Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
:: The message
:: from "Phil L" contains these words:
::
::: I have just dug over an old greenhouse which has been full of
::: nettles and bindweed for years[1] and I found a weird plant,
::: certainly not one I have ever seen before, it's very small leaves
::: were green on top and really deep purple underneath, it was a
::: creeping plant and I had dragged it up out of the ground before I
::: saw it, it certainly didn't look like a weed....the leaves were
::: like a clover, split into 3 heart shaped things and coloured as
::: mentioned above...my qustions are, obviously what is it? and how
::: did it get into an overgrown greenhouse which hasn't seen any
::: activity in over 5 years?
::
:: Sounds like one of the sorrels, possibly Oxalis europaea - very
:: invasive weed, and thank your lucky stars it's still confined to
:: the greenhouse.
::

Hmm, after searching for Oxalis on google's image search, it certainly
appears to be one of them, but which one I have no idea, I searched for O.
europaea ad it didn't look the same at all, the one I found was a flimsy
plant, with red stems and really dark purple undersides to the leaves.
Having read a bit about them, and from yours and Kay's comments, I gather
they can be troublesome? - this is the first time in my life that I've ever
seen one!


::: [1]
::: I've binbagged all the nettle tops and bindweed tops and disposed
::: of the roots, can these tops be left to rot down in the bag? - I
::: heard 'nettle manure' left to rot like this makes good fertilizer
::: next year...the nettles were in full seed, so I don't want to add
::: them to my compost heap.
::
:: Steep them in a tub of water. The liquor is ready when it smells
:: awful, but makes a fine liquid feed.
::
Thanks for that, I'll put them in a dustbin tomorrow with a few gallons of
water
- And the bindweed and horsetails too?


--
If God had intended us to drink beer, He would have given us stomachs.