Weeding a garden is not the most glamorous of jobs, but it is very satisfying. There is something cathartic about pulling out the ugly, and the activity gives instant gratification. The trouble with weeding is that it requires real work and is quickly undone. This summer weeding became a favorite past time for me, I actually look forward to getting out there!
In the process of weeding, I discover so much. While clearing away old growth I find the first shoots of spring pushing up. I mark them and patiently visit the site until them bloom. While pulling a stinging nettle from inside the growth of grape vine I discovered my first wild grapes. Now we are eating wild grape jelly.
The endless and backbreaking weeding of my vegetable garden led to me finding the first green beans to pick, that were hiding under the leaves. That led to a daily harvesting and trying new recipes. We have grown tired of zucchini bread and cucumber pickles. Now I am starting to find large juicy yellow and red tomatoes when I go to re-stake the plants after a hard rain.
I am learning much about the plants that grow in my beds, and which must be pulled, and which left to grow. I ask my mother-in-law for advice and she usually puts me straight. "If it grows like a weed, it probably is a weed." I am past letting thistles grow under the erroneous thinking that they might be poppies.
I was sure one plant was a type of lily, and let it grow, giving it room and water. When it finally 'flowered' it turned out to be an invasive weed called sedge nut. I googled it and was told to get rid of it immediately before it took over my lawn!
In my defense, there is much growing in my flower bed that was planted years ago and I have lost track of what was placed where. And the black-eyed-susans have spread like wild flowers. They bloom later in the summer and I was often in doubt as to what they were until the delicate orange petals finally uncurled. So my weeding became more of a "Where is Waldo Weed" activity. I literally watched one plant for weeks only to find out it was a common ditch weed when the tiny white flowers finally popped out.
I am slow to get round to weeding for other reasons than not being able to identify the weeds from the garden plants. I thoroughly enjoy being distracted by the novelty of animal life I find. Toads and frogs hop out beneath my feet, and I found a nest of baby rabbits ironically hidden inside a cage installed to keep the rabbits from eating the green beans. I tried not to disturb a large mother spider who built a web in the middle of my lilies. The butterflies came and never left. I found out that one cabbage white was responsible for the green grubs eating my brussel sprouts. I was amazed by the amount and variety of bees and smaller insects tirelessly pollinating eat flower and vegetable. I would stop to watch them until I forgot which weeds I was supposed to be pulling. And just lately a pair of hummingbirds have started to make my garden their playground. They fly around me, twirling and darting from flower to flower. They love the mystery canna lilies who have defied the harsh Minnesota winter and continue to bloom where no tropical plant should be. When I went to remove the sunflowers past their due date, I found the goldfinches had picked the heads clean of seeds.
Our large apple tree is messy and everyone keeps telling me to cut it down. The first year we lived here I tried to spray the fruit with insecticide, but the tree soon became too large. We did not want the job of disposing of all the wormy apples come September, but they were in no way edible. This year we had a bumper crop, with the large weight of the apples breaking several of the branches. We had to trim the tree and I had a look at the fallen fruit. They seemed worm-free so I baked them into a pie. As far as I know, in all its years of producing, never has one apple from the tree been eaten. The pie was delicious and I quickly picked the remaining apples of the broken branches before they were carted off to be eaten by the cows on the farm. We will be eating apple pie and cobbler for months to come!
I visit my herb garden daily, to gather herbs and weed out everything else. I did a little research on one persistent leafy plant. It turned out to be St. John's Wort, which I remembered planting from seed 15 years ago. Its flowers are soaked in vodka and the brew used to treat depression. I'm sure it works as a remedy on several levels.
I know that if I wake up with a pain in back, all I need is to walk in the garden and the pain is gone... forgotten. The contact with nature lifts my spirits as well as providing healthy food for my soul.
Weeding is like love and discipline. It nurtures joy and growth, side by side.
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