Beauty Run Rampant

One plant that has really been a bother here at the farm has been Japanese wisteria. Wisteria is usually planted to provide an ornamental vine. It features white to purple clusters of strongly scented, sweet-smelling flowers. It is also a vigorous grower and must be aggressively pruned each year. It can tear down bricks and mortar, choke trees and buckle pavement when neglected.

There are actually several different types of wisteria. One variety is native to the Southeastern United States. The others are imports from Asia. The Asian wisteria has all but taken over the native wisteria which is a less vigorous grower. Wisteria from large retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot is usually the Asian variety. Most of the time, the sales staff will not know that there is a difference.

Wisteria will die back in the winter, but it starts growing fairly early in the spring. It blooms around the end of April and through May. Its stems can root at just about any point. It roots can easily sprout leaves. When cut back it suckers and its flowers release thousands and thousands of seeds. When the conditions are favorable, it can grow as fast as kudzu. It will still grow even when the conditions are not so favorable.

Wisteria also puts out a distinctive smell when cut or pulled from the ground. This smell is produced to drive off less aggressive vegetation. Day lilies can crowd it out, but they have to be fairly thick to do so. Forsythia and periwinkle, both appear to be companion plants to wisteria. That is to say that neither takes over the other and they grow together.

The best way to get rid of wisteria, is to pull it up every time you can. The roots and stems will break off when you pull with sufficient force, but it ain't easy. Cut it back and it will sucker. The easiest time to pull it out is actually in the winter when it is mostly dormant. Do it before the ground gets hard and you can make huge inroads. To get it off your trees, cut the vine anywhere between the ground and the tree trunk in the spring just before It starts to bloom. Once the part on the tree trunk dies off, you can easily pull it off provided, it's not too twisted. But you can't slack off for a season. Pulling and cutting wisteria must be part of your routine to be successful at keeping it at bay.

If you currently have wisteria in your garden at home, remember that this plant can be aggressively pruned without ill effect. Prune it. Aggressively. It needs it. Also remember that it cannot be neglected and then expected to behave itself and not take over.

It is a Wee bit Frustratin'

from Wikipedia: common ragweed - grows between 1-3ft at the farm

So here we are, almost to the end of September, and no fence for a new goat pen. Needless to say, I am mulling this lack of fence over and over in my mind. I want a fence, but when I go outside, I am good for about15-30 minutes tops. Then the golden haze of ragweed pollen mixed with everything else starts to tickle my nose. I'm toast for the rest of the day. If I push my luck, which I have been known to do, and go out after an hour or two of rest in the house, then I am having major allergy problems for at least two days, if not more. Ugh.

Say it through your stopped up sinusitis nose -- Ugh. Don't feel any better? Me either.

I used to say, in college, that I wanted someone to give me a wooden spoon so I could dig out the offending body part - my sinuses. No one took me up on that offer. Too bad. So here I am with my hyper-active super vigilent immune system centralized about my nose and sinuses.

from Wikipedia: grand ragweed, also called buffalo or horse weed, grows 6 ft and beyond in the field

Over the years I have tried countless remedies, both mainstream and not so mainstream. I've had allergy shots. Had an allergic reaction to them after about a year. Ate bee pollen - no change. Ate local honey - no change. Took prescription and over the counter allergy medicine - only works for a lmited amount of time if at all and has to be strong enough to knock me out to work. Went to sleep with a wet warm washcloth on my face - aaah nice but allergies would come back pretty quick. Drank or ate extremely cold drinks - some temporary relief. Worked in computer rooms 8-12 hrs. per day - worked well, but I was cold most of the time and a bit stressed. Sleep always worked pretty well, but I missed a lot of interesting stuff.

Now I have begun to change my diet and my lifestyle as part of this farm experiement and I have had limited success. Ragweed season starts in the middle of August. I usually start sneezing uncontrollably with watery eyes, itchy throat and stuffed sinuses within a day or two. I also get welts when I handle ragweed. They go away after about 15, 20 minutes. This year with my local, organic diet, I pushed the inevitable sinusitis back until about a week ago. That is progress, but I am still allergic. I have recently researched the role of various vitamins in boosting your immune system. Key players appear to be Vitamin E, C, B12 and zinc. It will take a bit longer to work those things into my diet and perhaps the vitamins and minerals would be more effective coming from local food. We will see. One thing I know for sure is... I'm looking for that wooden spoon. Maybe I'll be back out in October or November.