Weeds

I'm preparing the seedbed in our garden for putting in the fall/winter crop.  It is quite a chore because I have an infestation of weeds - not your typical run of the mill weed, but Nut sedge.  This is a perennial weed that is one of the most problematic weeds there is in tropical climates.  We don't use herbicides in the garden, so this weed keeps us busy bending over and pulling them out by the roots or using a hoe to chop them up.  Below you can see the infestation that we have.  This is not a pretty sight.  Ever notice how plants that produce things good to eat are quick to die and are hard to grow, while weeds just take over the garden without any watering or tending to?  When you ask people how their kids are and they tell you, "They're growing like weeds," now you know exactly what they are talking about!

The dreaded nut sedge - a scourge to any farmer

The problem with this weed is that they are so difficult to control.  As the picture above shows, they form a dense colony and multiply and crowd out the good crop you are trying to grow.  If not controlled, they can greatly reduce crop yields.  Here's how they do it:  The nut sedge originates from a tuber.  It looks like a little nut - hence the name nut sedge.  If you are weeding the garden and you snap off the top of the plant and leave the nut in the ground, guess what?  It will re-sprout.  In fact, I think that just makes the plant mad and it sprouts more vigorously than before.  If you want to be effective, you must pull the entire plant up, leaves, roots, and nut.  There's no time to play around.  If you snooze, you lose.


How the nut sedge got its name

This weed sends out rhizomes, a horizontal, creeping stem and reproduces itself into twin plants.  Let me correct that statement, multitudes of twin plants.  The photo below shows a nut sedge plant that I've pulled that demonstrates the rhizome.  If you look closely, you can see the white "root-like" appendage growing horizontally to the right.  That is the rhizome.  I've pulled it up from the roots and as you can see by the brown line on the weed, all this goes on below the ground.  From the end of the rhizome, another sprout will come up, and then the scenario repeats itself - exponentially.

Close up of a rhizome

I think that weeds, and the nut sedge in particular, are a perfect analogy of the sins or faults or short-comings in our lives.  Oftentimes we think that we have it all together and have everything looking good from the outside.  I stand guilty as charged.  Maybe we've pinched off the top of the "weed" and all looks good from the outside as you and others inspect your 'crop.'  However, brewing beneath the surface is a noxious "weed" waiting to wreak havoc.  Maybe it is pride or stubbornness.  Maybe it is gossip or a bad attitude.  Maybe it is envy, bitterness or impatience.  Once we see these flaws in our lives, we may try to eradicate it, but if we don't pull it up by the roots, it can come back with a vengeance to do further damage.  Like a creeping entity, the transgression that may have started out small soon sends out runners and reproduces itself until it has ruined the entire crop, crowding out the good seed sown and destroying the crop.

A bumper crop of nut sedge

It makes good sense to do some frequent weeding in our gardens.  "Weeds" are much easier to control when they are small and before they've sent out runners and gone to seed.  If we are diligent, we can root out things that have a potential to ruin our crop and reap a bountiful harvest.  Excuse me, I've got some hoeing to do...