Weeds & Other Plants

Some plants listed here here supposedly "edible" but we are not offering any advice as to edibility, so please do your own research to make informed decisions.

Weed Control

We have not used any herbicides to control weeds on our 20 acres, we either let them grow, pull them, or till them in with a 4 foot tiller on a 27 hp tractor.

Weeds (in order of dislike)

Tar Weed (irritating)
Diffuse Knapweed (irritating, heavy seeder)
Scotch Thistle (irritating and seeds easily)
Prickly Lettuce (irritating)
White Campion (persistent seeds and a heavy seeder)
Baby's Breath (perrenial and a heavy seeder)
Rhizomatic Grass spp. (grows back from a single node)
Bunching Grass spp (can be difficult to remove when large)
Large Sagebrush (perrenial, heavy seeder, doesn't make nectar)
Yarrow (rhizomatic and spreads quickly)
Aridland Goosefoot (heavy seeder and Lambsquarters is better)
Lambsquarters (though supposedly edible it is a heavy seeder)
Tumble Mustard (Regular Mustard is preferred)
Dandelion (can be problem in garden beds but otherwise I leave it)
Knotweed (short and holds this soil so I let them grow in the driveway)

Tar Weed

This is a sticky prickly annual weed with a fiddle head and yellow flowers that re-seeds readily. It is difficult to control and irritating to the skin when pulling.

Diffuse Knapweed

This grows like a tumbleweed with small prickly purple or white flowers. Supposedly it isn't toxic to livestock but the sap is very bitter making it the last choice for grazing animals. If you pull it and eat something with your hands you're likely to wonder what is that bitter taste, even after washing your hands multiple times. The seeds are viable while still green so we pull them early and carry them to vacant property where there are already thousands and dump them. Slowly there are fewer but they'll never be wiped out.

Scotch Thistle

Very prickly relative of the artichoke. Very difficult to remove because of the spikes and reseeds readily. I pulled all of the ones out before seeding but I still have 30 new ones in the same place, not sure how that happened.

Prickly Lettuce

These have succulent leaves, white sap, prickles on the underside of the stem making them some trouble to pull without gloves, and they produce 1000's of seeds. They are ever present and I'll never get rid of them but I pull them out and use them as mulch around my corn.

White Campion

Originally we did not have white campion but hundreds of seeds hitched a ride with some raspberry rhizomes I bought on fleabay. I had to use an app to identify them and found the seeds are very persistent once in the ground and each plant makes 100's of thousands of seeds. After many years of trying to erradicate them I am still pulling some up every spring and summer, and in new locations.

Baby's Breath

Baby's Breath is well established in our county and while they look and smell nice they spread profusely by seeds and are a perrenial with deep roots which sprout back year after year.

Rhizomatic Grasses

Bermuda Grass is the one I am most familar with from young and these types of grasses if cut, broken-up, or tilled into the soil will sprout back from a single node. Tilling makes more of them and spreads them. This requires regular weeding in places where they get enough water to thrive. I have considered painting the leaves with a systemic fertilizer which will kill even the unreachable parts of the plant. So far I just pull them out regularly from the roots following the rhizome to get the whole plant and clearing 1 ft around each planting bed to keep them at bay till the next weeding. We have spend many hours digging out rocks and weeds from beds and using a screen to separate out the rocks and rhizomes before putting the soil back in the bed (and you always miss some).

Bunching Grasses

Bunching grasses are not as difficult to deal with as rhizomatic grasses but there are some types that will use the water from your watering system and get so big and large they are really difficult pull out. Pull them out with the roots before they get big. The blessing is once pulled out they need to germinate from seed again to start over.

Large Sagebrush

This is not sage but a desert brush that grows in the desert also known as Artemesia tridentifolia. On our property there is a narrow leaf and a wide leaf type. They do not make any nectar and the leaves are mostly inedible for livestock though I have heard goats and some types of cows will eat it. They do provide protection for California Quail to raise their young. We have too many quail that dig in the garden beds so both the plant and the birds are considered a nuisance and I till the sagebrush with the tractor (to plant corn). They grow slowly but it's best to keep them from reseeding. We have one antelope bitterbrush whichI protect and looks similar to sagebrush but makes tiny yellow flowers inthe spring that produce nectar for bees (rose family).

Yarrow

This fuzzy plant with white flowers and a strong smell grows everywhere here. It is rhizomatic so if you pull it but don't get all of it, it will grow back. Not as much of a problem as some others. We have so much of this all over the property I resign to pulling them only when they are in my way.

Aridland Goosefoot & Jerusalem Oak Goosefoot

These are heavy seeders and relatives of Lambsquarters and Quinoa. They are very drought tolerant and since the leaves are small I haven't tried eating it. Aridland Goosefoot is a particularly aggressive seeder. Growing Quinoa or Lambsquarters is a better use of space.

Lambs Quarters

This is a heavy seeder and edible relative of Quinoa and though very drought tolerant it prefers more water compared to Aridland Goosefoot. One plant can produce many thousands of seeds which will grow the next year and take over the garden.

Tumble Mustard

Tumble Mustard likes disturbed soil and looks like a skinny version of regular mustard. I have used it to make kimchee but I try to reduce it as much as possible in favor of regular mustard which has thicker jucier leaves.

Dandelion

I do not consider dandelion a weed because the flowers are pretty and produce nectar early in the year for bees and I have made fantastic kimchee with the leaves. Once established it has a very deep tap root and is drought tolerant. Initially I brought dandelion seeds from a nearby orchard to plant. They get quite big and difficult to remove, but I only remove those growing in garden beds or in the way of other plants.

Knotweed

This is a very short weed that grows well and holds the soil despite being driven on repeatedly. Since we get winds that blow away our "moon dust" I encourage these to grow in the driveway and parking areas but pull them when they get into planting beds.