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| Borage flowers are so bee friendly that they are often called bee bread. |
Our helper pointed toward a plant with coarse leaves and asked what it was. I was not sure at first, because I planted a number of seeds in the rose garden. He said, "I think it is a weed." I thought not - maybe borage, an herb. I grew it in Phoenix, and it did well there, but the plants were small. This plant was attacked by insects but grew tall anyway. Now the top is ready to bloom and set seed. Like dill, it will seed itself easily.
Borage flowers are edible and often used to garnish a salad. The plant has a little rhyme in Latin, describing its virtue as an herb, which translates as -
I borage,
Give thee courage.
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| Some see a coarse plant that insects chew - I see an easy to grow herb that attracts bees. |
The flowers are pink and blue, giving me a chance to say "The pink ones are girls and the blue ones are boys."
I went through the rose garden, looking for opportunistic weeds. They hate to be trimmed, so I trim them. They would rather be rooted out of the mulch, which would expose more weed seed for germination. So I use trimmers to cut them back to the base. One is witchgrass, seeking new points to create roots. Another is crabgrass, a productive seed producer - snip. Dandelion is a beneficial herb, so I let it sink down its taproot, but I trim away the leaves and flower stalk.
Mulch will have weeds because the seeds are in the air. They only need sunlight and some moisture to start their work.
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| Dill is easily identified by its aroma and delicate flowers. |
Dill is known for being stronger as a volunteer than when first planted. The plant is attractive, aromatic, and fun to grow. I used to harvest the seeds to eat with ripe tomatoes from the garden. Warning - do not get used to garden tomatoes - they have flavor, even more so with dill.
Herbs are a good education for gardening. They either help nearby plants, or attract beneficial insects, or boost the compost - all while contributing health to us.
Before WWII, all pharmacy was based on herbs. They had little more than herbs to help people.Peasants used moldy bread on infections long before we began using and abusing penicillin.
The Rodale Press book on herbs is good to read. Herbs are often humble plants that look like weeds and get along on any kind of soil. Some grow better on poor soil than on good soil. Was that planned by the Creator?
Mulch Away
We continue to expand the backyard garden area for the spring. We are facing a critical shortage of newspapers. We used the last of them last night. My favorite item is a pile of soggy newspapers. What the world despises, God uses for the good.
Soggy newspaper stay put in the wind, which was a problem last night for the dry pages. Wet newsprint will attract earthworms and other creatures of rot to turn yesterday's journalism into the best soil - while suppressing weeds.
One part of the new vegetable garden is not really planted, so grassy weeds were growing up fast. That is simply green manure. I put soggy newspapers and mulch on top, and now that area is composting 100%. It is attractive with cypress mulch instead of unkempt with grassy weeds.
Except for poison ivy and a few other toxic plants, most weeds will become beneficial when denied sunlight or composted.
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| Loaded with nutrition, great at volunteering, this herb has spawned the ideal industry. Dandelions will never go away, but people pay millions to dream that it might. |
