Gardening Rule:
When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a
valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a
valuable plant.

"TOM KAN PA" wrote in message
...
Gardening Rule:
When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a
valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it
is a
valuable plant.

Heh...my dad says a weed is anything that grows where you don't want it. :-)

TOM KAN PA wrote:
: Gardening Rule:
: When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a
: valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a
: valuable plant.

LOL!

I do so much weed pulling that I am developing a highly scientific measure
of a weed's coefficient of resistance to total removal. It takes into
account stem diameter and tensile strength, root length, diameter, and
tensile strength, root type, and soil type, texture, and moisture content.

On one end of the scale, there's red clover which offers complete
resistance to total removal because its stems are so weak it invariably
sacrifices its top to save the roots. On the other end, there's Lamb's
Quarters, a good weed for beginners since it offers a sastifying
experience of total removal under a wide range of soil and moisture
conditions for stem diameters under 3/4".

Among the most deeply rewarding moments for the expert weeder, I think, is
having gauged the weeding conditions just right and bagging a mature
Pokeweed with a taproot the size of a turnip in a single straight pull
unassisted by tools. It's moments like this that remind us why we garden.

-- Karen

The Garden Gate http://garden-gate.prairienet.org
================================================== =================
"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."
^and cats -- Cicero
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On Sun, 13 Jun 2004 12:54:12 GMT, "Natty_Dread"
wrote:


"TOM KAN PA" wrote in message
...
Gardening Rule:
When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a
valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it
is a
valuable plant.

Heh...my dad says a weed is anything that grows where you don't want it. :-)

Yeah, but valuable plants that you have been trying to grow for years will also
do that, too.

In article ,
c says...
Gardening Rule:
When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a
valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a
valuable plant.

The way I heard it:
If it's hard to grow, it's a flower.
If it's hard to kill, it's a weed.

Karen Fletcher expounded:

Among the most deeply rewarding moments for the expert weeder, I think, is
having gauged the weeding conditions just right and bagging a mature
Pokeweed with a taproot the size of a turnip in a single straight pull
unassisted by tools. It's moments like this that remind us why we garden.

LOL! Oh, ain't it the truth!

--
Ann, Gardening in zone 6a
Just south of Boston, MA
********************************

As my dad used to say every spring, "What's the first thing you see on a
dandelion in the spring?" And I'd go along with him and reply, "What?" And he'd
say, "An Italian with a knife."

In article ,
c (TOM KAN PA) wrote:

As my dad used to say every spring, "What's the first thing you see on a
dandelion in the spring?" And I'd go along with him and reply, "What?" And
he'd
say, "An Italian with a knife."

A wise man.

Bill who live 10 mile's from Vineland N.J. aka the dandelion capitol of
the world. I also eat chickweed, purslane, and a few other's whose
name skips me at the moment.

--
Garden in Zone 5 S Jersey USA Shade

What's the secret to pulling a poke weed with any size root without tools??
If it's bigger than a seedling, part of the root at least, stays.

Good for you Bill. I can recognize dandelion and chickweed as edible but
that's about it. Wish I knew a heck of a lot more.

pixi wrote:
: What's the secret to pulling a poke weed with any size root without tools??
: If it's bigger than a seedling, part of the root at least, stays.

As I said, a rare and memorable occasion ;-) Mine came out after six
inches of rain to my well-drained, to-die-for, six-foot deep silty loam
soil.

-- Karen
'Above the glacier', on top of an end moraine, if not THE end moraine, in
East Central Illinois.

The Garden Gate http://garden-gate.prairienet.org
================================================== =================
"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."
^and cats -- Cicero
================================================== =================
On the Web since 1994 Forbes Best of Web 2002

On 6/13/04 5:30 PM, in article , "pixi"
wrote:

Good for you Bill. I can recognize dandelion and chickweed as edible but
that's about it. Wish I knew a heck of a lot more.
There are so many 'weeds' that have medicinal uses. Stinging nestles-tea
good for....stuff.
I hear it, I don't have to remember it...until today! Damn, I should pay
more attention to all this stuff.
Well, Pixi, find a certified organic farmer if they don't know they will
know someone who does. If they don't email me...direct and I will put you in
contact with those that know.
"Wish I knew a heck of a lot more"...are you just wishing or 'do you really
want to know?' There is a difference.
Gary
Fort Langley BC
Canada

To reply please remove...yoursocks...