Monday, May 27, 2013

Specimen Spotlight: Sunflower

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)

Field of sunflowers - Source
Sunflowers are well-known by most people. You can often see them in fields that you pass as you drive along. Many people will grow a few in a garden. Let's explore the benefits of these North American natives.
  • Edible - flower buds, petals, seeds, sprouts ← especially tasty!
  • Bird friendly - birds love to perch on sunflowers once the stalks begin to stiffen. They also love to peck out the seeds in late summer and fall. FYI, there will be a lot of sunflowers coming up in that spot in the spring because more seeds tend to fall out than are actually eaten by the birds.
  • Poultry plant - naturally, sunflower seeds are good for chickens and other poultry. Most chickens will eat the seeds straight from the heads. Chickens and ducks will enjoy sunflower starts or the new leaves on larger sunflowers, however, chickens especially tend to turn their beaks up at the larger, older leaves because they are not as tender, as long as they have other alternatives. They also like sunflower petals. Besides food, when many are grown together they provide a shady area for chickens to scratch around or have dust baths. And, when they have grown a few feet, sunflowers are sturdy enough that you do not need to worry about poultry damaging them.
  • Rabbit friendly - rabbits like to chew on the shells and eat the seeds. They will also eat the young plants if they do not have access to much in the way of green plants, but it is best to not let them eat too many
  • Wind break - especially great when you need a wind break now and not in ten years, although do not expect it to do as much as a wind break using trees. However, it does an admirable job of protecting small shrubs and herbaceous plants. Sunflowers work especially well if you are able to plant them on an elevated location, thus increasing their effective height and, in consequence, their ability to block the wind.
  • Green manure - this refers to a cover crop that is grown with the intent of being used also as a means of adding fertility to the soil via decomposing plant material. Sepp Holzer includes sunflowers as one of the species in a list of good green manure plants because of the large amount of leaves in a relatively short time.
  • Slope stabilization - used in a mix of other plants to improve steep slopes' ability to remain in place and absorb moisture during rainfall, thus preventing erosion and soil fertility loss.
  • Honey plant - bees like sunflowers because they provide a lot of good pollen and nectar, and the resulting honey is reputed to be quite delicious
  • Insectary - not just bees like sunflowers. I have seen many different types of insects stopping by the sunflower snack bar. Lacewings and parasitic wasps are also known to be frequent visitors of blooming sunflowers.
  • Sun trap - when organized in a U-shape with the open end facing south, you can create a sun trap as a means of creating a warm microclimate inside the U.
  • Nutrient accumulator - sunflowers will find trace amounts of calcium, manganese, copper, and zinc in the earth and then store these minerals in their leaves. When the leaves die and decompose, the minerals become readily available to other plants.
  • Mulch maker - the leaves and thin stalks are especially good as mulch
  • Medicinal
  • Flowers! - besides fresh flowers, you can also dry the flowers for decorative uses
  • Poles - last year's sunflower "trunks" work great as tipi trellis poles
  • Drought tolerant - when well established
  • Full sun - um, yeah, sunflower. 'Nuf said.
  • Inner pith - the inside of the stalk is one of the lightest naturally occurring substances and is used for all kinds of things, including life-saving devices
  • Dye - flowers can be used to make a yellow dye. A purple-black dye can be made from the seeds of a certain variety used by the Hopi Native American tribe.
  • Fuel and kindling - when dried, the stalk can be used as fuel for a fire. The resulting ash is high in potassium. The branches and the seed shells are good kindling.
  • Fiber - found in the stalk, it is used to make both paper and fine quality cloth
  • Roots - these can go as much as ten feet deep and also have a significant lateral spread
  • Tall - not all sunflowers are tall - I have one variety that only reaches two feet - but some varieties can get to twelve feet or more in height.
  • Companion - while not friendly towards potatoes or pole beans, sunflowers typically grow very well with cucumbers, melons and corn.
  • Heliotropic? - this means the movement of a plant part in relation to the position of the sun. A common belief is that sunflowers follow the movement of the sun through the sky. While this is true for unopened flower buds, once the flower opens it remains in a fixed location.
  • Phytoremediation and rhizofiltration - these big words mean that sunflowers are used to clean up the environment, such as removing toxins from the soil and harmful bacteria from water. They were even used to clean up Chernobyl and are in use in response to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
  • Latex - some development programs are in place to create a variety of sunflower that can be used to manufacture nonallergenic rubber
  • Allelopath - some varieties exude a substance that deters other plants from growing in the vicinity of the sunflower. I must add, though, that it does not seem to affect much in my garden except potatoes and pole beans.

