Because I’ve been in the garden pulling/hoeing grass and weeds, I thought maybe I’d look in my Weeds of Nebraska and the Great Plains book, and share some of what I found.
I could call this story A Walk With Weeds, and I found some interesting information.
Let me start with the lowly dandelion which is part of the sunflower family. “Young leaves can be boiled and eaten as spring greens, roots were used to treat heartburn and as a mild laxative...Flowers can be battered, fried, and eaten.” The dandelion was an ornamental planting for pioneers, and often seeded on sod roofs to “brighten” the prairie.
The pretty blue flower that is tall and blooms along the road in the morning is also part of the sunflower family. My book says it is grown as a hay crop in Europe...here I call it a nuisance because it wants to “take over.” History wise it had uses in folk medicine, and the roots can be dried, roasted, and used as a coffee substitute that is bitter and has no caffeine.
My memory of Prickly lettuce (sunflower family) is growing up, swinging on the front porch in the evening, and being told it was time to cut some “lettuce” for the chickens. Funny how a brain can remember sights and sounds from years ago. Wild turkeys like to eat the leaves (and tame chickens too!)
Then I come to Yellow Rocket that you could have seen blooming in hay fields this spring. It is a part of the mustard family, and the only thing it lists is the seed is eaten by ground-foraging birds. Let’s go back to Colonial America where it was found in gardens and used for a herb and salads.
So, there you have it. If you have a garden, and the deer have eaten the tops of your first crop, you can plant green beans under the best moon sign July 14-21 for a fall crop. (I’m in trouble! I think I told a friend of mine June instead of July!)
The beets that great grandson Jordan and I planted finally came up and are about 6 inches tall. The sugar snap peas are spindly, but so far the visiting deer hasn’t found them but I’m guessing it will.. The raccoons and deer are a real nuisance...in case you haven’t seen them...the coons yank the plant out and the deer munch on the new fruit tree tips and the few green apples on the tree. This year is a “thin” year for the cherry and apple trees. We had a late frost that nipped the flowers...I counted 6 cherries on the tree, and only one side of the apple tree has apples. There go the pies!
Sharon Chenoweth is a resident and farmer of McDonough County. Her column focuses on rural life and will be featured every other week in the Community News Brief Friday Edition.
