On The Wild Side

Christine Schoene Maccabee

The Joy of Weeding

There is a small, but growing, movement in the world of people, who we will call “ultra-organic gardeners.” This term is not my own invention, but as defined in my excellent book called The Natural Garden Book. Ultra-organic gardeners tolerate “weeds,” use no chemicals whatever, and are generous with patches of wild habitat in-between cultivated plots. This method, also known as permaculture, has actually been employed naturally by many indigenous cultures around the world since the beginning of time until, sadly, in more recent times, large agrochemical companies convinced many of them of a “better way.” For those of us who work quietly with the earth, who frequently find ourselves in the prayer position, and whose pant legs are holey in the knees, garden magic is most fully revealed. When I first came to my mountain valley home, getting to know all the wild plants that were already here was of critical importance to me. My interest in wild herbs and wild edibles was well established in my psyche over my lifetime, so I knew many of the plants by name and knew their uses. As well, I knew that habitat for bees and butterflies and other pollinators was being destroyed daily by development, so I made it my mission to explore and preserve as much as possible on my eleven acres. I am learning that it is possible to work cooperatively with most of the plants already in my soil. They are all there just waiting to be recognized. Every year, my daughter and I eagerly await spring so as to pick violet leaves and flowers, high in vitamin C, to put in our salads. We add edible chickweed, which is delicious, to the salad as well, and give it permission to grow in out-of-the-way places and frequently right in the cold frame. From the cold frame, I get full salads every day, consisting of spinach, lettuce, tah tsai (mustard family), and kale. However, it is in my main garden where the magic really begins. Over the years, I have rescued Canadian asters and wild Bergamot from being mowed along the sides of back roads, transplanting them into my gardens, and there they still reside in islands between my many vegetable beds. When they bloom in summertime, bees and butterflies are drawn to them like a magnet, as well as the hummingbirds and hummingbird moths (ever see one?). These pollinators then pollinate the flowers of my tomato, potato, green beans, peas, and whatever else I have time to plant as a food crop. I guess you could say we are having a happy symbiotic relationship! I rarely see weeding as a chore anymore. Rather, it is a process of discovery. Wherever I can, I leave a large Queens Ann’s Lace where it planted itself (a non-native, but then so am I), some purple clover wherever I see them (I use their flowers in teas or eat them on the spot), and of course milkweed wherever it comes up. One year, a mullein plant decided to grow in my green bean bed, and instead of moving it to another place—as I sometimes do—I let it grow there, getting fuller and fuzzier as the summer went on. It grew to be nine feet tall! Mullein leaves are excellent in a tea for coughs in the winter; its flowers are food for bees, and its seeds feed small birds in the fall. It is a win-win plant—so many of them are. So, did I read all about this stuff? A little, but mostly I used good ID books to find out what the wild plants were good for, be they simply as food for pollinators, seeds for birds, or medicinals and edibles for human use. I now allow St. John’s wort, vervain, mullein, evening primrose, peppermint, purple clovers, white clovers, chicory, daisy fleabane, a variety of wild asters, golden rods, milkweed, phlox, wild spinach, and many more too innumerable to count, to dwell here with me, within some limits. Some control is needed, but mostly we work cooperatively, to everyone’s benefit. Okay, you say, that is well enough for you, but I just want nice neat rows free of all the weeds…the things I did not plant there. To tell you the truth, I respect that approach, too. I am simply trying to clarify the importance of giving wild plants space to grow in a person’s garden, if they have the space. There is a concern among many naturalists that eventually, much like the languages of small groups of indigenous peoples around the world, many essential wild plants and their value will be exterminated, sadly disappearing forever, unless some of us care enough to get to know them and appreciate their worth and beauty. Due to lack of space in this column, I cannot expound further upon why these plants are so important, but perhaps you might like to, at least, begin to explore these matters more in depth. There are many opportunities to do so available to you, one of which is by coming to my seminar at the Thurmont Regional Library on Wednesday, May 4, 2016, at 6:00 p.m. There are also good books, like The Natural Garden Book by Peter Harper, and ID books so you can explore on your own . This year, enhance your relationship with wild growing things, and as you do, perhaps you too will experience, as I have, the JOY of weeding!