[MPWG] eat the weeds

[Center for Sustainable Resources]

All of this goes back to the problem with labeling to generate political 
action on natural syatems. It does not work and does not fit. Weed, 
invasive, allien,takes over are all terms used by people to describe 
something they don't want or something they have been told is bad. I prefer 
unwanted plants since it ius well within good practices to want less of some 
plants and more of others. That is managment. You may manage conditions to 
produce stilt grass. I prefer to manage conditions to produce ginseng. Thay 
are both legitimate and within your rights as a land manager. If we continue 
to permit this process of making plants evil we will end up with a policed 
system where by a government agency is trying to tell you what plants you 
are allowed to have on your property.
As a gardener, we all know the best gardens are also the ones that produce a 
lot of weeds. I would not choose a garden site without weeds. If you don't 
have good weeds you are not going to have good fruits and veggies. It all 
comes back to the soil. Protect the biodiversity of the soil and you will be 
able to manipulate what you want out of that soil. Fred Hays

>From: pankaj oudhia <pankajoudhia at yahoo.com>
>To: MPWG at lists.plantconservation.org
>Subject: RE: [MPWG] eat the weeds
>Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 15:32:52 +0000 (GMT)
>
>Hi Bob,
>      If corn is weed in soybean fields and a crop in monoculture then why 
>we have declared some plants as obnoxious weeds for whole territory or 
>country?
>
>When any plant comes in the category of weeds all doors are closed for its 
>return to the list of useful plants. Why it is so? Are we having any 
>example when any weed has been included in the category of useful plant  
>after the discovery of its useful properties.
>
>regards
>Pankaj Oudhia
>
>
>Bob Beyfuss <rlb14 at cornell.edu> wrote:
>Hi Fred
>In the big picture I agree with you completely, humans in North American
>are pretty invasive weeds themselves! As you know nature abhors a vacuum
>and plants will fill it quickly. Human or natural disturbances create the
>opportunities. I think Ben Franklin defined a weed as "a plant whose
>virtues have yet to be discovered"! In the short term "human centric"
>picture however, I have to disagree. We have always chosen plants we find
>useful regardless of their origin. 90% of our US food supply is derived
>from "exotic" plants and animals, including such "American" staples as
>sweet apples and beef cattle. When we manipulate an environment for our own
>purposes, WE decide what are weeds and what are not. Corn is a highly
>edible plant but "volunteer" corn growing in a soybean field is a weed.
>Kudzu was first introduced as both an erosion control plant and a food crop
>for cattle. It is actually highly nutritious. I don't necessarily believe
>that "native" is superior to "exotic". Indeed, I find that a rather fascist
>concept. As the self appointed steward of the land I temporarily own I
>decide what plants I want growing on it. Plants that I consider undesirable
>will be removed, including my native poison ivy. There is often a
>significant lag time between when a plant or for that matter an insect pest
>is introduced into a new area and when it actually become naturalized.
>Gypsy moths and the hemlock wooly adelgid in Asia do not cause the massive
>defoliation and havoc they wreck in the Northeastern U.S. In time, they
>will cease to cause such havoc but for my lifetime and probably my
>children's lifetime, they will. Humans have manipulated ecosystems for
>their own purposes since fire was domesticated. Eliminating invasive
>plants from a landscape is not much different than weeding your vegetable
>garden. So what does this have to do with medicinal plants? (I can hear
>Patricia yawning right about now) Actually, quite a lot. If a plant in
>India is identified as medicinal but has the potential to grow like Kudzu,
>I don't want my neighbor planting it next to my property regardless of its
>virtues.
>Bob
>
>is At 04:21 PM 2/2/2005 -0900, you wrote:
> >Bob, I have to disagree with with your statement about concern over using
> >unwanted plants that you refer to as "invasive". Actually that is what
> >needs to happen and will eventually happen with all of these plants at
> >some point. They will become useful. If you go back far enough 
>eliminating
> >plants viewed as invasive at some point there would be no plants in north
> >america. Lets not discriminate also. We need to get rid of apples, brown
> >trout, tomatoes, cabbage, and on and on. What we are really talking about
> >is a political system applied to nature that puts political timelines on
> >species which have always moved about with or without mans help. When
> >plants first arrive on new land they become dense monocultures and can at
> >first cause havic. Eventually they come under control and just add to the
> >biodiversity. If you really think about it you will realize that is true.
> >Nature finds ways to bring things back into line.
> >As a knifemaker I use all sorts of materials and my favorite is 
>multiflora
> >rose. This past weekend I sold three hunting knives with multiflora 
>grips.
> >It is a truly beautiful wood with exotic grain and it is very hard. I am
> >running out on this farm between this use and the fact that both cattle
> >and goats eat it. It is very high in protein as a forage. The deer like 
>it
> >also. It helps as successional plants in old fields returning to forest
> >and then it gets shaded out as the canopy develops. These do gooders will
> >do far more harm and waste a lot of time and money killing such plants
> >than any harm it could ever cause. The problem with the presence of too
> >many of any kind of plant has more to do with poor land management than
> >anything. As a certified educator of Holistic Resource Management certain
> >principles apply that are unchanged over the eons. The way these plants
> >behave is nothing new. Fred Hays
> >
> >>From: Bob Beyfuss
> >>To: MPWG at lists.plantconservation.org
> >>Subject: [MPWG] eat the weeds
> >>Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2005 16:40:45 -0500
> >>
> >>I think eating weeds is a good idea, many of them are far more 
>nutritious
> >>than their cultivated counterparts, i.e. dandelion. I will send her lots
> >>of recipes from an Extension bulletin I wrote in 1977. I am not so sure
> >>publishing recipes for invasive plants is a good idea. The reason we 
>have
> >>some of these plants today is because they were purposely introduced as
> >>food crops for us or cattle, i.e., Kudzu. As recently as last year I saw
> >>garlic mustard seed for sale in a catalogue as an edible green.
> >>Bob
> >>
> >>
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>Disclaimer
>Any advice given on this list regarding diagnosis or treatments etc. 
>reflects ONLY the opinion of the individual who posts the message. The 
>information contained in posts is not intended nor implied to be a 
>substitute for professional medical advice relative to your specific 
>medical condition or question. All medical and other healthcare information 
>that is discussed on this list should be carefully reviewed by the 
>individual reader and their qualified healthcare professional. Posts do not 
>reflect any official opinions or positions of the Plant Conservation 
>Alliance.