Weeds are not on the Menu

It is good to report that we have finally had a little bit of rain over the course of the past couple of weeks.  The rainfall has been extremely spotty.  For example, at my house we had an inch of rain one day and a friend in Blue Rock had three inches the same day.  The following day we had no rain, but others had half an inch.  However isolated the showers have been any rain is a welcome event.  The rewards of the rain are very evident in the vegetable harvest.  Things are really “coming on” now as we like to say.  I have had to expand my market tables just to hold all of the garden goodies.  Even my pitiful green bean crop is showing signs of rejuvenation.  I have a feeling it’s going to be feast or famine with them—the feast coming very soon—so I hope everyone is ready to eat and can beans.

The down side of the increased rainfall is the increase in weed growth.  All season, I feel that the garden plants have been rather stagnant, and in turn, so have the weeds.  I have been able to leisurely keep up with the weeding and hoeing.  Now I can see that I need to get in gear ASAP or the weeds will soon overtake the plants.  Moisture is still at a premium so I can’t let the weeds get ahead of me or they will rob my plants of any desperately needed water that we may receive.

My sister called me a couple of days ago with an update on her garden.  She has a small plot in a community garden in the middle of Marion, Ohio.  Having a job that keeps her on the road frequently, she was quite pleased that she actually had a few things flourishing in her little patch in her absence.  She was complaining about an abundance of Pigweed invading her plot.  I laughed and said she sounded like a true farmer, as I was just complaining of the very same problem on my farm.  She said her saving grace was the fact that the citizens who were sentenced to community service came to the garden and helped with weeding to work off their sentences—a very practical idea, in my opinion.
            Did you know that some weeds are edible?  Probably most people have heard of cooking dandelion greens or dandelion wine.  Another edible weed is purslane, a succulent, which looks similar to the houseplant jade.  It can be eaten fresh in salads.  The same can be said for the weed lamb’s quarters.  In spite of the fact that these are two of the most prominent weeds in my garden, rest assured that I’m not going to show up at market on Saturday with bins full of them for sale.  Instead you will be able to find an abundance of normal vegetables, so here’s a more appealing option (from eatingwell.com).

Roasted Corn with Basil-Vinaigrette

• 3 cups fresh corn kernels
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon minced shallot (or substitute onion or leek)
• 1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 450°. Toss corn and oil to coat and spread out on a large baking sheet. Bake, stirring once, until some kernels begin to brown, about 20 minutes. Combine basil, shallot, vinegar, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Add the corn; toss to coat. Serve warm or cold.