I just started reading this group a few days ago, but it looks like a good
group with good advice. I probably should have been reading it years ago;
it's amazing the things one neglects to look for on usenet.

My Information: I live in North Dakota about 15 miles from Manitoba and 30
miles from Minnesota, zone 4. My husband is the planter, I'm the harvester
of most of our edible garden. This year, however, we were unable to get our
big garden in (we have a small raised bed, and a 1/2 acre expanse) because
the spring and early summer were just too wet. In the small raised bed we
crowded our tomato plants, a buttercup squash or two, a cucumber plant, and
a couple of pepper plants. We've been eating ripe tomatoes for about a
week, and have had a few cucumbers. The big bed is empty. Well, except for
the weeds that keep cropping up. We're hoping this season of "summer
fallow" will help for next year.

Our growing season this year went from Way Too Wet to No Rain At All.

DH got a blade attachment for the garden tractor, took down the fence around
the garden, and scooped soil from the outer reaches of the big plot into a
more centralized, smaller area. As we've had many gardens suffer water
damage over the years, we should have done this excavation years ago.

Our biggest weed problem is purslane. Does anyone have any really great
control suggestions?

Does this group lean toward organic gardening or chemical control? Some of
each?

Is top posting a hot button? Off-topic posts? Thread drift re-labeling?

Marilee

From: "Marilee"

Our biggest weed problem is purslane. Does anyone have any really great
control suggestions?

Eat it--it's edible and good for you.

Eat it--it's edible and good for you


Marilee is right!
If my experience with growing food has taught me anything, as soon as you start
growing it to eat it will begin to die, or it will get a fatal infestation
problem. Either way your problem is solved.

Jack

"Marilee" wrote in message ...


Our biggest weed problem is purslane. Does anyone have any really great
control suggestions?

Harvest it just before it starts forming pods, but even with pods it
will just be a bit crunchier than usual. Because it is slightly
lemony, you can save the vinegar in the dressing. It is almost
certainly the most nutritious vegetable in your garden right now. No
need to separate leaves from stems, the stems are just as good. I miss
purslane, in my 5hrs of sun a day garden in Michigan it does not grow
well. I used to eat a bowl a day in the summer. Shredded, it goes in a
number of summer salads, with beans, pasta, chopped veggies, you name
it. If you are like me a fan of totally green, but mixed, salads,
nasturtium is somewhat similar in texture but peppery, so they mix
well.


Does this group lean toward organic gardening or chemical control? Some of
each?

I am guessing that 67% of the people here are organic 90% of the time.
How's that for going out on a limb?


Is top posting a hot button? Off-topic posts? Thread drift re-labeling?

very civilized around here.

On 26 Aug 2003 14:20:25 -0700, (simy1)
wrote:


Is top posting a hot button? Off-topic posts? Thread drift re-labeling?

very civilized around here.

It is. Maybe that's because gardeners are superior people
and nice people (both at once).

Pat

"simy1" wrote in message
m...
"Marilee" wrote in message
...


Our biggest weed problem is purslane. Does anyone have any really
great
control suggestions?

Harvest it just before it starts forming pods, but even with pods it
will just be a bit crunchier than usual. Because it is slightly
lemony, you can save the vinegar in the dressing. It is almost
certainly the most nutritious vegetable in your garden right now. No
need to separate leaves from stems, the stems are just as good. I miss
purslane, in my 5hrs of sun a day garden in Michigan it does not grow
well. I used to eat a bowl a day in the summer. Shredded, it goes in a
number of summer salads, with beans, pasta, chopped veggies, you name
it. If you are like me a fan of totally green, but mixed, salads,
nasturtium is somewhat similar in texture but peppery, so they mix
well.

Pods? It gets pods?

I have to go check! In all these years, with purslane all over the place,
I've never noticed pods.

(Time passes....)

Okay, do you mean the tiny little buds at the ends of the stems that will
bloom and become tiny yellow flowers? That's the only thing resembling a
pod that I see on my purslane.

I tried eating it last year, but found it to be a bit slimy when cooked. Of
course, it's not exactly an easy thing to find recipes for, and I may have
overcooked it the first time and undercooked it the second. The recipes I
found made reference to it tasting like spinach, which I like, so I was
truly disappointed that I didn't care for it at all. (I don't remember if I
tried it raw, though. I may give that a go later this week.)


Does this group lean toward organic gardening or chemical control? Some
of
each?

I am guessing that 67% of the people here are organic 90% of the time.
How's that for going out on a limb?

Cool. I am not above chemical intervention, myself, but one doesn't want to
put one's foot in it early on. I wondered because of the fairly large
number of people recommending doing away with groundhogs by shooting them.
(That's what we do when one shows up, but it was gratifying, in a way, to
see that others here feel the same way.) (Not that organic gardening and
animal rights activists go hand in hand, but....)


Is top posting a hot button? Off-topic posts? Thread drift
re-labeling?

very civilized around here.

It looks to be.

Marilee

On 26 Aug 2003 20:33:57 GMT, (Jack1000) wrote:

Eat it--it's edible and good for you


If my experience with growing food has taught me anything, as soon as you start
growing it to eat it will begin to die, or it will get a fatal infestation
problem. Either way your problem is solved.