References

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Saturday, May 25, 2013

Specimen Spotlight: Apple

Apple (Malus domestica)

Malus domestica - Source
The ubiquitous apple tree is actually one of the basic teaching plants used to instruct aspiring permaculturists about plant guilds. The apple tree guild is quite often one of the first guilds explained to help people understand what a plant guild is and how it works. One reason is that so many people are familiar with apple trees. Hopefully the following list will add some new info to your mental database on apple trees.
  • Edible - each cultivar is edible in its own special way, some for cider, some for applesauce, some for apple pie, some for fresh eating, some are multipurpose, etc.
  • Medicinal - both the fruit and the bark are said to have medicinal properties
  • Tree - as an apple matures, especially if it is standard size, it provides more and more of the benefits that most any tree supplies to its vicinity, such as wind protection, vine support, bird refuge, shade, significant leaf litter, weather moderation and microclimate generation, wood for fuel or lumber, and much more. I will repeat some of this in the list, just in case some readers miss the above benefits.
  • Insectary - when blossoms are on
  • Nutrient accumulator - this is common for most trees, as they have significantly larger root systems than other plant types, however apples are especially good at accumulating potassium in their leaves
  • Wildlife habitat - as mentioned, as a tree it tends to be befriended by birds, as well as other wildlife.
  • Fodder - rabbits really like to eat the bark and buds off of pruned branches and twigs
  • Woodworking - apple wood is a hardwood that is fine-grained and is often prized for woodworking projects. It is also a good selection when making tool handles and canes.
  • Fuel - the wood makes an excellent fuel, burning long and even. Apple wood chips also considered as a great wood for smoking meats, making slow-cooked barbecue, or even grilling.
  • Aesthetically appealing - in other words, its pretty, especially when it is covered with blossoms
    Apple tree with blossoms
  • Teeth cleaner - the descriptive word is dentrifice, which means that eating a whole raw apple will actually help clean your teeth and gums as you eat it.
  • Yield - dwarfs and semi-dwarfs typically produce one to two bushels of apples in their third or fourth year. Standard trees produce four to five bushels after five to eight years.
  • Hardiness - different cultivars have different levels of hardiness. There are cultivars for as cold as zone 3 and as warm as zone 8.
  • Storage - they can keep for up to six months in a cool location. Beware to not store them with potatoes, as this causes them to lose their flavor. Also, carrots and potatoes stored with apples will acquire a bitter flavor. Apples store better if wrapped in maple leaves or if the apples come from a tree that was surrounded by a lot of clover.

References

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Friday, May 24, 2013

How to Use Science to Understand Plants

This video, although UK-oriented, is great at providing some good, detailed information about plants and how they function. My whole family watched and enjoyed it.

BBC Two - Gardener's World - The Science of Gardening

Also, go to the episode's web page for a lot more information and explanations.
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Specimen Spotlight: Grape

Grape (Vitis vinifera, V. labrusca)

