RECIPES

Thursday 26 November 2020

Weed Walking

 

I mentioned in my post yesterday that I went for a short Weed Walk (twice, actually) along a quiet country roadside.  There were several interesting grass and weed specimens to look at.

I like the unfurling fronds on this Bracken fern (Pteridium esculentum).




Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) is classified as a pest, but where it had been left to roam the air was filled with delicious scent and it was difficult to think of it as being ill-favoured.




Several grasses were in flower, including this perennial Cocksfoot grass (Dactylis glomerata)

Cocksfoot first arrived here in 1867 and is still popular today as it makes a good compliment to Ryegrass when used in pasture mixes.




Timothy grass (Phleum pratense) is another important perennial pasture grass.  It is both palatable and nutritious for stock, and traditionally makes the best hay for feeding to horses.




Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) always looks too pretty to be called a weed, but it can be very invasive.  Cattle will not eat it and most herbicides are ineffective against it, with the best form of control appearing to be grazing by sheep.




The yellow Lotus (Lotus uliginosus) is also known as the Greater Bird’s Foot Trefoil.  It has proved valuable as a pasture legume, especially in areas where White Clover has difficulty in getting established.




Wild life must love areas like this, providing them with shelter and food.  In this age of agricultural efficiency, it is good to see that some farmers still allow a few of these corners to survive.




I hope everyone is having a great week 😊

Margaret.



24 comments:

  1. That could absolutely be Kansas with every one of those plants!! Most people have all of those as wildflowers or grasses in their gardens here. When I worked at the garden center, I sold a LOT of the honeysuckle and daisies. I've always loved honeysuckles... every year from kindergarten through sixth grade I walked to school past a house that had a ton of those growing on their fences... I always stopped to breathe in their sweetness. Be blessed, Margaret!!

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  2. I love the scent of honeysuckle! That sounds like a lovely walk.

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  3. So many weeds they can be as beautiful as flowers

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  4. The Long Acre it was called - roadside grazing. Through droughts in the 70s we used every resouce to feed our livestck and my brother and I spent many a day droving sheep along roadsides for the grazing. Years later when i had left home and my parents moved to an irrigated mid-Canterbury, most roadsides were manicured like lawns, but the few that weren't were cut for hay by people who had horses. As you said those coarse perennial grasses are great for horses.

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    1. That brought back some memories! During the 60s my brothers and I would be put on duty to stop the cows wandering too far when they were set free on the roadside for a few hours when pasture was in short supply. I think there is too much traffic around these days to be able to do that anymore.

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  5. You are very knowledgeable about the grasses Margaret - most I recognised, but I certainly could not name them.
    Stay safe
    Blessings
    Maxine

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  6. Hello,
    Lovely walk and images, I love the scent of honeysuckle and the daisies!
    Enjoy you day, happy weekend to you!

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  7. A lot of those wild flowers look vaguely familiar - from days gone by.
    Great photos

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  8. The great problem with invasive plats, of course, pretty though they may be to the eye, and appealing to the immigrant nostalgic about home, is that they often crowd out and eliminate native species and their attendant creatures. I doubt whether it is possible to restore native landscapes, however, and we are stuck with invasives now. In fact it will probably only get worse. i shudder to think of the seeds I might have carried on my shoes or clothing when travelling from one country to another.

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  9. I love walks where I can look for the details! This was such a beautiful excursion. Thank you!

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  10. Like you, I love the smell of honeysuckle, even though I know it can be invasive. And I love the other plants you showed.

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  11. Thank You for being
    my Dear Blogging Friend!!!

    💛 💛 💛 💛 💛 💛 💛 💛

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    1. It is a lovely way to get to know people around the world :) xx

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  12. Interestingly there are so many varieties of Leucanthemum now in white and cream and I have found them a good backdrop or fresh contrast in the garden running for a great display from late spring to autumn.

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  13. A wonderful walk and yes, so nice to see farmers still have such beautiful corners!

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  14. I've seen all of those around and I've wondered what the name of the daisy is, it's good to know now.

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  15. Your photos are lovely, Margaret, capturing the beauty that is there for everyone to see if they just "see". There's so much to see along the roadside at the moment. Thanks for the reminder to stop and look more closely.

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  16. You certainly know your weeds! I confess that I am woefully ignorant, book or no book. I am never 100% sure if what I'm looking at matches the description in the book. Luckily I walk and enjoy the wildflowers anyway. We have a very vigorous Japanese Honeysuckle in the back yard and we keep pruning it back. Smells divine in summer and the bees love it.

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  17. Such an interesting post, Margaret. You are so knowledgeable.

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  18. I love the idea of a weed walk. And your photos are lovely as I really like wild flowers and grasses and always have a wild flower book handy so I can find the names. I am trying to teach my grandies to recognise wild flowers too. But so many people just classify them as weeds with no names.

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Thank-you for visiting my blog. I love it when you leave a comment so please feel free to have your say. Have a great day! Margaret xx