Thought for the Day - May 2

Subject: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: Peter T.
Date: 02 May 00 - 08:51 AM

As I am helping someone these weeks, I am spending a lot of time in cars, commuting, and if you spend a lot of time in cars, you spend a lot of time in parking lots. The best thing about parking lots for an ecologist is that you get lots of time to commune with weeds. Almost every parking lot has some tiny unpaved fraction that nature has been able to invade, and they are always weeds. Weeds are perhaps my favourite plants, probably in a perverse way because they are so human -- ubiquitous, trashy, fast invaders, stubborn, and great replicators. Weeds are merely plants that get in the way of what human beings want, and one of the reasons no one wants them is that they are mimics -- many varieties are designed to take advantage of the cultivated originals by becoming so similar that it requires a lot of work and decision-making to pull them up. In this way weedy grasses and fake Gucci bags are identical. Cover versions of songs, tribute albums, and orchestral versions of Beatle tunes are the weeds of the music world. Chicken chow mein is the weed of Chinese food. But that is to denigrate the great dignity of the "original" weeds: nothing is more uplifting on a sunny spring day sitting in a parking lot waiting for someone than to see a flock of dandelions hard at work in some messed up corner.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: MMario
Date: 02 May 00 - 09:40 AM

A weed in one setting can be an important crop plant in another. Covers can take a so-so song and transform it into a masterpiece.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 02 May 00 - 10:24 AM

The gardener at the monastary of St Francis in Assissi was showing a fellow Franciscan Brother around. The brother complemented the gardener on his beautiful garden but wanted to know why there was a large patch that was covered in dandelions, buttercups, stinging nettles and other weeds. The gardener explained that as all things are our brothers and sisters, so are those different plants that we call weeds, our sisters and brothers, and it is only right that they should be given a place to grow and flourish like the rest of us.

LTS

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: Amos
Date: 02 May 00 - 10:35 AM

Weeds don't think of themselves as weeds; the monk was right. If we thought rightly, perhaps we could learn to see through the labels we impose on each other with such judgement, and thus see more flowers.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: Allan C.
Date: 02 May 00 - 10:42 AM

I am always fascinated to discover a small patch of daffodils thriving on a patch of otherwise neglected land. The thing which makes the property appear to be neglected is the overwhelming presence of weeds. Within that context, the daffodils seem so very foreign. They are the only remaining, readily visible evidence that there was probably a home standing nearby long ago. It reminds me that the beauty we bring to a place often remains long after we are gone.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: Sorcha
Date: 02 May 00 - 10:51 AM

And, bear firmly in mind that nearly all medicinal herbs are actually classed as "Weeds"........

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 May 00 - 11:11 AM

My neighbours hate my front *lawn*. It is full of dandelions because 1) I used to dig them up, sparingly, to use their roots for tinctures, and 2) because I refuse to poison the earth and them. So...one time, my daughter was talking to a classmate who lived across the street. He told her they call our house "Dandelion Row". I love dandelions and Sorcha is right...*weeds* can have some pretty amazing healing properties!

kat

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: Peter T.
Date: 02 May 00 - 11:57 AM

raises a related question -- anyone here know how to make dandelion wine? -- What do you have to do?
yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: Amos
Date: 02 May 00 - 11:59 AM

Well, if you tease them and threaten them with a weedwhacker it usually works. But most people don't hear it.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: MMario
Date: 02 May 00 - 12:03 PM

The Dandelion was introduced to this continent as a pot-herb, grown in gardens as food. Nettles were also grown deliberatly at times as food. Chicory is another former garden plant that is a "weed" in North America. In fact many of the roadside "weeds" were formerly grown and/or introduced to this continent as garden plants.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 02 May 00 - 01:30 PM

"A weed is a plant that no one has yet found a use for" - I came across someone quoting this the other day, somewhere in the Mudcat threads, I think. I can't remember who's supposed to have said it.

Alternatively, and I thionk more accurately, a weed is any plant in the wrong-place - forexample, "I'm a lonely little petunia in an onion patch", as Gracie Fields used to sing. Selective weedkillers kill all the meadow-flowers, because they are counted as weeds.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: Sorcha
Date: 02 May 00 - 01:43 PM

RE: Dandelion Wine
Possible, but very difficult. You must pick only the flowers, and then pick off ALL of the calyx and anything green. You need about a gallon of the yellow petals ONLY. If anyone feels like doing this, I will post the rest of the directions........

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: JenEllen
Date: 02 May 00 - 02:09 PM

I guess it all depends on your perspective. Without dandelions, how could you 'butter' your chin to see if the person you were thinking of was your true love? And how could you be sure your wish would REALLY come true unless you blew off all the seed-fluff? The dandelion, Nature's Magic8Ball.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: Peg
Date: 02 May 00 - 02:41 PM

i thought the butter trick was only with buttercups??