Grapes! - Source
I certainly hope that you have had the chance to eat grapes some time in your life. If not, you have been missing out. Grapes have been in use for food and ferment for a long, long time. And, like most food crops, they taste best when you can successfully grow your own. I have been blessed to have a city lot that already included a mature grape vine on an arbor when I moved in. However, one seedless green grape is not enough for my family and me, so we have since added five more vines comprising four different cultivars with plans for two more in the near future. What good are grape vines besides providing delicious grapes? Read on and learn.
  • Edible
  • Deciduous vine - provides shade in the summer and lets light through in the winter
  • Drought tolerant - when well established
  • Wet tolerant - can handle long periods of precipitation
  • Light-colors friendly - sets fruit earlier and heavier when grown against a light-colored surface
  • Guild member - nicely fills the vine niche in a plant guild
  • Trellis-needy - wild grapes use trees as trellises to climb up above the canopy cover and get the light they need. While you definitely can send your grapes up a convenient trunk, it makes any type of harvest much more difficult. I recommend using a trellis, arbor, pergola, or similar device over which your grape vine can sprawl above ground. Grapes are also susceptible to many types of mildew and other fungi diseases, so dangling them above ground helps prevent these problems by allowing increased airflow.
  • Shade-maker - as mentioned earlier, grape vines provide great shade. One of my vines turns a pergola into a shady room.
  • Cooler - in the hottest part of summer that shady room is typically fifteen degrees cooler than the non-shaded parts of my yard, due in part to blocking the heat of the sun with broad leaves. However, a great deal of the coolness is created through transpiration, where the grapes loses water through opening in its leaves. This water absorbs heat and carries it away as it evaporates, creating a nice cool environment.
  • Chicken friendly - chickens like grapes: the fruit, the leaves, even the tender new stems and tendrils, so it is best to have an established grape vine with most of the vine up out of the chickens' reach.
  • Manure-lover - grape vines that receive well-rotted manure as a mulch during the growing season and in the fall have shown to consistently produce up to 30% more fruit than other methods.
  • Propagation - easily grown from cuttings about a foot long with a bud near each end that are then planted in soil, burying about two-thirds of the cutting; be sure to water well and keep moist for the first few weeks.
  • Hardiness - grape cultivars vary widely in what winter temperatures they can survive and still produce well the following growing season. Some can reliably handle zone 3 winters, others thrive in zone 7 or 8, and everything in between. Know what zone you are in, what microclimates of which you can take advantage, and research the recommended zones for the grape cultivars you want.
  • Frost tender - grapes are frost tender after the buds begin to swell in the spring. In this area with the varieties that I have my grapes tend to not "wake up" until May, which helps immensely in preventing damage from most of the late frosts.
  • Smaller seedless? - your seedless grapes are typically going to be smaller than commercial growers because they often add synthetic growth regulators to get larger fruit.
  • Is it ripe? - my first year with a grapevine I was unsure of how to tell when the fruit was ripe, made difficult since it produced green grapes. My experience is that a grape is ripe when it tastes good. Don't be afraid to taste-test for ripeness. :-)
  • Harvest - use small scissors or pruners to clip the cluster off while supporting it with the other hand. If you are going to pick a lot of grapes, it is best to do it in the morning when it is cool.
  • Let in the light - let sunlight shine on the fruit clusters to promote ripening and prevent pests that would like nothing better than a sweet snack in a shady spot.
  • Pruning - pretty much everyone that I have ever talked to about grapes says that pruning grapevines is a necessity for good production. Around 90% of the branching stems should be pruned off when the vine is dormant. When you prune, be sure to leave buds because they are where flower clusters (which, hopefully, become sweet, delicious grapes) emerge in the spring.
  • Bird friendly - for some this is not a benefit, but birds really like seedless grapes (there seem to be enough seedless ones around me that they turn their beaks up at grapes with seeds). And they like hiding out in and flitting around in grapevines, especially when the vines are trained over arbors and pergolas.
  • Medicinal
  • Toxic to dogs - so do not let your dogs eat your grapes!
  • Basketry
  • Privacy - use a grapevine on a chain-link fence to make it a little less see-through
  • Dye - yellow, from the leaves
  • Oil - from grape seeds

