Crab Grass, Not so bad after all.

 

Welcome back to the Lost In the Farmer’s Market Blog. At the current time we have a long-running series that covers useful, edible and medicinal ‘weeds’ that you can commonly find in the southeastern states of the United States. While our survey area is just within Cumberland County North Carolina it’ is possible you can find some of these forage plants in other places. This series was begun to give folks a detailed look into the resources they might not have known were right there in their lawn. Given that the world situation is not that great and there are already shortages of critical grains and fertilizers forage foods may be the most useful answer on a local level. LITFM will keep this series going as long as we keep finding wild resources to photograph and write about. If you have any questions or comments about our articles please leave a comment either here or on our YouTube Channel (The link is at the end of the article). Thank you for reading, and remember just one thing, you can’t eat lawn grass.

 

 

This is your typical Southern Crabgrass plant.

 

Common Name: Southern Crabgrass

 

Other Common Names: Tropical finger-grass, Tropical Crabgrass, Summer Grass.

 

Botanical Family: Poaceae (The Grass Family)

 

Botanical Latin Name: Digitaria ciliaris

 

Season to Harvest:  Harvest the seeds in fall after a frost has hit.

 

Habitat:  While this grass may have originated somewhere in Asia it has spread all over the world and is only confined to the tropical belt of the planet. It is an invasive species that can crowd out native species due to its ability to form a mat-like layer of stoloniferous growth and its production of seed. Crab Grass is an easy plant to find, it will appear in lawns, gardens, potted plants, old fields, by the roadside and waste places.

 

Parts to Harvest: Young tender leaves and the seeds. Avoid any crab grass with purple or black mold on it.

 

Poisonous Lookalikes: None.

 

Related Edible Species: Digitaria sanguinalis - Large Crabgrass

 

Description: Crab grass is a summer annual with a tufted or prostrate and spreading manner because its stem internodes can root where they touch soil.  The leave blade is often longer than 2 inches when mature and usually a bit hairy on all surfaces.

 

Recipe: So it seems that Crabgrass was intentionally brought to the USA around 1849, and was intended as forage for Cattle, Sheep, Hogs and horses. When the Department of Agriculture was formed they attempted to make it a main agricultural crop. However Wheat and Corn, both of which are also grasses became popular because they were easier to grow and thus more profitable and Crabgrass became a weed.  It is noted in several credible places online that you can make decent quality paper out of the fibers contained in Crabgrass. Additionally you can make flour out of crabgrass seeds which then can be used with regular flour at a 50-50 ratio in normal baking recipes.

 

 

With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but by booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog.  In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the Hours of 8:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.

 

 

For those of you wondering what plants are going to be at the market this weekend here is the list.

 

Fresh Produce:

Garlic Bulbs

Soup Kit – Parsnip

Soup Kit – Turnip

 

 

Garden Stuff: ($1.00) Last Chance Sale!

Cauliflower – Snow Crown

Cauliflower – Flame Star

Celery - Tango

Collards – Green Glaze

Kale – Ragged Jack

Mustard – Japanese Red Giant

 

 

Coming Soon:

House Plants (November 25^th!)

 

 

How to stay in Contact with Us!

 

Our group’s online presence has migrated to Nextdoor.com. All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.

 

Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville

 

Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:

The Videos: Look Here

>Newest videos (1): Field/Cowpeas

 

Meetings still going on! We now meet at LeClair’s General Store on the First and Third Thursday of every month. Our next meeting is on December 1^st between 5:30pm and 7:00pm. We are in the back room so come on in and join us for a fun garden chat.

Bitter Sneezeweed, a elegant weed.

 

Welcome back to the Lost In the Farmer’s Market Blog. At the current time we have a long-running series that covers useful, edible and medicinal ‘weeds’ that you can commonly find in the southeastern states of the United States. While our survey area is just within Cumberland County North Carolina it’ is possible you can find some of these forage plants in other places. This series was begun to give folks a detailed look into the resources they might not have known were right there in their lawn. Given that the world situation is not that great and there are already shortages of critical grains and fertilizers forage foods may be the most useful answer on a local level. LITFM will keep this series going as long as we keep finding wild resources to photograph and write about. If you have any questions or comments about our articles please leave a comment either here or on our YouTube Channel (The link is at the end of the article). Thank you for reading, and remember just one thing, you can’t eat lawn grass.

 

 

 

This lovely specimen was found at the Fayetteville border.

This small specimen demonstrates that plants less than a inch tall still can bloom. Bitter Sneezeweed only reproduces by seed which makes this a clever ability.

Practically hidden amongst other lawn weeds Bitter Sneezeweed can go unnoticed.

This specimen was the largest I spotted while snapping photos. It's a pretty weed that's for sure.

 

 

Common Name: Bitter Sneezeweed

 

Other Common Names: Yellow Sneezeweed, Fiveleaf Sneezeweed and, Yellowdicks (LOL!).

 

Botanical Family: Asteraceae (The Daisy Family)

 

Botanical Latin Name: Helenium amarum var. amarum

 

Season to Harvest:  Cut flowers in summer.

 

Habitat:  Bitter Sneezeweed is a native plant that originated in the south-central united states, specifically Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma. It is also native to parts of Northern Mexico but has spread to the southeastern United States and other places as an introduced species. Bitter Sneeze weed is a fairly common and opportunistic plant that appears readily in open fields, by the roadside, and in waste places, it also tends to appear in places with sandy soils. The plant’s preference for sandy soils means that you might find it anywhere in the Sandhills region of North Carolina.

 

Parts to Harvest: None, this plant is inedible. It can poison livestock.