My dad used to make dandelion wine when I was little...and still eats dandelion greens in spring sometimes...he is not a health nut just likes to do some of these old folky things his father did before him...

peg (who picks nettles and dandelions in spring to eat for healing purposes...but tries to avoid the ones by the roadside...too much auto exhaust...and who has dandelions in her yard she wishes she could use but the damn landlord insists on letting the lawn monkeys--idiot yahoos with South Boston accents who cut my grass--use pesticides and herbicides on my lawn, even after I tried to tell him how poisonous it is...)

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: Night Owl
Date: 02 May 00 - 02:46 PM

Amos....LOL....BUT how do you get them to whimper???? Elle.....here we use Buttercups as well......

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: SDShad
Date: 02 May 00 - 02:53 PM

Lambsquarters and nettles both make marvelous greens. Of course, you probably want to wear gloves to harvest the nettles; cooking them gets rid of the mild poison in the edges of the leaves that make them sting so much.

And thistles, as prickly as they are, smell wonderful. That's weeds for ya...

Shad

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 May 00 - 02:57 PM

Peg, have the fiddleheads come up, yet?

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: MMario
Date: 02 May 00 - 03:01 PM

The summer camp I help at is blessed with a huge lawn on which no pesticides, etc are used. We have, several times, collected salads for the entire group (about a hundred people) from that lawn. Another time the kitchen crew decided to put centerpieces on the tables and used the materials they found around the edges of the lawn. The kids figured this was their appetizer and ate the centerpieces!

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: Peter T.
Date: 02 May 00 - 03:41 PM

Sorcha, please proceed. Suppose I now have a gallon jar filled with dandelion heads. What next?
yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: Peg
Date: 02 May 00 - 03:52 PM

fiddleheads!!!! love 'em...a friend once made cream of fiddlehead soup and oh gosh it was good...come to think of it i have made cream of nettles soup and it was also fabulous...(use a basic cream of spinach or kale recipe; be sure to clean the nettles thoroughly and rinse and blanch them whole before chopping to avoid severe pain)

as for the ferns, i think they may be coming up, i thought i saw some the other day in the suburbs, but have not been to the woods recently enough to see them..they are not in stores yet at any rate...

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 May 00 - 03:55 PM

My brother did this in the 60's, in mom's cellar. Huge crock pots with long, narrow necks, tubes coming out of them, with waxed dripped on the openings and all around the necks to seal it up, bubbling ooze, and over it all, the air was permeated with an odd mixture of cloying sweetness, earthen rot, and the tangy sharpness of sugars breaking down into a supposed elixer! Oh, tasty, just really got the senses in high gear, anticipating a a swish of a bouquet, then a slight sip, mulling it round in the mouth, and, finally a slither down the throat to inite a slight fire in the belly.

Of course, this is only conjecture on my part. I was deemed "too young" to taste it, but my nose told me lots!**BG**

I always thought of dandelion and elderberry wines as something very old Victorian ladies, someone's anuties, sat around and sipped, whilst they fanned themelves, lacy cuffs gently wafting with the wrist action; long, velvety skirts, with high-necked collars and a froth of lace cascading down from their throats completing the image.

Haha, thanks for the images, Peter and Sorcha!

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: Crowhugger
Date: 02 May 00 - 03:59 PM

The fiddleheads in my back yard are a good 10 days past eating. Junior fronds they are now.

CH.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: JenEllen
Date: 02 May 00 - 03:59 PM

No buttercups around here I'm afraid, we have to make do with dandelion pollen.

Sorcha; the dandelion wine sounds divine, please continue.

~Elle

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 May 00 - 07:39 PM

Crowhugger, I suppose the forsythias are long past, then, too? How about dogwoods and magnolias? Ah, I do miss some of the East!

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 02 May 00 - 07:48 PM

Are buttercups and dandelions the same in America as in Europe? Or is it like robins, where the same name is used for a completely different species of bird?

Where I live a few years ago the local council sponsored fundraising planting of daffodils by local groups, so that now for a short time every spring the bursts out into brillint gold and green. Then the daffodils die down - and a few days later, out come the dandelions, and it's like a second coming, they are just as pretty, and they planted thermselves.

Weed shall overcome!

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: JenEllen
Date: 02 May 00 - 08:29 PM

McGrath: Buttercups and dandelions are different here.

There is a meadow up here that is just lovely. The pioneer cemetary at Eden. A woman started planting daffodils about 20 years ago. Just a few a year. But her efforts showed glorious results this spring. This hidden clearing, just plumb full of dancing daffodils.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: Sorcha
Date: 02 May 00 - 08:34 PM

RE Dandelion wine--will finish when I get back in about 10:30 Mudcat time to nite. And I always thought that dandelions were the same in Europe as here, that they were an "import"--lange du chat. About buttercups I don't know.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: catspaw49
Date: 02 May 00 - 08:47 PM

Well, I read this whole thread and, being of Italian heritage and growing up in a strongly Italian town, I kept waiting for the old joke.........never happened.

