My Thoughts on Weeds

Weeds...or wild plants...can tell you things about your soil...pH, nutrient content, general moisture conditions, mineral deficiencies, and more. Many of them are edible, have an interesting history, and a good amount make beautiful flowers. There are a lot of great books out there to help you identify various plants, along with their history, useful traits, and other tidbits of information. I enjoy weeds, and try to learn about a new wild plant every year. I will choose one or two in the yard, and watch them grow through their stages throughout the season. At some point I will look them up to see about identification and learn more about them. If I get stumped, I will ask someone else who I think might know. It hasn't happened to me yet where I absolutely couldn't find any information on a plant, but I suppose if I ever got really stumped I could bring one to a local plant nursery or an Extension Office.

If you ever decide to make a study of a weed in your yard, it is a good policy to tell all family members where it is and to leave the plant alone. Otherwise, a well meaning person will someday notice the healthy weed specimen, take offence to its existence, and then rip it out of the ground. You later will walk by and go to look at your plant...only to find it has vacated its former location. A quick scan of the surrounding area will find it wilted on the ground, not too far away. At least this is what happened to me this morning. And I never even knew its name...