I read once that weeds are doing God's work, keeping the earth green. That's fine with me, but I just wish I could rid them from this little patch of a yard where I live in the summer.
It used to be the wild lettuce, and now it's the dandelions that have staked a claim to my yard, and although I am informed that both are edible, neither appeals to me. Being diabetic, I prefer sweet things, not bitter ones.
The pre-emergent killer stuff works, but then you lose the delightful johnny jump-ups and other volunteer surprises that pop up by themselves. There is just no substitute for getting down on your knees and pulling the unwanted plants up. It's life. You've got to "weed" out the interlopers, the bad guys, and encourage the nicer things... or go live in a high rise apartment and forget about digging in the dirt. There are always options. There are not always options that you like.
Philosophy aside, we are lucky to live in an area where you can actually stalk the wild asparagus. Old timers around here tell us that the asparagus that grows abundantly along the bar ditches in the county are escapees from pioneer gardens. All I know is that the taste of these volunteers is much more flavorful than the cultivated asparagus that you buy in the market. I sometimes surprise overnight guests with creamed asparagus with cheese on toast for breakfast, and they soldier on after the initial shock of eating something green so early in the morning. When we first moved to Colorado, the kids and I would come in from an asparagus foray with about a bushel of asparagus at a time, which we would eat, and/or freeze against "hard times" (summer, fall, and winter) to come. I didn't have a pressure canner then so freezing was the only way to preserve it, but we certainly had our fill while the season lasted, and it was for free.
There are a plethora of tomatoes to choose from when you plant a garden, or even a container. So many kinds, and so tempting, it is difficult not to try for some of each. But I have found that on balance, the very best tomato is the Brandywine, the old heritage stock. It grows luxuriously, with potato-like leaves, and they are large fruits with a wonderful taste. I had so many one year that I had to can most of them (we couldn't eat them all). I felt like I was butchering them to cut them small enough to get into the canning jar. I hope I have the same problem again this year.
I've been asked for gardening advice, and the only thing I can suggest is, Plant stuff that is expensive in the stores.
Besides tomatoes (my goodness, $4 a pound?), try beets, artichokes (fun to grow but you need a large space), peppers, cucumbers, string beans, and whatever your favorites are. A green thumb is usually spelled W-A-T-E-R with F-E-R-T-I-L-I-Z-E-R. Meanwhile, before tomato season, try this simple exercise to enhance the store-bought tomatoes so they won't taste like art gum erasers:
Slice the tomato onto a plate.
Sprinkle lightly with salt, sugar, lemon juice, and olive oil.
Let marinate for a few minutes.
Almost as good as home grown.
(The juice that is generated is good, too.)
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