Italians think of dandelions as the native Americans thought of buffalo. The blooms go to wine, the roots to medicine, and the greens are fine eating!!! And of course the weed is so hardy and determined, it will grow anywhere......all leading to:

Q: How do you get rid of all the Italians (generally told as Dagos) in America?

A: Plant dandelions down the middle of the road.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: Mbo
Date: 02 May 00 - 09:25 PM

'Spaw! You know about ciacotia?

--Mbo

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: Little Neophyte
Date: 02 May 00 - 10:04 PM

I have a story.
I decided it was time to get rid of all the weeds growing along the foundation at the side of my house. So I bought the Weed Killer and poured it along the foundation concrete where the weeds were growing.
I went in to do some laundry and came out to see if the weeds had died. I had no clue how long it took for this weed killer to work. I stood in shock watching the weeds trembling and quivering. I thought, what a horrible way to die. Then I realized all that trembling and quivering was being caused by the dryer vent blowing on the weeds.
Pretty funny hugh?

Little Neo

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: Little Neophyte
Date: 02 May 00 - 11:03 PM

To add to Sorcha and Kat's thoughts on the medicinal properties of weeds...........
I was once told that Spirit put the weeds on this earth because they contain good medicine and no matter how hard we try, we can not get rid of them because Father knows best.

Little Neo

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: Sorcha
Date: 03 May 00 - 12:24 AM

Dandelion wine posted in it's own thread! If you have questions, or want other recipes, PM/e mail me. My best effort was an Elderberry that I forgot for about 5 years, and it turned into Amontiado Sherry! Have never been able to duplicate it, darn.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: JenEllen
Date: 03 May 00 - 01:36 AM

LOL Little Neo and a big hug to yer soft heart! ~Elle

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 03 May 00 - 12:30 PM

So if dandelions in America and Europe are different plants, what are the implications of that for recipes for dandelion wine?

This is just another example of how the NMudcat throws up odd little insights into the odd quirky differences (like the other day iot revealed that Americans don't have what we call digestive biscuits).

In the context of this thread I started speculating what pkants that we'd think of as flowers, and others would think about as weeds. Rather a lot I would think.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 03 May 00 - 12:40 PM

And here is a link to a relevant song - with a midi of the tune (and lots of other tunes and words, if you dig around in the site -- seems an interesting one that I just found through WebFerret<)

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: MMario
Date: 03 May 00 - 12:46 PM

dandelions in America and Europe are the same plants, but buttercups are different. In fact, "buttercups" are frequently different from area to area. It is evidently one of the more common names for a yellow flower....

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: katlaughing
Date: 03 May 00 - 03:57 PM

The buttercups that we planted when I was a kid, were low to the ground, came in clusters of yellow flowers with dense petals, each flower head about an inch or so across, briiliant colour. Just love them.

Kevin, when I was offered digestive biscuits in the home of an English classical pianist who taught at University of Massachusetts, they reminded me of what we call graham crackers. Very tasty dipped in milk or with melted chocolate drizzled all over them.

Here's a great page of photos of dandelions in various stages of flowering. Take a look and let us know if they look the same as yours, okay, Kevin?

Here is one of a wild buttercup, which is taller and single-petaled rather than multi like the ones I mentioned.

I am going to start a thread on flowers, so we can do some more comparisons. Be sure to check it out, as I will start it with a link to one of my favourite botanic gardens at Smith College, in Massachusetts.

kat

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 03 May 00 - 06:00 PM

Well, the dandelion looks the same, so the wine problem seems solved.

The buttercup isn't the same as ours - MMario right I reckon, about various plants beinfg given the name - here is an Austirlian buttercup I found while lookin for a picture of one of ours. And here is what I would call buttercups

Strange,it's like discovering that what someone has been calling green is what you would call red.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: katlaughing
Date: 03 May 00 - 06:13 PM

Kevin, please check the second link you put in. I cannot get it to display, even when I backtrack it to just the base addy to then go seach that site. I relaly would like to see them. You might want to check the other thread and post them there, too.

Thanks,

kat

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 03 May 00 - 06:14 PM

And to stray slightly - here's what I think Americans would call a robin, and here is what I'd call a robin, which I gather is a close relative of the American bluebird.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 03 May 00 - 06:43 PM

The American robin flew off somewhere in that last post. but here he is, I hope

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 2
From: Tony Burns
Date: 03 May 00 - 08:47 PM

A weed is a weed in the eye of the beholder. When I was very young I lived in the country. The fields were filled with 'weeds' that were golden rod. I visited my grandparents in Glasgow in 1956. In their garden they had a hedge of lovingly cultivated golden rod!