References

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Thursday, May 23, 2013

Specimen Spotlight: Dandelion

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

Dandelion seeds waiting for a breeze
Everyone has seen and can easily recognize a dandelion flower. The leaves are pretty well-known, too, as are the seed puffs that cause many pristine lawn owners to shiver with fear and/or rage when in the hands of a child. However, the dandelion is one of Mother Nature's potent tools for fixing problem soil. Let's take a look at what this plant can do.
  • Insectary - "Provide a vital source of early pollen for bees and other beneficial insects that feed on garden pests" (Garden Wisdom and Know-How). And it continues to provide nectar and pollen throughout the growing season. And it is a special friend of the much-beloved lady bug, as well as the lacewing, both of which eat up many "problem" bugs.
  • Perennial
  • Reproduces via seeds and root crowns.
  • Low maintenance - as far as plants go, the dictionary definition of low maintenance could read: "See Dandelion." Thrives on neglect.
  • It also thrives on removal attempts because the perfect-green-grass-yard fanatic that tries to dig it out, will, more often than not, leave enough root for the dandelion to grow back, in addition to adding more dandelion seeds into the soil.
  • Thrives on TLC - in the rare occasions that a person decides to grow dandelions intentionally the leaves get enormous! 
  • Nutrient accumulator - one of the best at "mining" a variety of nutrients, it will pull up phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, and silicon.
  • Spike root - loosens up compacted or clay soil and adds organic matter
  • Fodder - chickens and rabbits both enjoy dandelion greens
  • Medicinal
  • Edible
    • It is a decent source of calcium (147 mg/cup cooked)
    • The root, leaves and flowers are all edible and there are many different ways to eat them. The most common use is to use the leaves raw as salad greens. Pick them before the plant flowers to reduce the bitterness.
    • Blanching - covering to prevent sunlight - results in white leaves that are much less prone to being bitter
    • Can be forced to provide greens in the winter. See Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long by Eliot Coleman, pg. 140, for instructions.
    • Will store in the fridge for up to a week
  • Grows fine in most, if not all, soil types, including acid clay.
  • Early colonizer in disturbed areas
  • Old farm texts included dandelion in a cover crop mix to prepare the soil and maximize its fertility
  • Cold frame friendly - can be grown all winter long for the greens when covered in this method

References

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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Specimen Spotlight: Serviceberry

Serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.)

Saskatoon berries and
foliage - Source
Serviceberries provide a nice snack while hiking in the mountains around here where they grow natively. Many people probably have not even thought about the potential gained by including serviceberries in the yard. They start small but can grow into small trees if left to themselves. Here are the other things that I have learned about serviceberries.
  • The fruits, when ripe, are dark purple with a bluish bloom on them that children like to meticulously rub off as a means of entertainment prior to eating. Not that the bloom affects flavor in any way. It is just something that I have noticed many children doing. :-)
  • The birds and other animals like the berries, too. The birds seem to leave them alone until late in winter when other food sources are gone. I don't know if this is because they really do not like them or if the birds know that the berries, albeit somewhat withered, will store on the plant until needed.
  • On that note, the fruit still tastes really good when it ripened fully and then slowly dried out on the branch. In our climate at least, the serviceberry fruit does not go bad when left unpicked. It just dries up, condensing its flavor and sweetness in a pleasant way.
  • The fruit tastes best when the plant has had plenty of moisture, but the plant can handle drought pretty well when it is well established.
  • In the spring, around April or early May, the plants will put on white blossoms that are a great early food source for any insects that may be out looking for a meal.
  • It likes full sun, but I have seen it growing just fine in dappled shade.
  • Pioneers used serviceberries in pies and jam. Native Americans ate them raw, dried like raisins, or as part of their pemmican. Everybody of that time ate them when they had them.
  • The hard serviceberry wood was used almost universally, according to the book Wild Berries of the West, to make arrows, spears, and a myriad of other items.
  • The fruit can be used to make a purple dye.
  • It provides bird habitat and, if you are willing to share, food.
  • It fits the shrub niche nicely when trying to determine what plants to add to a plant guild.
  • Chicken friendly!

