I Want to Try Something Else

[Dirtmechanic]

Leave it to a southern to grow what we try to kill in the nawth. First dandelions, now rag weed.......what next? Palmer?

I believe there is history there between northern beans and southern peas as well. Black eyed peas are still considered lucky because northerners did not eat them in the aftermath of the civil war.

 

[seedcorn]

Did not know that. Being a mutt, I LOVE black eyed peas. Along with our okra, chocolate gravy over fresh biscuits, fried catfish, etc.

 

[digitS']

Good Grief, @seedcorn .

I didn't know anything about Amaranthus palmeri ! Looked it up in Wikipedia. Looked it up in the USDA database.

It's edible as are all amaranths, Wikipedia says (and who can doubt Wikipedia ). Here, I want to try something else for a good amaranth garden veggie and this native is considered an invasive to agriculture! Fortunately, it isn't reported as growing here ... maybe i can find something related that would be a happy in my garden .

Steve

 

[seedcorn]

IF you do import seeds, better never let a farmer find out. He will string you up......
It puts on thorns you can’t believe, grows 6-8’ tall , bushes out 3-4’ diameter with millions of seeds. Extremely hard to kill. Cut it down, sends new stalks from roots. Handles most chemicals. South sent it north with cotton seed for dairies.

 

[Beekissed]

Leave it to a southern to grow what we try to kill in the nawth. First dandelions, now rag weed.......what next? Palmer?

In the south we get a little more creative in our methods and usually everything points to more food. Sheep eat the weeds, we eat the sheep, it's all good.

Now that I have hair sheep I can intentionally copice multiflora rose, autumn olive and honeysuckle so as to encourage more growth in these nuisance invasives.....because sheep LOVE them! We've spent years cutting them off the land and now I wish I had all those back. Funny, huh?

 

[seedcorn]

We are the same in the Nawth. We grow useful plants to feed our live stock vs noxious weeds.....

 

[flowerbug]

We are the same in the Nawth. We grow useful plants to feed our live stock vs noxious weeds.....

i'm not sure the origin of the giant ragweed but i suspect it may be a selection from repeated herbicide use... as to where it came about, unknown to me. i'm glad however it isn't around here.

there's a farm down the road from us that has a certain weed in the field each season for many years. that weed started appearing in our gardens, but i think i've largely headed it off knowing what it was and how bad it could get.

this year the field down the road is under new management and it looks like they cover cropped it. we'll see what happens...

 

[seedcorn]

Giant rags have been here long before I was born. It’s a species not a mutation or adaption.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

Did not know that. Being a mutt, I LOVE black eyed peas. Along with our okra, chocolate gravy over fresh biscuits, fried catfish, etc.

Having married a northern lass, I have come to appreciate Cod and other dishes, but milk in the peas is still not me after 20 years.

 

[flowerbug]

Giant rags have been here long before I was born. It’s a species not a mutation or adaption.

yes, i see that, but it does now have resistant populations to herbicides.

the good news, if you have it, the seeds are not long lived so if you can control it for a few years you have a chance of getting rid of it.

be consistent and persistent.

seeds on the surface are eaten by many creatures, don't mix them in the soil unless you are going to bury them deeply (over six inches) as they can sprout from down quite a ways. worms will eat them as will other soil creatures. they can also rot.

they look very similar to cosmos at first (that was where i would see a few get larger before i would weed them out) but after they start getting flowers/seeds they are quite different so can be weeded out before the seeds get scattered.