Hey -- this is *my* weed-control theory. Haven't been able to find a
good stand of cattails since I learned how delicious the shoots were.
Dandelions died out the minute I began *thinking* of wine. If anyone
has an idea for using Vinca, all my weed problems will be solved.
Except the ivy. :-)

"Marilee" wrote in message ...


Okay, do you mean the tiny little buds at the ends of the stems that will
bloom and become tiny yellow flowers? That's the only thing resembling a
pod that I see on my purslane.


ooops. Yes, I meant buds. They get gritty in a hurry, with those tiny
seeds forming very quickly.

I tried eating it last year, but found it to be a bit slimy when cooked. Of
course, it's not exactly an easy thing to find recipes for, and I may have
overcooked it the first time and undercooked it the second. The recipes I
found made reference to it tasting like spinach, which I like, so I was
truly disappointed that I didn't care for it at all. (I don't remember if I
tried it raw, though. I may give that a go later this week.)

raw is much better.

Eat it--it's edible and good for you.

Right about now I'm thinking about asking if anyone has any good recipes for
crab grass....

(ducking and running)


-=epm=-

In matters of truth and justice,
there is no difference between large and small problems,
for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.
- Albert Einstein

EvelynMcH wrote:
Eat it--it's edible and good for you.


Right about now I'm thinking about asking if anyone has any good recipes for
crab grass....

(ducking and running)


-=epm=-

In matters of truth and justice,
there is no difference between large and small problems,
for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.
- Albert Einstein

mix with mayo, chipotle pepper.... oh wait... wrong thing... ;-)

--
Steve

simy1 wrote:

Does this group lean toward organic gardening or chemical control? Some
of each?

I am guessing that 67% of the people here are organic 90% of the time.
How's that for going out on a limb?

I'm 100% organic, 100% of the time. Some others are, too. We try to conceal
our superiority but sometimes it just shines through. :-)

Basically, we all just sort of 'live & let live" although disputes do arise
from time to time. Usually the spats last a day or two and get resolved. Or
forgotten. Either way works.

As for the top-posting, etc. The group is not fanatical. I, personally,
prefer a well-trimmed message followed by the response. I don't recall
seeing a re-named subject line, but that certainly might be appropriate
from time to time. Try to keep posts on-topic and off-topic posts few and
far between. "Edible Gardening" is such a wide-ranging topic that most of
the off-topic posts in here seem to be commercial spam that crept in.

There is a faq for the list but I no longer recall where to find it. Let
ordinary civility govern and just have some fun.

BIll

--
Zone 8b (Detroit, MI)
I do not post my address to news groups.

On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 01:53:37 -0400, Noydb
wrote:

I'm 100% organic, 100% of the time. Some others are, too. We try to conceal
our superiority but sometimes it just shines through. :-)


I'm also organic, maybe not 100% - only because the new USDA
standards are ridiculous! Otherwise, I am 100% organic.

For example, I bought seed-starting mix at the local
farm-and-feed sto and it had a little bit of commercial
plant food mixed in it (I couldn't find any other kind at
the time).

According to the new USDA standards, that would make the
plants grown from seeds in this seed mix 'not organic',
although they have been treated 100% organically in every
other respect, including that the soil in which they grow in
the garden has never had non-organic anything (at least not
since we've lived here and it wasn't a garden before then).

The plants' food has all been organic (since the seedling
mix), they've never been sprayed with anything, no
fungicides, insecticides, weed-killer etc. But I would not
be able to call them 'organic' according to the USDA
standards presently in effect.

I subsequently quit using the seed mix as such (too costly)
and am using a version of Pro-Mix now for seed starting: it
doesn't have that little bit of plant food, so it would not
disqualify my plants as 'organic'.

But I really think that's absolutely ridiculous!


There is a faq for the list but I no longer recall where to find it. Let
ordinary civility govern and just have some fun.


This is the best advice. I too prefer well-snipped, bottom
posts and indeed they are the Usenet standard and always
have been. But I'm not fanatical about it....

Pat

Noydb wrote:

simy1 wrote:

Does this group lean toward organic gardening or chemical control? Some
of each?

I am guessing that 67% of the people here are organic 90% of the time.
How's that for going out on a limb?

I'm 100% organic, 100% of the time.


Me too, perhaps. I don't use any chemicals anywhere around the food in the
garden. I do spray grass killer around the border of the garden as a way of
control. But no chemicals inside the border.




Andrew

Marilee wrote:

Our biggest weed problem is purslane. Does anyone have any really great
control suggestions?

Does this group lean toward organic gardening or chemical control? Some of
each?

Some of each..

Is top posting a hot button? Off-topic posts? Thread drift re-labeling?

Again, some of each... I always say:

A: Because top posting doesn't make sense.
Q: Why bottom post?

Though others WILL differ.

Generally its a very friendly international (I'm from the UK for
example), interesting group.

I don't personally like off topic posts.. But zapping headers is so easy
anyway that if you read and manage your reader correctly there aren't
huge numbers of new posts of interest anyway.

//
Jim

On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 15:51:41 +0100,
(Jim W) wrote:

Marilee wrote:


Is top posting a hot button?

I always say:

A: Because top posting doesn't make sense.
Q: Why bottom post?

*Love* that. Permission to copy and use?