References

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Friday, May 17, 2013

Specimen Spotlight: Rhubarb

Rhubarb (Rheum x cultorum)

Rhubarb used to be ubiquitous in backyards across America, providing one part of the strawberry-rhubarb combo used in jams and pie. It is an easy-to-grow perennial that also functions as an ornamental with very large green leaves on long stalks. It is beneficial for more than just making it so one can make great pie. I have listed below a few other roles for rhubarb.
  • Edible - stick with the stalks, the rest should be considered poisonous
    Rhubarb with flower stalks
    Rhubarb with flower stalks
  • Fodder - unlike humans, chickens can eat the leaves with impunity, and love to do so
  • Mulch maker - the huge, soft leaves are great for outdoor carpets
  • Perennial - one of the first plants up in the spring in my yard
  • Insectary - sometimes you end up with a female plant that puts up flower stalks. These stalks are pretty tall and are covered with flowers that insects love.
  • Partial shade to full sun - more likely to be tolerant of some shade when it has the springtime to wake up and grow before being overshadowed by a tree or other deciduous perennial.
  • Propagate by clump division
  • Medicinal - especially the root
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Friday, May 10, 2013

Plant Roles: Nutrient Accumulator

Some plants have the ability to put down deep roots and pull up nutrients into their leaves. These leaves then return the nutrients to the topsoil when they die and decompose, at which point the nutrients are freely available to other plants. Because of their ability to do this, these plants are called nutrient accumulators, accumulating specific nutrients and then releasing them upon decomposition.

Nutrient accumulators are an important facet of a self-fertilizing garden. Necessary nutrients that are missing from the topsoil can be collected and shared out. The nice thing is that these plants' natural abilities and tendencies do all of the work. Many of these plants focus on specific nutrients, so, by determining which nutrients are missing you can determine which plants to add. Once added, these plants will begin to mine for the critical nutrients.

Toby Hemenway, in his book Gaia's Garden, has a list of eighty-four plants that are nutrient accumulators for
Lamb's quarters - Chenopodium album
one or more of a dozen different nutrients. Some are typically considered weeds, such as dandelion, Lamb's quarters, and red root pigweed. Others are well known herbs, like chives, parsley, savory, and fennel. And some are even typically used for their flowers, including flowering dogwood, geranium, marigold, lupine, primrose, and tansy. As you can see, the list of nutrient accumulators covers quite the gamut and includes many multipurpose plants, which is perfect for permaculture.
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Thursday, May 9, 2013

Plant Roles: Insectaries

An insectary is a plant that attracts beneficial insects. Just as we desire to use certain plants to fulfill certain roles, we also want the benefits that come from thousands and thousands of little workers. The best way to invite these helpers to our yards and gardens is to supply them with the pollen and nectar they like to eat.

There are a few that I know of off the top of my head that grow well in Utah County and function well as insectaries. These include yarrow, mint, dandelion, comfrey, sunflower, violets, cosmos, clover, and lobelia.  And, of course, these function best as insectaries when you let them bloom. Hopefully it is obvious why that is so. This list is by no means comprehensive. I have included below three other lists - I am sure that there are many more that can be found in a web search - of plants that make good insectaries.

OrganicGardening.com has a long list of both annual and perennial insectaries. Along with that list, they also include an article about using flower borders as a means of encouraging beneficial insects to hang around your garden beds. They include their top eleven choices for insectaries to use in these beneficial bug flower borders, which I am eager to learn about and probably include in my own yard and gardens.

Going with a similar idea, the USDA's National Agroforestry Center (NAC) recommend using conservation buffers. These conservation buffers are similar to OrganicGardening.com's insectary flower borders in that they should include plants that appeal to beneficial insects. In addition to explaining about conservation buffers, the NAC also has a list of beneficials, what pests they help manage, and which plants those beneficials find particularly inviting. After just glancing through that list, it would seem that plants belonging to the Aster family (Asteraceae) have the most insect appeal and it would be hard to go wrong in adding some species from that family to your insectary collection.

Finally, Mother Earth News online has another list of both annuals and perennials, including some woody plants, that you can go through and use to determine what to add to spruce up your yard and increase your good insect vibes. The list also indicates each plant's scientific name, which is great when you are trying to get a particular plant from a nursery or find the right packet of seeds. Some of the plants even are linked to sources of images and/or more information to help you become more familiar with that particular species. And, at the bottom, is a list of some of the references that were used to generate the list, in case you would like to dive deeper into learning about insectaries and their benefits.
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Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Invasive Plant Species?


