Volunteers

Doesn't all this greenery look lush and beautiful? This is our volunteer sweet potato patch. We planted NONE of these plants. They all volunteered to be in our garden this year based on some roots left over when we picked last year. This is truly a beautiful stand. Isn't it neat thinking that there is food under it? You can never starve when you have a garden.

I was thinking this morning as I combed the garden and yard for weeds that I might be going crazy. Surely anyone knowing what I was doing would think so. I have even potted some up to show to a friend who knows wild plants. I decided though that it doesn't matter what they are. I know the big danger is that I might juice something poisonous, so it is more important to know what plants we shouldn't be eating. I think I know those, so I am not worrying about it. I don't think I have anything poisonous in my yard.

Just to be safe, though, I only add one different kind a day. That way if it does make me sick, I'll know not to use it again. It is all getting a little blurry though, so if I'm serious about this method, I should be a little more systematic about it. The other worry would be that the plants picked might not taste good. I have not found that to be the case, surprisingly. I heard someone say you should taste the plant to see if it tastes good, and if it tastes good, then pick it for your salad or green drink. That wouldn't work for me. One of the things I've been putting in my drink is something I don't like to take bites of: aloe. It is weird how the plants have a good flavor when they are all mixed together. One day there was a slight bitter taste, but it was not unappealing. Maybe my tastes are changing. I suppose if you're used to soda pop and Koolaid, my green juice might not appeal to you at all.

Last night when I got home from work, Roger parked in a little bit different place. When I got out of the van, there was a beautiful dandelion plant. I was thrilled and couldn't wait to pick it today. Most people have tons of dandelions, but we don't here for some reason. All the organic stores sell dandelion greens, so they are being cultivated nowadays. I really like them. I would plant them in my garden, but that seems really absurd...isn't it? One of the other things I like about picking weeds for my drink is that it is hard in the summer time to find greens for juicing here in Florida. Lettuces and other greens thrive in the winter time, and we have more than we can ever use. That dries up as soon as the spring heat sets in. I think I had lettuce this year until about April. So being able to pick weeds that don't seem to mind the heat at all is a nice boon. Likewise, the weeds don't thrive as much in the wintertime, although there are some.

One thing I've noticed in my daily collection walks is that different things sprout at different times. I know this sounds obvious, but right now there are thousands of tiny weeds sprouting that waited until this particular time to do so. Some of the others are waning (not too many though). Some weeds only grow in certain areas. It is very interesting.

One thing I have been picking the last couple of days is volunteer watermelon sprouts. Roger emptied some of our compost bin into a couple of our raised beds. We started doing that a few years ago when our bins were full but our boxes were lying fallow. (Nature abhors a vacuum, don't you know?) We've been eating a lot of watermelon since our garden is producing so much, and the volunteers are producing far more than can ever survive as plants, so I am thinning them for my daily drink. Then I had a bright idea while eating my watermelon today: why not save the seeds, rinse them off, and plant them in my little sprout planting system (like I do the sunflower seeds). I think they taste similar. They are good in the drink, anyway.

It makes me think we buy a lot more stuff than we need, especially when it comes to food. There is an old pioneer saying: make it do or do without. We have truly lost sight of that in our current economic plenty. Perhaps our tight money times will lead us back to that way of living.