Weed of the Month:Pigweed

Amaranth, or Pigweed as it is more commonly referred to, has many attributes I am aware of, but seldom take advantage of. It is a good indicator that your soil is well nourished and most of its parts can be eaten. When young, the leaves are a good substitute for spinach and have all the same vitamins and minerals. As it develops its seed head, the shiny black seeds can be shaken out and ground into a meal from which a flatbread or cracker can be made which native American populations were aware of. In Africa, there are much larger varieties grown for just this purpose. For me, it is a weed that comes up where I don't really want it. Its seed heads hold the propect of millions of new weeds for next year. It is easy to spot and remove, but I know it is there if I ever need it.

Weed of the month

Mallow! It is actually a stomach tonic, but only if you need one. For me it is a deep rooted bother that turns up in anywhere I have cultivated once and not again. That is it finds a happy home around perennials, along the edges of the greenhouses, by water faucets, etc. The roots go to the center of the earth I think. It has geranium looking leaves and a sprawling nature. It knows I can't always get it out. When I chop it off, it tells me "I vill be bock" much like Arnold Schwarzenegger would say.

Weed of the Month

Plantain! Many people work hard to keep this plant out of their lawns. I try to keep one in some corner somewhere that I know about as I use it as a drawing herb when needed. In my experience, a leaf of plantain rubbed or chewed into a poultice and applied to a bee or wasp sting can prevent swelling and subsequent reactions to the sting. The green spot of plantain should be kept on the sting site for at least 15 minutes. If you remove and heat starts to build up, reapply with a new spot. I have used this weed to remove a sliver of glass from my son's foot after digging at it with a sterilized needle and giving up. I put a poultice and a bandaid on the injury and sent him to bed. In the morning, when I took his sock off, the glass was sitting outside of his foot! I have taken leaves in our first aid kit when traveling, I put that much confidence in it. There are two varieties, English broadleaf and the narrow leaf we are more familiar with.