beneficial weeds

As you know I live in an arid area of Australia {if we are lucky we get an average rainfall of 9 inches}, so this means there is not a lot of organic matter available for using in my wannabe permaculture garden. I use whatever leaves, sawdust, straw etc I can round up, but these can be scarce so I have had to come up with other methods for building the soil.

One of those methods is using common weeds to my advantage. Now weeds can be a real problem for some people and get out of control really quick. But for me they are beneficial and today I will tell you about some of the ways I use them.

Weed tea...soak weeds in water, I mostly use stinging nettles for this but other weeds also go in there. Be warned, this stinks really bad!! When using, water down to 1 to 10 litre ratio.

Believe it or not there is a purpose for weeds. They promote biodiversity. Weeds are natural and they are designed to prevent soil erosion, by filling gaps. They indicate soil conditions like acidity or alkalinity. Their roots break through hard soil to break up the ground. They provide nitrogen to the soil. Most weeds are herbs and can be of medicinal use, but watch out for the poisonous ones. Weeds provide wildlife with habitat, and their flowers are loved by pollinators like bees and butterflies. Weeds attract more insects which in turn attracts more birds. Decaying weeds provide much needed microorganisms to the soil. Amazing hey?

Share your weeds with the chooks. There is so much goodness in that greenery and they will love it, and the yolks will be a nice golden yellow...

Other than liquid manure, I dry these nettles to use for herbal tea. Some of the health benefits can be found here.

A bit hard to see, but I left a few weeds lying here a while back, and when I moved them today I noticed how it was breaking down and keeping the soil moist.

In the garden beds, I pull the weeds when they are small and just leave them sitting on top of the soil. As they break down, they add vital nutrients back into the soil.

I use the weeds for mulching around the fruit trees. This is a game changer. Using nature as it is intended. As I said before I don't have access to a lot of organic matter so this is a solution for me.

I also add weeds to the compost bins. This is a new to me tumble bin, a friend thought I would make good use of it.

Here are some older weeds that I have laid around under the fruit trees, they are slowly breaking down and adding goodness to the soil beneath as well as providing a cover to keep moisture in.

This weed {not sure what it is called} is a ground cover and similar to an ice-plant.  I presume that it is one of the different varieties around here. As I have said in previous posts, I don't pull this one out because I use it for a living mulch to keep moisture in to benefit the fruit trees. The other reason is for the bees, they love the tiny flower it produces. If you happen to come and see my orchard, you may think I am lazy because I don't pull out the weeds to keep this area tidy.  There is method in my madness lol!

I am undecided whether to leave this same weed grow in the veggie patch. I have left it in the ground for now to see how it goes. I can always pull it out if it doesn't work out. I am thinking I could use it like I do around the fruit trees as a cover mulch to keep the soil cooler in summer. If the ground is cooler the veggies in the barrels will benefit.

There is another reason for leaving this weed. Can you see the sleepy lizard {shingleback}? It proves to be a good hiding spot from humans. Providing habitat for wildlife.

The pathways are looking tidier in the veggie patch now I have relocated the weeds.

For more information about weeds, I recommend this little book. It is very popular in the permaculture world, and is a wealth of information.

What about you? Do you use your weeds for the good of the garden? I would love to hear.

My goal is to eventually create a forest floor using organic matter to build soil. I don't know if I will achieve this, but I will definitely be trying my best.

See you all soon,

xTania

weekly roundup...

Hello everyone, 

This week there has been warm sunny days, windy days, rainy days and cloudy days. We even received a bit of rain 33.5mm {134 points} which is really lovely. Almost every day we are getting a couple of showers go through, this is just perfect timing leading into spring. It was another very dry winter this year, and things were looking grim. But now I can plan and plant...

In with some leek seedlings.

Soil preparation for spring.

There are beautiful wattles flowers everywhere...

The wonderful rain has left enough dampness to grow moss...

More signs of spring, the pig-face are flowering...

The orchard...weeds and all.

The patch...

Can't wait for the nice warm evenings to return so we can sit out here and watch the sun go down...

Gosh, I wish these were lemons, but alas they are grapefruit.

Sharing the harvest...

Healthy eating...

Greens picked straight from the patch to make into a stir fry.

Lunch...

Mixed veggie soup on a cold day...

While chopping and dropping out in the front garden, I came across these unusual fungi? Further research revealed that they are in fact called Earth Stars.

Fascinating...

This little guy is living at a friends house. She is taking care of him after he was rescued from a worksite.  I think it is more likely to be a "she" rather than a "he".  I couldn't resist this cute photo opportunity...

Browsing old copies of Earth Garden and finding valuable articles.

At last I am getting to do some work on here...

I mended ten pairs of Phil's yard jeans, all with the left knee worn...The next sewing project will be more masks just in case there is another lock down.  Lets hope it doesn't happen, but at least I will be prepared because there is talk of encouraging people to wear masks.

The red hot poker looks beautiful this time of year...

 
More donated jars...

We were given these plastic water bottles, but have more than we need so we decided to make them into wicking pots.

The top was cut off...

And a hole drilled for drainage, then Phil inserted some poly pipe to reach the bottom for filling with water...

They are all ready for putting together and growing some plants.

Water goes in here.

One freezing day {9C Friday week ago} the bees were flying around but kept falling into the icy cold water in the birdbath, so I rescued heaps throughout the day.

This is how they looked when I dragged the bees out the water...pretty much dead!

But within  a few minutes of sitting on my hand they came back to life. Some flew off quickly others hung around a bit longer before going home.

Bubbly sourdough starter.

Made into this rustic loaf.

I added a mix of seeds into the dough including sunflower, pumpkin, flax and chia seeds. Then sprinkled amaranth seeds over the top. This loaf was like a brick, but very nice.

The young pullets are laying already.

I picked this beauty to have with our meals.

I thought I had lost the garlic chives over winter, but a little bit of rain and sunshine makes all the difference.

In the gathering basket...the tomatoes are almost finished, although I did notice new shoots showing.

A bit of quiet knitting for a dear grand daughter.

More baking for the biscuit tin.

Another video to watch...Year round veggies from Permaculture Magazine UK. I need to work harder to achieve this...

How was your week?

See you all soon,

xTania