We had a gorgeously sunny day today even if the daytime temp was still icy cold. This afternoon we went down to the garden to let the chickens out and the kids got into digging in their hole (formerly a garden bed) and trying to escape the mud-monster - think very gooshy, very slippery and slidy and the hole is now up to mid-thigh on Nathan - it's been work in progress over the last 6wks or so. So I decided to do a bit of weeding around my winter veges. It was all looking very overgrown, but as per a favourite motto taken from my permaculture course "don't use up precious energy weeding a garden that has no veges in it!". Works well for me even if my vegetable garden looks a shambles. So after weeding I gathered up autumn leaves to add as mulch around the now naked vegetables to give them a bit of frost protection (had a goody this morning and feel there will be another tonight). I was pleased to note that of the garden beds I weeded that there was hardly any creeping buttercup anymore despite it running rampant through the rest of the garden still.
I do love my chickweed though and have masses and masses. A good edible weed apparently, but even better, my chickens love it! So I throw huges amounts into their coop every day to supplement the other scraps and pellets I feed them if they are not able to be out freeranging.
4 comments:
Nikki can you post a photograph of your chickweed please? I suspect I have some here but can never find photos which help me be sure.
Sandra, I'm not sure my pictures will all that great. But this picture is pretty good.
http://images.google.co.nz/imgres?imgurl=http://www.arkive.org/media/5C995B60-9423-402C-995A-5BD2E614B7FC/Presentation.Medium/Common-chickweed-in-flower.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/plants_and_algae/Stellaria_media/&h=333&w=496&sz=64&hl=en&start=32&tbnid=Lpl8LlHsP2c9PM:&tbnh=87&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchickweed%26start%3D18%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN
Also this one.
http://images.google.co.nz/imgres?imgurl=http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/chickweed.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/chickwed.htm&h=427&w=299&sz=41&hl=en&start=3&tbnid=gwjn4dOvh7kx_M:&tbnh=126&tbnw=88&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchickweed%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN
Check the stem for little lines of hairs. They switch directions as you go around (I think there are 4 lines running vertically). It really is like a mat, so if you grab a handful it literally clears a 30cm square area in one sweep.
Can you tell me how you tackled your creeping buttercup? We have this and I didn't know what it was until after I "thought" I had weeded by pulling it all out, then placing raised beds over the area. It's taking over again. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! :)
Hi Beth, I just tackled it with the "constant disturbance" method. Basically just keep pulling it out and it eventually gives up (or any remaining roots/seeds in the ground sprout and get pulled - often it takes a second pulling to make the most difference). I found what made the biggest impact was getting rid of it over summer when the soil was dry. Since I was spot watering only the vegetable plants, it meant the others were more likely to die off and break the cycle. Also, try and pull your weeds before they flower which keeps the reproductive cycle going. HTH
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