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Bindweed, morning glory's angry friend

5/7/2020

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Bindweed can easily get out of control in a garden
By cutting it down at its base over a period of 3-5 years, we can starve the roots, and rid ourselves of this pest. ​
Bindweed, Convolvus arvensis, is related to and looks similar to the beautiful Morning Glory - a popular choice in many gardens. Bindweed is prevalent in Borland Garden - something we should be grateful for, right?
Unfortunately, Bindweed is a pesky plant. It is fast growing, and is a climber. It wraps itself around other plants, whether that plant be a tree, shurb, perennial, or another strand of bindweed growing in close proximity.

​That wrapping can kill the plant.

How does one eradicate bindweed from a garden? Persistence!
By cutting it down at its base over a period of 3-5 years, we can starve the roots, and rid ourselves of this pest. Additionally, because seeds can last in the soil for a long time (upwards of 30 years!) it is imperative that we do not let this plant go to seed. Cut it down young!

How to dispose of bindweed that you pull:
Please do not put the bindweed pieces that you pull in the compost, or we’ll be spreading it wherever we place that compost. Bindweed is best put in the trash or left to dry out on a concrete sidewalk.

Identifying bindweed
It's best to pull bindweed early when it's just a little shoot and hasn't started to climb up other plants. It looks a bit different as a shoot than it does as a long vine. 
Morning glory flower
Morning Glory flower
credit: www.clemson.edu bindweed leaves and flowers
bindweed flowers
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Young bindweed shoots have their leaves folded up against the stem. the leaves will often have a slight red tinge when they are young
Photo Credit: Matt Lavin from Bozeman, Montana, USA
Mature bindweed leaves are lance or vaguely heart shaped. The easiest way to spot bindweed is to see it as it climbs up another plant
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We've both got big leaves, but we taste totally different...

4/15/2020

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Rhubarb and burdock have a lot of similarities. Both pop up around the same time in the spring, both flower intermittently, both make huge leaves, both are called elephant ear, both are growing in the orchard, and both are edible. In fact, burdock is a little safer to eat than rhubarb which has a tasty stem, but toxic leaves. They have so many similarities, and one very important difference: burdock spreads and takes over way faster. Keep reading to learn more about these two look alikes.

Rhubarb

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"A Dessert Vegetable"

It sounds like an oxymoron, but the tart, fresh taste of rhubarb almost seems to have coevolved with vanilla ice cream. It cooks into a sauce, fills a nice pie, and can be made into bars. 
But the possibilities for rhubarb only stop with your imagination. Try sauteing some with ramps and nettles and tossing with pasta, olive oil, and capers! Or use it instead of lemon juice to add some tartness to your hummus. Really, any time you think you might want some tartness, you might be able to add some rhubarb.

Despite how amazing it is in desserts, it hasn't been used for culinary purposes for all that long. The earliest recorded use of rhubarb is from about 5000 years ago in China where the root was historically used as a laxative. More recently, in ancient Rome and Greece, the dried root was used as an astringent. It wasn't until the 1800's that there are recordings of the plant being used for food in England. Perhaps that's due to the availability of sugar. The stems of the plant are extremely sour due to the high levels of malic and oxalic acid present in the plant.

Care and Cultivation

The rhubarb that we have in the orchard of the garden has been there for quite a while and is very well established. This means that we don't have to be quite as careful with it as we would if it was younger. However, there are still some things that help it live its best life:
  • Rhubarb loves lots of organic material in the soil. So compost and mulch around its base are always welcome.
  • Those big leaves are great at collecting sunlight and keeping some smaller weeds down. However, when tall weeds crowd the plant, it can become susceptible to disease. If you see tall plants like asters and comfrey growing all up in the rhubarb's business, feel free to remove them - We have lots of both of those.
  • Every so often, rhubarb will make a flower. That takes up a lot of energy that would otherwise be going into the root. If we leave the flower, we should harvest the seeds and plant some baby rhubarbs, otherwise just clip off the flowers. 
  • Our rhubarb can fend for itself pretty well, but if we're having a very dry spell in the summer, it would love some water.
  • The roots should be dug up and split every 3 to 4 years. The last time we did it was in 2019.
  • In the fall/winter, the leaves and stems will die back. Once the ground freezes, it’s best to cover rhubarb with 2 to 4 inches of mulch, preferably well-rotted compost; by adding nitrogen to the soil, you’re preparing the rhubarb plants for a good spring season.

How
to Harvest
To make sure we keep our rhubarb healthy and happy, it's important to make sure that we're harvesting correctly. 
  • Do not harvest any stalks during the first growing season so that your plants can become established.
  • Harvest the stalks when they are 12 to 18 inches long. Usually after 3 years, the harvest period runs 8 to 10 weeks long. If the stalks become thin, stop harvesting; this means the plant’s food reserves are low.
  • Grab the base of the stalk and pull it away from the plant with a gentle twist. If this doesn’t work, you can cut the stalk at the base. Be sure to discard of the leaves!
  • Always leave at least 2 stalks per plant to ensure continued production. You may have a bountiful harvest for up to 20 years without having to replace your rhubarb plants.

Caution
The leaves of rhubarb are toxic to eat. You can cut them off directly into the compost before even taking them inside.

​

Burdock

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Burdock root, similar to rhubarb root is a widely used medicinal herb, particularly in traditional Chinese and Roman medicine. It has been used for centuries to basically cure what ails you, principally as a diuretic and a diaphoretic. 

Burdock is native to Europe and Asia, and it thrives on disturbed soils. Because of its aggressive growth, ability to grow just about anywhere, and the massive root that it forms, burdock can quickly become a hard to control weed, blocking out other plants and taking over. 

Burdock can be eaten though it takes a fair bit of preparation to make it tender enough to chew. It does make a pretty good dip, but really, just about anything floating in cheese will taste good. 

For the balance of our garden and the success of all of our other plants, it's best to dig out burdock as much as possible. 

Telling the difference between burdock and rhubarb

When young, the most obvious difference between the two plants, is burdock has hairy leaves and rhubarb leaves are smooth. This feature continues as the plants age, and in the mid summer, 2nd year burdock will begin to flower and set seeds. 
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Burdock seeds were the inspiration for Velcro, and if you've ever gotten burdock seeds in your clothes, hair, or pet's fur, it's easy to see why. Each one of those little hooks is attached to a seed that could grow a whole new plant - another reason why burdock is so good at taking over. It's ideal to get burdock out of the garden before it makes these seeds. But at the very least we can cut off the seeds and dispose of them. 

Happy Gardening!
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