Among the other things is next month's dinner

Dinner is in here somewhere. If not in the "weeds," then in the recently planted beans or squashes.

I couldn't stop with the bean winners from last year, I added tiger eye, a Guatemalan heirloom variety (so far, nameless) and tomorrow will plant "magpie" to complement the Petaluma gold rush and Arikara varieties chosen last fall.

Who knows what this came from, below? I don't want to keep refering to it as U169. Help me here. 9µm in length. They look like Jordan almonds.....

The U.S. Forests of the '60s

The book find of the week, with beautiful illustrations by Jack Kunz.

"The Secret Life of the Forest" is simply presented, and clearly described. Author Richard M. Ketchum depicts forests purely as a product resource, nonetheless, it is a lovely volume. TOO BAD the symbiotic fungi aren't part of the picture yet!!!

Forest study has come a long way from fifty years ago.

Weeding the Weeds

How did I get rid of all those weeds in the cracks of the front sidewalk, you may ask. I raked them out with a garden claw. It was effective and satisfying, almost as good as squeaking chalk on a blackboard. Here are some other weed removal options I have gleaned from gardening experts.

1 - A kettle of boiling water slowly poured along the cracks in the pavement will kill any weeds, annuals and even many perennials. It is even more effective if you cut off the weeds close to ground level first, before pouring water over.

2 - A 20% solution of acetic or citric acid will kill weeds. This is a lot stronger than household vinegar, which is only 5% acetic acid. The household vinegar may be strong enough to kill emerging baby weeds, however.  Weed Pharm is a brand of stronger acidic weed killer, and it is organic, and also not inexpensive.

3 - Just dig them up and eat them. My personal favorite solution. If you live in an older home, or in an urban area, get your soil tested for lead and arsenic first, before randomly eating your weeds. Also, identify the weeds you eat BEFORE you put them in your mouth. A friend of a colleague ended up in the emergency room after walking out his front door and eating random weeds. And he calls himself an agronomist.
...You can dress them up but you can't take them anywhere.

Here are a few good weeds to start.

Dandelions. The babies, not the big ones with flowers already.

Purslane. Crunchy and juicy. Yum.

Lamb's Quarters. Tastes kind of like asparagus and cucumbers mixed.

Nettles. You have to cook these to get the sting out.

Creeping Charlie. Get the new leaves, not the old tough ones. That shouldn't be hard, the thing grows like the dickens.

Sheep Sorrel.

Shepherd's Purse.

Common Mallow or Cheeses.

Add a few berries, a couple of walnuts and a package of Saltines. That's some good eating.

There are loads of other plants thriving where they shouldn't be. The varieties above are what I see today in our yard by the adjoining sidewalk I haven't weeded yet.