Quite unintentionally, I came upon a lengthy discussion based on a couple of blog posts by Sue Reed: http://nativeplantwildlifegarden.com/permacultures-internal-contradiction/ and http://nativeplantwildlifegarden.com/invasive-plants-in-permaculture. The comment sections on these two posts are, not surprisingly, very long with some quite determined language. However, it is a great opportunity to get a lot of resources to study ecology and how plants interact with each other and other organisms. I heartily encourage everyone to read at least some of the comments. Eric Toensmeier and Toby Hemenway even pitched in to share their views. The main back-and-forth is about the use of invasive plant species, specifically within the philosophy of permaculture.

Much of the disagreement came down to the need for, and the total inability to truly have, a specific definition of the term invasive species. Coming up with a definition is so difficult because there are so many variables. And the time length needed to be able to understand all of the effects of plant immigration is, at the very least, in the thousands of years range. Do native species ever count as invasive? Is a plant invasive if it is filling a niche or providing a necessary role?

There are many other questions besides these. In general, the answer to whether a specific species is invasive and if that is a bad thing when viewed from the ecological long-term perspective seems to depend upon which question a person gets hung up on, so to speak, and determines for himself what the line is that everyone else should not cross. And since that is an individual decision, it makes it really hard for there to be a general consensus on what to do and where to stop.

Okay, to sum up, a so-called invasive species will begin arriving in a new area and begin to spread. Over time, typically a few years or less, this new species will begin to displace or kill off a so-called native species, meaning a species that existed in that region for an arbitrary length of time prior to the arrival of the "invasive" species. Sue Reed's question was this: why would permaculturists intentionally plant a known invasive species since that species causes harm to the native ecological balance?

My first thought was that I needed to find out which plants are considered invasive in my area. I could not find a list of invasive plants. There is a USDA-sponsored list of noxious weeds. But noxious weeds are not necessarily invasive plants. The Early Detection and Distribution Mapping System has a list of reportedly invasive plants that are found in Utah County. But even that list comes with a notice that the plants reported as problematic are not necessarily problematic in Utah County, just somewhere in the U.S. That makes the list somewhat less than helpful. So my search has not turned up anything other than the noxious weed list. I am sure that there are species in Utah County that many would call invasive, but I am not able to easily find a list. If you know of a reputable invasive plants list for Utah County, or even the whole state, please provide a link in the comments.

Warning: Blogger is now stepping onto his soap box.

Now, for my opinion on the matter. I mean, that is why you are reading this post in the first place, is it not? I have read about the issue from the standpoint of traditional conservationists and native plant enthusiasts. And I have read what well-known permaculturists Toby Hemenway, Eric Toensmeier, and Peter Bane have to say about utilizing invasive species. I agree with the comments that both Toby and Eric made to Sue's posts, to the effect that intentionally introducing a species into an area where it is known to be "invasive" is not okay. Importing non-native plants that are not known to be "invasive" in order to augment or fill a role within a plant community is okay, even encouraged when there is no native plant that will do the job. Many of us are planting in urban and suburban areas. This land has already lost its natives and by introducing beneficial plant communities we work to prevent the increasing sanitation of wild or semi-wild lands and to produce food and goods for humans. As we are able to use the land around our homes and in our communities to provide more of our needs, we reduce the amount of land "somewhere else" that must be denatured to supply us.

Maybe eventually the hardy kiwi of Massachusetts will become well integrated into that ecosystem. Maybe it will die out. We don't know. But, as long as we do not supply human needs from the lands already set aside for that purpose, then more and more land, including, eventually, that forest strewn with hardy kiwi, will continue to be stripped of both its natives and exotics, its natural state altogether, and will be turned into a factory farm or a monocultured, manicured forest.

I am now going to go check on my two hardy kiwis.

