More free useful plants just from being creative and opportunistic!
Part of my current job in lawn maintenance is the removal of weeds. Often, entire areas are preferred to be weed free and just covered in rock. However, persistent little plants will frequently creep up through the dirt or rock.
Trust me, I do not like eradicating useful plants, and I especially do not like using weed killer. Therefore, when I noticed these little guys growing, I chose Plan B!
CHAMOMILE
Growing in this runoff ditch, which happens to be in a “weed-free” area, were a whole bunch of little Chamomile plants. When I saw the first one, I broke off the top to smell it, and sure enough, it was Chamomile. I had tried to get some to grow from seed before, but was for the most part unsuccessful.
Growing our own food plants and herbal/medicinal plants is part of our vision for our future, so finding a bunch of free seedlings is a huge bonus. Since my job is to make sure that no “weeds” are in that area, uprooting these little seedlings counts!
KEEP THEM ALIVE!
In the end, I obtained about 20 Chamomile seedlings. They were mostly growing in some very wet clay mud, so the roots were saturated with water. This was helpful. It would be a day or more until I could properly plant them, so keeping them moist and alive was key.
Since I had some quart jars with me, I chose to put about four to five seedlings per jar, and then fill them part way with water. I knew that the hot sun would be beating down on them, and I did not want to risk losing them because they withered.
Because they were growing in such a wet environment anyway, flooding them in the jars did not seem to be too risky of a choice.
HOME SWEET HOME
When I got them home, I made a compost, rabbit manure, and soil blend to fill some pots with. I’ll let the root systems recover in this controlled environment prior to finding a long-term home for them. So far, they seem to be doing excellent.
As they grow and I incorporate them into our landscape, we will now be able to have some beautiful flowers that can make great teas and tinctures, and these cute little flower plants will be able to continue their existence.
The plants got to live, and I received a blessing in the process! Oh the joy of taking advantage of opportunities!
To check out my previous Opportunistic Gardener post, click below:
THE OPPORTUNISTIC GARDENER – FREE ASPARAGUS SEEDS
THE OPPORTUNISTIC GARDENER II - PROPAGATE THE PRUNINGS
Until next time…
BE OPPORTUNISTIC – STEEM ON!
