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Category Archives: Plant profiles
Weed profile – Common groundsel, Senecio vulgaris
I first noticed this weed at the beginning of secondspring last year when I was out photographing plants to use in weed profile posts. At first I was pleased – it looked a lot like one of the edible chrysanthemums. … Continue reading
Plant profile – Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare
Fennel is one of those weeds that turns up all over the place around this city. It’s also a useful herb. As both weed and herb it has a potential role in my low-water zones. It’s in the Apiaceae (formerly … Continue reading
Posted in Cooking and eating, Plant profiles
Tagged anethole, drylands, fennel, foeniculum vulgare, food forest, herbs, medieval plants, mediterranean agriculture, spices, weeds, zone 3, zone 4
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Plant profile: Alexanders, Smyrnium olusatrum
Alexanders, Smyrnium olusatrum, is an old plant. There are records of it being written about, cooked with, used as fodder in Ancient Roman times and before. It’s named for Alexander the Great, or perhaps Alexandria the city that AtG named … Continue reading
Posted in Plant profiles
Tagged alexanders, Apiaceae, edible, edible weeds, historic plants, medieval plants, Smyrnium olusatrum, zone 4
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Notes on brome grass (greater brome, ripgut brome, Bromus diandrus)
This is a post to record some notes from my current reading, on the assumption that I’ll forget what I’ve read if I don’t write it down. Ripgut brome – common name for two species, diandrus and rigidus. Better common … Continue reading
Posted in Plant profiles
Tagged brome grass, bromus diandrus, cereals, drylands, drylands farming, drylands food forest, fermenting, grains, greater brome, herbicide, herbicide resistance, mediterranean agriculture, opportunities, organic weed control, outside-the-box, ripgut brome, weed control, weed management, weed tea, weeds, weedscaping, zone 4
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Hypothetical / Crop profile: Kara (Burchardia)
Kara is one of the crops I’m considering trying to start up, either at home garden level or at commercial level (the former will be a necessary trial step for the latter). It’s part of my vested interest in climate-suitable … Continue reading
Plant profile – Eschscholzia californica, the California Poppy
This is the state flower of California. It grows in gorgeous meadows there, lighting up hills golden-orange when in season. It’s native to an area around California, Arizona, Mexico, the Sonoran Desert – that sort of thing. It’s one of … Continue reading
Weed profile – Broomrape (Orobanche)
This weed amuses me immensely. It’s a curious thing. Note the colour – it looks dried out even though it isn’t, there’s not a speck of green. That’s because it has no chlorophyll – none of that green stuff that … Continue reading
Posted in Plant profiles
Tagged noxious weeds, orobanche, parasite, parasitic, weeds, weedscaping
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Crop profile – Mulberries
Our neighbour has a mulberry tree. When I was planning the food forest I needed a central primary tree. I spent a lot of time thinking about options, and one that kept coming up was the mulberry. It reaches the … Continue reading
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