Thoughts? Let me know in the comments section.
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Thursday, May 2, 2013

Specimen Spotlight: Borage

Borage (Borago officinalis)

Borage - Source
Borage is often best known for its pretty blue flowers, and for good reason, too. However, as is common with most plants, borage can fill more roles than just visual appeal.
  • It is included in the group of dry weather friendly plants, meaning that, once well established, it can hold its own against hot, dry days with little or no water. On top of that, unlike many desert plants that can take the heat but not the wet, borage happily continues on its merry way through long periods of precipitation.
  • It has the benefit of being a nutrient accumulator. It will send down roots deep into the soil to find minerals and nutrients that are beyond the reach of other plants. Those minerals and nutrients are pulled up into the leaves. Later, when the leaves die and decompose at the ground's surface, those nutrients and minerals are made available to other plants. Borage is especially good at retrieving potassium and silicon, both of which are important to many plants.
  • People are not the only ones who enjoy the blooms that borage produces. Insects, most especially bees, find the flowers to be a very attractive source of pollen and nectar.
  • Interplanted with comfrey you receive a synergistic effect in providing mulch making and weed suppressing benefits. This comes, in part, from borage's indeterminate growth habit, meaning it does not have a standard height at which it stops growing. It is more likely to flop over parallel to the ground, just like indeterminate varieties of tomatoes, and start growing vertical branches. This technique, so to speak, accomplishes three things. First, this immediately shades more of the ground, inhibiting the ability of weeds to germinate and grow. Second, more of the plant is now in contact with the ground which hastens decomposition and improves mulch making when the plant dies. And third, this allows borage to spread seeds over a wider area - it is supposed to readily self-reseed. The following year many borage seedlings will sprout and grow, shading out weeds.

    Borage also does well as a mulch maker due to its large, green, soft leaves, like comfrey, that shade the ground and provide quality mulch in a hurry.
  • In Jessi Bloom's book, Free-Range Chicken Gardens indicates that chickens typically prefer to leave borage alone. This is most likely due to the thick "fuzz" on the leaves.
  • On that note, people typically do not care for the leaf fuzz, either. So, since the leaf is perfectly edible, the suggested way to eat them is to add them finely chopped into a salad. The leaves are said to have a flavor similar to cucumber. However, they are best eaten fresh, as they lose their flavor and color when dried.
  • Peel, chop, and use the stems like celery.
  • Some foods that mesh well with the texture and flavor of borage are green salads, most vegetables, salad dressings, pickles, cheese, fish, poultry, and iced beverages.
  • Additionally, the flowers are reputed to be one of the few truly blue natural edible substances. They have a sweet taste, sometimes also having a bit of the cucumber flavor that the leaves have. As is typical with edible flowers, they are often used as a garnish or with desserts. And they can also be used to create an edible blue dye, which apparently turns pink when mixed with an acid.
  • Borage has traditionally been grown not just to eat, but also as a medicinal herb. Jethro Kloss, in Back To Eden, explains how borage can be used in the healing of a myriad of maladies. You can look at Wikipedia.org and Plants for a Future to learn more.
  • Sometimes borage pretends to be a biennial and will not flower the first year. Be patient and encourage new seedlings by keeping the ground moist, especially through the use of mulch around the seedlings once they have begun to poke up.
  • Garden Wisdom and Know-How has the following bit of trivia:
    "Borage has a reputation for invoking courage. In fact, ancient Celtic warriors preparing for battle drank wine flavored with borage to give them courage. They believed their fears would vanish and they would feel elated. (The effect was probably due to the wine, not the borage)" (pg. 258).
    In days gone by, ladies would embroider borage flowers on handkerchiefs as 'favours' for knights in the joust, or to drop for soldiers to collect as they march off to war.
  • There are many plants that enjoy a friendly relationship with borage. Some of these include cucumber, tomato, squash, strawberry, and members of the cabbage family in general. It has been reported that most garden plants grow better and have better tasting produce when borage is grown as a companion plant with them.
  • Besides promoting plant health, growth, and production, borage is also used to repel some pests. One common use is having borage and tomatoes together, which apparently deters moths whose larvae are the tomato hornworm.

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