Existential Gardener

Stubborn Sidewalk Weeds Can Be Boiled

     

      Sometimes I can be beyond ruthless and will enter medieval territory.  Hammers to kill flies (lucky shot!), acid (sudsy ammonia) to kill slugs, and now boiling water to kill weeds.  Perhaps I should start at the beginning . . .
      Many years ago I read a piece about the future of pesticides and herbicides.  In a large plow-mounted device, water was boiled and piped to the plowshares.  When sprayed on the earth being turned, the hot water killed bugs, bacteria, viri, plants and seeds.  It ended up being too energy intensive for casual use, and the idea died away.
     That little nugget of info was resurrected this spring as pull resistant weeds took root in the sand between the bricks of our front walk.  We make it a rule to try to stay away from the various -icides, and nothing is really more biodegradable than water.  So on Monday morning, Julie and I boiled many pots of water.
      The results were fantastic.  The boiling water surged into the open cracks and ran along the seams of the walk.  Bugs died in place, not even requiring cleanup of their corpses.  The foliage of the weeds caught in the steamy flood instantly turned the color of perfectly steamed broccoli.  As I continued down the walk, many plants quickly turned brown or black.
     Some hated weeds such as spurge were the first to seem dead.  The stray dandelion instantly turned black, and the spurge turned brown and crisp underfoot.  Only that tough old nemesis, crab grass, stayed stubbornly green.  But after a few hours, it too was turning a grey-brown.
     I felt oddly victorious this morning, striding down our walk, crunching through the destroyed husks of my unworthy opponent.  I won the battle; let's hope I won the war.

*Note:  If attempting this method around plants you want to keep, be very careful.  If you pour the boiling water on any plant, it will probably die.

Portulaca Oleracea: Now Part of the Gourmet "In" Crowd

           It seems that various culinary types have suddenly noticed that one of the weeds that will grow almost anywhere is actually haute cuisine.  Dandelion and purslane (portulaca oleracea) are on the menu at many fine dining establishments, and the diners never recognize the greens they shovel in their mouths as the same plants they poison in their yard, nor as the weeds they trod upon growing in the cracks of the sidewalk.
     The funny part is how nutritious these plants are.  Purslane has one of the highest levels of omega-3's of any land based, leafy vegetable.  Other compounds they contain are not only anti-oxidants, but also anti-mutagenics.  Rounding out the mix are A, B, and C vitamins along with minerals like Mg, Ca, K, and Fe.
      Purslane is easily used in the kitchen as it may be eaten raw, as a salad or a burger topping.  They are also good boiled, stir fried, or even chopped up in soups and stews. I have even heard of (but not sure I'm quite ready to try it), pickling the seed pods to use a caper substitute.  The seeds (and there will be plenty) can be sprinkled like poppy seeds or scattered about to grow again.
      Growing purslane certainly doesn't take much work.  Scatter seeds and pull the plants up where you don't want them to grow.  Every time you pick some, wrap it in newspaper before you leave that area of your garden, as you will otherwise trail purslane seedlings to your backdoor.  The best part about purslane:  it doesn't care about the soil.  If it's in dirt, it's happy.   The purslane in our own garden (below) is already starting to grow.  We are digging up the little plants and moving them to their own bed.  The neighbors think we are crazy, but that's nothing new.  We also broke down and purchased some purslane at the nursery (pictured at top) for comparison.  Because it's a member of the succulent family, we plan on enjoying purslane throughout the driest days of summer.