentally had for dinner) come from the same plant.  So, now I know, and if you didn’t before, now you know too!

The Children’s Garden
Snapdragons and Black-eyed Susan
Lettuce, Tomatoes and Onions

Happy harvest from a proud mom!

Kate

Posted in Children's Garden, Organic Gardening | 3 Comments »

June 7, 2011

Water, water, water!

We’ve had record-breaking temps in the Twin Cities the past couple of days. This weather is tough.  It literally feels like a blast furnace to us and most of us aren’t outside all day and night.

This is the kind of weather that really tests Darwin’s theory or evolution and truly the strongest (healthiest and most fit) will survive.  Plants and trees have no respite right now, so they really need us.  We all need to do our part to keep our plants and trees well watered right now, not only to keep them moist, but on these really hot days, their roots need cooling too.  Container plants especially need their roots cooled.  Remember a few days ago I was mentioning that it’s great that the soil in containers heats faster than the soil in the ground because you can get a jump-start on seed germination and plant growth?  Well, here we are, less than a week later and I get to remind you that there’s a down side to containers as well.  The soil in containers heats faster than the soil in the ground… On days like today when temps are over 100 degrees the soil temperature in containers is soaring as well.  If your plants look limp, but the soil is still wet, please give your plants a drink anyway.  Just like us, they may not be thirsty so much as just too hot.  The cool water will help cool their roots and get them back to a comfortable temperature, lessening the stress on the plant.

As if these temps alone aren’t enough to torture plants and trees, add dry air and high wind and we’re asking a lot of our green friends.

And now for a little plant biology. 🙂  Much like human perspiration, plants lose water through openings on their leaves in a process called transpiration.  The rate of transpiration (loss of water) is affected by humidity in the air, wind, air temperature and light intensity. The drier the air, the higher the wind, the higher temperature and the more intense the light is will increase the rate of transpiration/loss of water.

So… on hot days, water.  On dry days, water.  On windy days, water. And on hot, dry, windy days… please, please water!

Kate

Posted in Container Gardening, Landscaping, Mindful Living, Organic Gardening, Ornamental Grasses, Perennials, Veggie Garden | 2 Comments »

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