How I Use Weeds in the Garden to Increase Resilience

[@rolandawenting397]

'Everything is a resource for which we need to find a use' I like that idea - beyond gardening applications as well😊

[@charlesbale8376]

I garden in Seattle and have moved my garden to a food forest so I really appreciate the information you share on your experiences.

[@tgardenchicken1780]

Weeds can be used in so many ways in our gardens. They fill up space, mine nutrients and hold them in their tissues, they can indicate issues, they can be medicinal or edible, they can feed other life forms, or be part of a lifecycle, they help the gardener have to pay attention to the garden and get some exercise...I too seldom have a 'weed problem'. Thank you for sharing your wonderful garden and the weeds you have and what you do. lol I use the bittersweet night shade as you do, as a nice green mulch. Love hearing the 'girls'. I also admire your beautiful white sweater(?) top. Currently we are enduring another heat wave where I live and it looks like a year 3 for drought, sigh.

[@joannewolfe5688]

Your garden is looking lovely!

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

Thank you!

[@Permaculture1957]

You’re such a good teacher, and the videos are so peaceful 😊

[@maiasita]

Thanks!

[@LauraStepney]

Good weed strategy! I don't have many weeds yet this year because my beds are new except for morning glory...which I definitely don't toss back onto the garden bed because that's basically propagating more morning glory. I put it on the patio to roast in the sun and die before composting it. Everything else can be mulch though :) Really looking forward to future years after my plants start self-sowing and I can have beautiful full beds like you've got.

[@Hayley-sl9lm]

Yeah agreed, while a lot of weeds are great for mulch, there are definitely some that aren't the most suitable. When in doubt, fry them in the sun for a bit.

[@julie-annepineau4022]

My most persistent weed right now is dandelion. I have had them reroot if they are not removed from access to the soil. I tend to throw them to my chickens to add to their greens. I like to weed mid day after a rain the day before when possible. Weeds pull easily but bake quickly once removed from the soil.

[@Hayley-sl9lm]

I pull the leaves off and use those. Unless it's hot outside if you just pull up the whole plant I've some still set seeds

[@LeonBourne]

I am in Thailand and I can't get it to grow. It's an incredibly useful plant, not just for salads but medicinally it's a little miracle.

[@ChristophBalzar]

Dear Angela! Thank you so much for your continuous lessons on permaculture. I learn so much from you and use the knowledge to prepare our garden in the north of Berlin for the scorching heat of climate change. Cheers, Christoph

[@deborahcoyle7612]

Very helpful! Thank you, Angela!

[@lindsaywolter112]

Once I started learning about permaculture principles, I’ve really changed my outlook of “weeds.” Other uses I love are dehydrating them (if edible - many are more nutritious than the annuals we plant!) and slipping the powder into stews, smoothies, and sauces for extra nutrition; creating a weed tea for the garden; and using them as treats for my chickens. There are so many uses for our “weeds!”

[@mamaknitte_r]

They are the best chicken treats!

[@hhwippedcream]

Thank you! My number 1 guiding principle with rare exceptions for ground nesting pollinators.

[@hhwippedcream]

You rock, Parkrose! Keep that green light shining hard into the night!

[@ulla.umlaut]

I try to encourage some "weeds" like purslane, clover and wood violets, and I definitely compost wood sorrel in place when it gets too sassy and starts to block light from other things. Right now my primary "weeds" are elm and maple seedlings, and I just toss them willy nilly as I pull them with 4 or fewer leaves. My big difference in weed management is that there are a couple of perennial weeds that spread via rhizome in addition to setting seed, like creeping bellflower, nutsedge, and star of bethlehem that I remove from my personal waste stream entirely, either to the city compost site (where they fully hot compost green waste) or if I know I won't get to the city site for a long time, my trash or burn piles. The only other growing thing generally toss in the actual trash is squash plants that are clearly infested with vine borers. I'm excited for curbside compost coming to my community, and maybe someday I'll have chickens take care of infested squash plants for me!

[@jul.escobar]

Sassy wood sorrel - love that ❤ 😅

[@hendyappleton5701]

Because my beds are surrounded by grass meadow, I'm constantly pulling up grasses. They turn into great straw mulch for my beds. Once I harvest my garlic, I will be planting all those spaces with calendula, nigella, and borage seeds, specifically to establish a self-sowing green mulch.

[@Hayley-sl9lm]

I have this stoloniferous grass, not sure what it is but I pretty much have to make sure it's dead before I use it as mulch, otherwise it just re-roots wherever I've left it. All other grass for me though has been great for my veggies. I've also buried it like hugelkultur style.

[@robinbrown205]

Hi Angela, I recently found your channel. Really enjoying it! …saying Hello from Rhode Island. I am interested in your permaculture and your unschooling. Thank you!

[@bariaissa1737]

thank you

[@jul.escobar]

I appreciate you inaight on the religious aspect and am with you. Its not my vibe to ride with either. Thanks for speaking on it and offering respite

[@skimusic3773]

When my grandmother burned nightshade she found out she was very allergic to the smoke. Be careful! Thanks for your lovely garden and good advice!

