Just some thoughts on the lawn issues in this thread:
Clover used to be intentionally added to lawn seed mixes for its nitrogen fixing properties. After WWII the expanding use of herbicides on lawns eliminated the clover, creating a market (need) for the fertilizer that we are exhorted to put on our lawns each spring. So now we view clover as a weed and want a perpetually green, monoculture lawn and greatly stress our lawns in the process by over-feeding them and feeding them at the wrong time, making them more succeptible to pests and diseases. Then we go out and buy more chemicals from the same companies to treat the problems created.
Crabgrass is an annual and begins again from seed each spring. Corn gluten, if put down in early to mid March, prevents crabgrass seeds from germinating (as well as the seeds of many other weeds). Since it is a protein it contains nitrogen. As it breaks down in the soil it gradually releases this nitrogen and feeds the lawn without the repercussions of the stress of a sudden, strong shot of soluble nitrogen like the standard lawn fertilizers give. Corn gluten is rather expensive, but it goes a long way and is a 2 in 1 product, and unlike herbicides, is non-toxic.
Violet leaves make excellent greens for any salad, and are quite high in vitamins. Thinking of removing them as "harvesting" makes the activity seem less of a chore.
WHAT is digging up our (brown) lawn???
Ahhh--David---
Slowly but surely--my front lawn is being taken over by Clover.....also on the west side of it....
I do NOT know where it came from...I used to have just wonderful, green grass....
I have been contemplating on how to kill it....But--at the same time I know it is pretty OK to have it...
I am just fixated on an all-grass lawn...Tha "All American lawn".....
I also have Crabgrass invading on the medium and the west side...
The medium--because BG&E dug it all up to lay FIOS cables 3' deep--and then just threw
some el-cheapo top soil and grass seed on it.....The grass all died this Summer (Heat??)....
I sodded over some of the areas, but I still resent them digging up my GOOD soil--and
exposing all the sub soil on top, which is NOT conductive to lawn grasses.
I like a good lawn!!! I do not like any other grasses and weeds in it. Sorry!
I work hard at keeping my small lawn as perfect as i can.....It takes a lot of work!
Not sure what to do with the Clover next year........
Gita
Oh my..............dandelion leaves are dandy salad greens in the early spring. They mix nicely with plantain leaves that are really wild spinach. The dandelion roots when dried make a really good imitation coffee without the caffeine. Clover leaves and tender flowers may be tossed in with all of the above. If I did not have some of the above in my lawn the Month of March and April would just be a ho hum situation. When an occasional morel fungi appears we have a celebration with super yard salads. That's what our kids used to call them.
I'm not inviting Gita for our yard salads. She would likely turn green discovering where the greens came from. Ha! In my good lawn you are likely standing on enough good greens to actually survive even if that was all you had to eat. If I have to eat grass I want some diversity to go with it.
Now--Now--Doc....
I am willing to try and to eat anything.....as long as someone assures me that it is edible...
and fixes it for me the right way-----BUT-----
Am I going to start foraging on my lawn for a salad? Not likely....as I am NOT 100% sure what
is safe to eat and what is not....Besides--I use lawn fertilizers in the Spring....the only time.
I keep up with all the organic stuff--I just don't partake in it...
I lead an organic, recycle everything life....IF I can--I go organic--but I do not go too
far out of my way to adhere to it....Like--I use ALL the "Tones" for garden fertilizing.
As far as lawns go----I used to have Lawn Service for about 15 years.....
First the junky one (not naming anyone)--then an organic, better one. BUT--at $45 per application--and they
only spent 5 or so minutes doing it--I thought it was time to do it myself....
The clincher was when they went to these motorized spreaders---like scooters---NOT making
sure they covered every area....I complained and they went back to the hand-spreaders...
Still--at $45 per application--I, reluctantly, dropped them.
I started buying Bayer products (at "Good Stuff Cheap"---$10 for a 15K bag) and
fertilized my own lawn in the Spring....I have never had a better lawn--till all this digging up
by Verizon and all the Crab Grass as a result of it. Will tackle that in the Spring with
pre-emergence stuff....
Not still sure where the Clover came from????? I can live with it--but it is considered a weed....
Gita
Hey David and Doc, I'm with you! Or , is that Euwell as in "Stalking the Wild Asparagus" Lol!
Haven't had a lawn for over 25 years here, not enough sun here to support one. Alas, no super yard salads either. But I wouldn't trade my large oak trees shading my woodsy camp site yard for anything!
Annapolis, Md. is a lovely area. I could be tempted to move in and stay awhile allowing for how much I love those Blue Claw Crabs and all the water that supports them. I have heard that if you do not open any beer or wine one can loose weight feasting out on Blue Claw Crabs. Even worse I hear you could die of starvation right at the newspaper covered table.
To my thinking..............what a way to go. LOL Absolute manna is flounder stuffed with crab meat both caught the same day.
Dandelions are also good for making wine, the blooms that is. Growing up on the eastern shore of MD we had crabs a lot in fact with my father being a commercial fisherman we had fresh fish and crabs on a regular basis. I still cant find any place that can make's crab cakes like they do back home. I don't care if they do stay MD crab cakes on the menu.
My father use to make wine out of dandelions, wild grapes, wild rose's,dew berry, and some other berry that grew on a tree out front. We would go to a neighbors just to gather the blooms off all there dandelions and bring them home for our father. The roses grew on the bank and we would gather all the blooms. I use to make jelly out of the wild grapes and the black berry's that grew everywhere. Our father also told us about nutgrass, when you pull it up it has these nut like pods on their roots. Those you can eat.So lets see. a nice dandelion salad with nut grass pods,and wild grapes. The dressing will be,dewberry juice with some ground up rose petals.
Marie---
I have had dandelion wine--once! It was strong and pungent---but with every little sip--
I thought it was quite OK....had to get used to it...VERY different from the el-cheapo wines I drink....
The recipe I use for Crab cakes came from Southern MD.
Found it in our Newspaper once. It was called--"Mrs. Fahrling's Crab cakes"....
Whipped egg whites--Mayo--Mustard..Day-old bread bits and crab meat....That's all...
I have added, on my own, a bit of Old Bay Seasoning. Then just fry them in oil.
Pretty good!
Do you have the recipe for your father used? Could you share it? Do you use it?
Gita
Gitagal,
I am sorry no I do not. But I use about the same as you do, I don't add to much bread crumbs though. I do love Old Bay in mine too. I like the taste of the crab meat, in fact I have to try and not eat the crab meat as I am making the cakes.
Holly loves the way I pick crab. I pick 10 or so and feast, then start picking for the freezer. Last time I put a pound or so away. I just used it the other night to make us penne pasta with crab alfredo, had almost as much crab as pasta. We usually crab when we go to North Carolina, Josh keeps an old row boat and 3 crab pots there that we set in Albemarle Sound. We probably had about a bushel last time we were there. I absolutely love dandelion greens with an Amish sweet and sour sauce with bacon bits. You could harvest a pretty good salad from our yard. I try and control most of the weeds by hand, digging out rooted weeds and scratching out clumps of crab grass and reseeding those areas. I do need to retreat with BT, it's been 15 or more years since I did. I do use mole chasers, which work but are limited in their range.Well I'm getting carried away here and gotta' run. Ric