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Thursday, May 28, 2009

after 6" of rain the past 4 days...

st. john's wort is starting to bloom. i think i overharvested the blooms last year because it came back sparse this year. i'll not be harvesting much this year to let it seed freely.


false indigo and chamomile make lovely garden companions. i can't wait until skullcap joins in!

can any of my plant geek friends (and i consider myself a plant geek so don't be offended!) help me with this plant? i want it to be wild yam so badly! it is growing in my yard!! but, i think there's another plant that looks similar and i need to be sure.i discovered it yesterday after cutting down the multiflora rosa.
it's about 1 foot tall right now.
lots of mud everywhere...makes it hard to walk in the garden!

the herbs sure love this rain! they are growing by leaps and bounds...motherwort is blooming like crazy.

the view of the recently tilled area...there are seeds planted but nothing growing yet.
same view as last week...steadily growing...
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6 comments:

  1. RonMay 28, 2009 at 9:24 PM

    Wowzers... things are definitely growing for you this year!

    That photo of the mud gave me twitches. Kiddo asks me all the time, "how come you are a farmer and you can't handle mud?" hehe. I can handle it just fine with shoes on and frequent rinsing off, thank you. :)

    I love seeing your garden grow!

    Ron

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  2. JoyceAnnMay 28, 2009 at 10:24 PM

    Tansy , That plant looks like a Common Greenbrier to me , are those thorns on the stem ?

    Your garden looks great.

    ~ Blessings ~
    JoyceAnn

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  3. AnonymousMay 29, 2009 at 12:05 AM

    ahhh I saw the marshmallow- it is gorgeous! I love the picture of your toes in the mud!! The boys are so thrilled to watch our plant grow- thanks so much for sharing yours with us- love it!

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  4. AnonymousMay 30, 2009 at 6:19 AM

    Hi Tansy,

    Great looking garden, seems its growing nicely.

    I don't think your plant is yam but Green brier. The leaves are not quite the same shape and the hairs on the stem of yam are not as "fuzzy" if they are noticed at all.

    http://www.planbecovillage.org/pictures/plants/bristly-greenbrier-lrg.jpg

    and this one

    http://www.vortexhealth.net/wild_yam.html

    I don't suppose you want to dig it up and take a look at the roots? That would help...

    It will be interesting to find out.

    Have a great day.

    Karyn

    BTW: Thank you so much for the info on the comfrey!! I think I will try growing the Blocking 14 and using it for gardening then see if the chickens will like it. :)

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  5. MamaHenMay 30, 2009 at 4:44 PM

    The plant looks like what we call saw brier but probably the same as green brier. The more correct name is sarsaparilla. If it is saw brier, the roots go way down and are very hard to dig or pull up but it is a wonderful medicinal plant and the young leaves are really tasty in salad. Saw brier contains the precursors to steroids so it is a very good anti-inflammatory and it is also good for 'female complaints'.

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  6. tansyMay 30, 2009 at 10:01 PM

    i contacted some experts in the plant world who taught one of my master naturalist classes and they identified the plant as bristly greenbrier. i am curious to watch it grow...it seems it is edible as an early spring treat. much better than the multiflora rosa growing there before!

    i LOVE squishing mud in my toes...ron, try it some time!! it's lots of fun. we make mud a part of our daily routine around here!

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