[@Hayley-sl9lm]

I would definitely use that nipplewort but some weeds I've noticed will still be able to set seed even they've been pulled up, if they have their flower stalk and root still attached -- not like if they're baking in the sun, but if it's in a mild location. I wouldn't feel as confident using those without removing the whole flower stalk and maybe the roots as well depending on what it is. Like hairy bittercress can definitely make seeds if you pull it up while flowering and leave the whole plant on the bed. And dandelions. Even dandelion roots that I've pulled up have made flower stalks while sitting pulled up on the ground, if their leaves are still attached. Just flower buds that have closed already can make seeds even if they've been removed from the stalks if they sit outside. I use a lot of dandelion leaves though severed from the root and put the roots in sunny location where they will dessicate quickly. But man I even tolerate a little mallow, if I don't have something to replace it with because it can be used as a host by several native species of butterflies.

[@terrycarkner1698]

I have cheat grass in my gardens. At, too, still sets seeds after pulling up but it is easy to pull up so I just l drop it there.

[@Hayley-sl9lm]

@@terrycarkner1698 I imagine a pulled up weed would at least set less seed! Definitely I don't always feel like taking every little thing to the yard debris so I feel ya

[@welshhymnspontrhyd]

I let my hairy bitter cress seed. It’s easy to pull, if it gets too much, but it’s a great salad ingredient, or like watercress in a soup mix :-) my first crop of the year is always weed soup. Cleavers, nettles, ground elder, bittercress, dandelion…. Hoping my wild garlic will fit into the mix next year….

[@ThuyNguyen-mg5jt]

I like your garden. I have huge problem with mallow. Every spring mallow covers my entire garden😢

[@claudiakoprowski8925]

Thank you!

[@pennypiper5857]

Thank you, great information:)

[@sjsmith9637]

I'm comforted that you can pack your tomatoes with other plants. Mine are getting a little crowded and people are always saying "airflow airflow airflow..." Are you fertilizing with something like fish immulsion or something to keep those beds so productive?

[@terrytillman5715]

Thank you for this good information! It is true that we can learn a lot from people even if we don't share their belief system. Despite the fact that you talk about mother nature as if she's a person and has intention, which in my mind IS a form of "religion", I can just let that go and focus on what I can glean from the post to boost my gardening practices. Good gardening practices will work no matter WHO is the power behind it, whether we believe in that power or not.

[@RiceTeaLover]

Tips for bindweed or weeds that spread by rhizomes 😅?

[@permiebird937]

Well said.

[@devon932001]

What about managing thistle? I have a ton of thistle that comes back every year, even with pruning before they for form seed heads.

[@terrycarkner1698]

I try to get the tap root out! Or cut off repeatedly. Covering with tarp or cardboard for a season really helps too.

[@thornwych]

What do you do if you're sowing seeds directly into the garden, would you leave that soil bare while they germinate?

[@mylenephaneuf628]

Thanks for your video! If we have invasive plants (with flowers and seeds) and infuse them in water for few days for a fertilisation tea, are the seeds going to germinate next year?

[@lwjenson]

I'm hoping to get to the point where I can pull weeds where they set seed. I am currently trying to keep my weedy section mowed until I can cardboard and sheet mulch that area. I have to several sections in my yard I have to dig out Bermuda grass before I turn it into food forest/chicken area.

[@noxot13]

"how gardens work well" are the correct symbols to contemplate.

[@bobbun9630]

Potatoes as weeds! That's quite funny, as they grow so poorly in my cold winter/hot summer climate with really short transitions between the two. I mostly see okra and tomatoes as crop "weeds", though crop weeds in general are usually not a problem compared to real weeds, like johnsongrass and bermudagrass.

[@UwU-Crew]

Have you ever experimented with JADAM fertilizer? I also have an abundance of mallow and I’m turning it into a jadam style liquid fertilizer. The process seems to be working great, and it smells like bad broccoli. 😆 🤢

[@73lmargaret]

I wonder if all those seed heads you are avoiding getting into the garden can go into a dye pot...

[@Sunflowerdivinity]

Have you heard about electroculture gardening? Just watched Inspired and it's simply bamboo sticks with copper wire wrapped around it and it pulls energy from the ethers Nicoloa Tesla always swore by this method and down the line you don't need to fertilize as much it's amazing many are talking about its results it got suppressed by the government for years but we are hearing about it again. Just thought I would share this with everyone!

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

Electroculture is woo that seems to be catching like wildfire in conspiracy-theory-loving and prepper circles. It has no basis in real science and a lack of evidence, unfortunately. Very trendy though, right now.

[@absolutelycitron1580]

Great knowledge ty but gotdam that bird constantly in the background lmao

[@unionse7en]

I know it's hard not to anthropomorphize. We tend to say things like "plants where designed this way" and "Nature..She will bring in seeds to cover bare soil." ;-) , but the more we correct ourselves, the better chance we will break the habit. Thinking with respect to evolution and survival of the fittest (reproduction/statistics) is not intuitive to us humans, even those who respect it as the most accurate answer we have.

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

Desertification is the only way to eliminate weeds.

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

loads of weeds love a desert - all those "invasive" pioneer species...

[@matthewkauffmann982]

Weird unnecessary attack on the guys religious beliefs.

[@Buttercup12345-c]

Doesn't want the religious aspect but speaks of nature as a "she"? Mother earth? Where's that coming from?

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

What are you even on about?

[@sharonjones7674]

Your comments on his religious philosophy does you a disservice. You could have mentioned permaculture and Back to Eden without discounting something you obviously do not understand. It made me not want to subscribe to you for being so belittling to another gardener. 🌷