 

Poisonous Lookalikes: None.

 

Related Edible Species: Helenium amarum var. badium

 

Description: Bitter Sneezeweed is a warm-season annual with an upright growth pattern. If not in an area with regular foot traffic or if it is not mowed it will become bushy.  Bitter Sneezeweed can get as tall as 28”. The leaves on this plant are narrow and thread like and it bears a medium green color and a bit of a sparkle as if the plant’s leaves are succulent. Additionally despite being an annual Bitter Sneezeweed has a strong taproot that can go fairly deep allowing it to fin moisture that might otherwise be unavailable to other plants.

The plant freely branches and its stems may have a purplish color to them. Overall this plant looks a lot like Chamomile and its foliage might smell a bit like chamomile but, its flowers are a solid golden yellow color and the two plants are not directly related.

 

Recipe:  No recipe this plant is inedible and if cultivated it is a pure native ornamental and pollinator attraction.

 

 

 

With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but by booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog.  In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the Hours of 8:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.

 

 

For those of you wondering what plants are going to be at the market this weekend here is the list.

 

Fresh Produce:

Garlic Bulbs

Soup Kit – Parsnip

Soup Kit – Turnip

 

 

Garden Stuff: ($2.00) ON SALE!

Cauliflower – Snow Crown

Cauliflower – Flame Star

Celery - Tango

Collards – Green Glaze

Kale – Ragged Jack

Mustard – Japanese Red Giant

 

 

Coming Soon:

House Plants (November the 25^th!)

 

 

 

How to stay in Contact with Us!

 

Our group’s online presence has migrated to Nextdoor.com. All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.

 

Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville

 

Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:

The Videos: Look Here

>Newest videos (2): A Intermission, Harvesting Okra seed.

 

Meetings still going on! We now meet at LeClair’s General Store on the First and Third Thursday of every month. Our next meeting is on November 17^th  between 5:30pm and 7:00pm. We are in the back room so come on in and join us for a fun garden chat.

Here comes Elvis Pusley!

 

Welcome back to the Lost In the Farmer’s Market Blog. At the current time we have a long-running series that covers useful, edible and medicinal ‘weeds’ that you can commonly find in the southeastern states of the United States. While our survey area is just within Cumberland County North Carolina it’ is possible you can find some of these forage plants in other places. This series was begun to give folks a detailed look into the resources they might not have known were right there in their lawn. Given that the world situation is not that great and there are already shortages of critical grains and fertilizers forage foods may be the most useful answer on a local level. LITFM will keep this series going as long as we keep finding wild resources to photograph and write about. If you have any questions or comments about our articles please leave a comment either here or on our YouTube Channel (The link is at the end of the article). Thank you for reading, and remember just one thing, you can’t eat lawn grass.

 

 

 

 

This specimen is showing a mutation which produces unusual coloration, it might be a virus driven mutation.

This is typically what you might find in the field.

These plants are found wherever there is sand.

 

 

Common Name: Pusley

 

Other Common Names: Florida Pusley, Rough Mexican Clover

 

Botanical Family: Rubiaceae (The Coffee Family)

 

Botanical Latin Name: Richardia scabra

 

Season to Harvest:  Summer.

 

Habitat:  Pusley prefers sandy soils and can be found in cultivated fields, sandy savannahs, grasslands, on roadsides and in lawns as well as in waste areas.

 

Parts to Harvest: The root and the, leaves.

 

Poisonous Lookalikes: None Known.

 

Related Edible Species: Richardia grandiflora, Largeflower Pusley.

 

Description: Pusley is a prostrate spreading summer annual with branching but hair stems and semi-succulent leaves. Pusley leaves are borne in a opposite pather and are usually oval to elliptical shaped. Its flowers are tubular, white and have six petals. Pusley flowers are clustered at the tips of branches.

 

Recipe: Pusley is not edible in a food sense but it is useful in two other ways. The root of this plant has been used as a substitute for Ipecac. It is referred to as ‘white’ ipecac, it does not contain more than 6% of the active ingredient needed to induce vomiting. It is known that these compounds can have a potentially violent irritant action on the gastric and bronchial systems possibly lowering fevers and preventing cyst formation in amoebic dysentery.

 

If that doesn’t suit your fancy, these plants are pretty good at holding soil in place and their leaves make for an excellent green manure if chopped up.

 

 

 

With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but by booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog.  In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the Hours of 8:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.

 

 

For those of you wondering what plants are going to be at the market this weekend here is the list.

 

Fresh Produce:

Garlic Bulbs

Soup Kit – Parsnip

Soup Kit – Turnip

 

 

Garden Stuff: ($3.00)

Brussel Sprouts - Redarling

Cauliflower – Snow Crown

Cauliflower – Flame Star

Cauliflower – Veronica

Celery - Tango

Cilantro – Vietnamese

Collards – Green Glaze

Kale – Ragged Jack

Kale - Redbor

Hoan Ngoc

Mustard – Japanese Red Giant

Pak Choi – Rose’

 

 

Coming Soon:

House Plants (November-ish)

 

 

 

How to stay in Contact with Us!

 

Our group’s online presence has migrated to Nextdoor.com. All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.

 

Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville

 

Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:

The Videos: Look Here

>Newest videos (2): Dragon’s Breath Celosia (Before), Dragon’s Breath Celosia (After).

 

Meetings still going on! We now meet at LeClair’s General Store on the First and Third Thursday of every month. Our next meeting is on November 17^th  between 5:30pm and 7:00pm. We are in the back room so come on in and join us for a fun garden chat.