Weeds are a problem for many gardeners and farmers. In this blog I wish to examine how to view weeds differently. All weeds are plants that we have not found a use for. Weeds can be used as indicators of the soil's mineral composition. The ideal way to find out about your soil is through a soil test. Your local cooperative extension service provides this service for a nominal fee. It will provide information on macro nutrients and the PH. Plants can also be useful to look at. Here are a few examples; Fertile soils or soils previously cultivated attract plants like, Chick weed, henbit. lambsquarters, stinging nettle, clover, wild vetch. Poor or deficient soils attract, mullein, wild parsley, wild radish, mugwort, common daisies, wild or dog fennel.. Higher nitrogen soil plants are clover, stinging nettles, black medic, chickory. Phosphorous indicators; purslane, mustard, stinging nettles, poke salad. Calcium indicators; lambsquarters. low in calcium indicators are burdock, dandelion, dock, Johnson grass, pigweed, sorrel. (this can also be an indication or acid soil. Alkaline soil indicators are, scarlet pimpernil, bladder campion, sage brush, goosefoot (chenopodium). Cornflowers or batchelor buttons can indicate acid or alkaline soils by their color. blue flowers indicates alkaline and red indicates acid soils, this also applies to hydrangeas. Bad drainage plants are, dock, horsetail, ox eyed daisy, golden rod, hemlock, Joe Pye weed,. butter cups, mosses and violets. This is not a true science and you may find many exceptions Weed seed sometimes just blow onto your land. Look for consistent patterns of weed populations. This is not as accurate as a laboratory test.
There are several plants that are Dynamic Accumulators. These are plants with a high a composition of minerals. Nitrogen - Alfalfa, vetch, lupines and most legumes. Potassium - Comfrey, stinging nettle, dandelion.and yarrow. Calcium - Buckwheat, lambsquarters, chamomile, stinging nettle. Phosphorous - Buckwheat, valerian, Sonchus Sowthistle (pictured below has high amounts of Calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorous, potassium and zinc. These are very good plants to put into your compost pile. As they break down they release these minerals. Weeds are the guardians of the soil. They are the scar tissue that protects and heals damaged land. If you do not use the land efficiently they will. You can learn a lot about keeping the land covered from them. They preserve the land until you are ready to use it well. They also house and protect the dynamic life that exists at the surface of the soil. To destroy them is to destroy the life giving properties they provide for your field or garden. It is not a good idea to take out all the cover and leave the soil exposed to the elements. Of course there are undesirable weeds. My least favorites are: pig weed (amaranthus palmeri), bind weed (wild morning glory), bermuda grass. There are many plants that can be used to choke them out. Keeping beds full and using a living mulch covers the bed and so it does not provide space for these plants. The use of weeds or wild plants as companions is covered in my book, Radical Regenerative Gardening and Farming.
