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Where the wild things grow
Jul. 21st, 2006 12:18 pmOn Wednesday, Lincoln got to 108 degrees f. Right now it is 61 degrees F--that's a 47 degree temperature shift for those of you playing along at home. Life on the Great Plains may be many things, but the weather is never boring.
It's raining was well, which pleases the gardener in me. But the shift in pressure is probably what gave me yesterday's sinus headache, which caused me to miss my L5R rpg game. Bummer.
But, since it is rainy and cooler tonight I'll be able to plant the purslane I've rooted. Purslane is one of a number of wild plants I've wanted to try eating, but the only good stands of it I can find are in parking lots. Do you want to eat something that was growing in a parking lot? I didn't think so. But while rereading Wild Seasons (Kay Young, Bison books) a few weeks back I noticed the author's claim that purslane was easy to root, which means that you can collect some stems from wild plants and cultivate them in your garden. With this in mind I picked some stems from a fat-leaved specimen growing in one of the hell-strips at work and threw them into a bowl of water at home. They all have glisteny white roots growing out of them now, so I need to plant them out before they start pining away from lack of sunlight.
It may seem a little odd to invest time in trying to grow a wild plant in your garden, but purslane self-sows and is untroubled by drought and poor soil. If I can get it established, I'll have a perpetual source of gourmet greens that require no further effort on my part. Does gardening get better than that?
It's raining was well, which pleases the gardener in me. But the shift in pressure is probably what gave me yesterday's sinus headache, which caused me to miss my L5R rpg game. Bummer.
But, since it is rainy and cooler tonight I'll be able to plant the purslane I've rooted. Purslane is one of a number of wild plants I've wanted to try eating, but the only good stands of it I can find are in parking lots. Do you want to eat something that was growing in a parking lot? I didn't think so. But while rereading Wild Seasons (Kay Young, Bison books) a few weeks back I noticed the author's claim that purslane was easy to root, which means that you can collect some stems from wild plants and cultivate them in your garden. With this in mind I picked some stems from a fat-leaved specimen growing in one of the hell-strips at work and threw them into a bowl of water at home. They all have glisteny white roots growing out of them now, so I need to plant them out before they start pining away from lack of sunlight.
It may seem a little odd to invest time in trying to grow a wild plant in your garden, but purslane self-sows and is untroubled by drought and poor soil. If I can get it established, I'll have a perpetual source of gourmet greens that require no further effort on my part. Does gardening get better than that?
