Plants that Interact With You

I was walking to the mailbox yesterday afternoon and something caught my eye.  It always pays to be observant and cognizant.  That really paid off the other day when I spotted that yellowjacket nest in the wood chip pile!  They would have torn me up.  This particular thing I saw wasn't a dangerous thing, it was something that reminded me of my childhood.  Check out this 'weed' growing on the side of the road by the mail box.

Have you ever seen that before.  The leaves resemble that of the mimosa tree.  This is an interesting little plant.  It is called the Sensitive Plant.  It is in the pea family and its Latin name is mimosa pudica.  it makes a pretty little pink puff ball flower.  Something neat happens if you reach down and touch it, like I'm doing below.

Upon touching, the leaves quickly close and stay closed for a few minutes.  Then they open back up.  It is thought to be a protective, defensive tactic to scare off animals that eat plants.  Notice how all the leaves are closed.

As kids growing up in the country, we spent a lot of time touching all the leaves on this plant when we'd find it in the woods and watch as all the leaves closed up.  A time-waster, for sure, but it was something the Good Lord put in our path to keep us out of trouble, I guess.  I crouched by the side of the road like a kid and made all the leaves close.  I'll never grow up, not me.

Nutsedge - Scourge of Farmers/Gardeners everywhere

Genesis 3:17-18

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

18 Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;
And you will eat the plants of the field;

There is evidence of that curse that pops up every year in our garden and reminds us that while gardening is fun and rewarding, there is definitely toil involved.  I've pulled one of the most troublesome weeds from the garden to show you.  Here it is: Nutsedge!

Purple nutsedge

I pulled this weed from the garden, roots and all to show you.  There are a couple types of nutsedge - Yellow and Purple.  I've determined from research that the offender in our garden is Purple Nutsedge because purple nutsedge spreads with a chain of rhizomes, while yellow nutsedge does not.

In my hand I'm holding the same nutsedge to point out the vigorous growth of the root system.  Oh, how I wish that good plants grew this vigorously!  Pay close attention to the "nut" at the '4 o'clock' position on my hand.  This is the "nut" from which the weed gets its name.  When someone says, "He's growing like a bad weed" in referring to their son, they mean quickly and they are no doubt referencing the nutsedge!

Root system of the nutsedge

I've repositioned the weed in my hand to highlight the 'nut.'  A green shoot will emerge from that nut and form another twin to the green plant from which it emerged.  In turn the new shoot will send out more rhizomes which will yield more plants and so on and so forth until your garden is overwhelmed with this weed.  I wish I could tell you that their spread is easy to control.  It is not.

The rhizome chain of the purple nutsedge

One must be diligent in weeding to control this insidious weed.  Below is the full-scale assault and all out war that the nutsedge is waging on a row of Black from Tula Tomatoes I have planted.  If you could pull up the weeds without disturbing the root systems, you would see that all of the weeds you see are attached and are part of a huge chain that will take over the garden.

You must stay ahead of this weed and be diligent in rooting out the infestation.  If you don't, it will negatively affect your harvest.  In a spiritual sense, the pesky nutsedge is a good illustration of sin.  Sin often starts off small.  Left unchecked the little sins multiply, spreading and crowding out anything good.  Your yield (testimony) will be diminished, resulting in crop failure.  I often wonder what gardening was like before the curse.  One day we will see a new heaven and a new earth.  There will be no more sickness and death, no more tears and dying - and I've got to believe no more weeds.  Until then, I've got work to do!

Nutsedge infestation

My effort involved a lot of bending over, weeding, and being very careful to pull up the root system and not leave any nuts which would turn into other weeds.  The problem is repeated bending over on 35 thirty foot rows will give you clean rows, but will also give you the back of a 75 year old carrot puller.  I'm going to show you tomorrow an easy way to control this troublesome weed without chemicals and without breaking your back.