Being Neighborly (or Crazy Weed Lady Strikes Again)

Neighbors walking their dog by my moringas

Dan and I are blessed to have good relationships with our neighbors. One reason is because I chat with them when I am out tending my yard. As anyone who walks down my street knows, I love to talk about our "edible food forest." Our neighbors know all about the edible weeds in our yard and how our native trees and moringa are flourishing in our rainwater harvesting catchment basin. One neighbor gamely tried purslane and then planted it in her own yard! 

In a previous blog, I shared how Dave allowed Dan to install gutters and a downspout on the overhang so we could collect the rainwater in our cistern. The overwhelming response on Facebook was, "Good neighbors!" And Dave is a good neighbor. But it was also mutually beneficial. Directing that water into the cistern prevented unwanted erosion in his yard. 

On the other side of the house, our neighbors leave their kitchen scraps for our compost pile. Again, mutually beneficial because it doesn't stink up their trashcans and occasionally they get some of what we grow in the garden. And other food items are distributed over the wall as well... veggies from a big haul at Produce on Wheels, soup (made from food scrap broth), even desserts!  

In the other blog I shared how I will pull the weeds in my neighbor's yard (especially nasty goat heads.)  After the big storm that filled the neighbor's yard with palm fronds, I picked up some and cut them into mulch for our yard. You see, our woodchip mulch has broken down over time and become a part of the soil. So last year I cut our horse purslane into mulch. (It looks like straw...) I decided to take advantage of the palm fronds until the horse purslane grows back and makes living mulch. I wouldn't really recommend it. For the amount of mulch, it really wasn't worth the effort.  

You can see the horse purslane starting to grow back in the picture below and some of my makeshift palm frond mulch. 

While I was in my neighbor's yard I spotted a bunch of palo verde sprouts. To them, they were weeds. To me they were yummy sprouts.  So I picked them and washed them to eat. Again, mutually beneficial!  I even convinced the gals to try them.  They liked them so well, that we split the bounty! How cool is that?! 

Picking the palo verde pods led to the easement where I found my favorite edible weed, purslane, and Dan's favorite, amaranth!  Dan and I gathered a bunch.

That's our dog Pooh, not Dan. This is an old photo.

We gleaned enough for Saturday and Sunday brunch. Saturday we had amaranth scramble with eggs and potatoes. And Sunday we had sautéed amaranth and mushrooms. YUM! FYI Amaranth tastes a lot like spinach (only it's healthier!) 

While I was out watering my yard, I noticed that the bermuda grass in Dave's yard was growing like crazy from all that rain.  So I decided to give it a trim and maybe use it in my compost pit. 

While I was at it, I pulled some sticker weeds. 

I pulled some grass out by the roots and gave some a trim and collected it all for the compost pile.

I should have gotten to it sooner, because some of it had gone to seed. Live and learn...

So I spent an hour going through it and taking out the seeds before putting the grass in the compost pit. (I was curious how much seed was in there, but I won't be doing that again.) O.K. I admit it. It was a waste of time.  But while I was out there I had a nice conversation with the neighbor across the way about not using RoundUp. While we were talking another neighbor came up and told me that she has stopped using RoundUp out of respect for me. 

You can see why Dan calls me the "Crazy Weed Lady." lol  I don't know if that title has caught on with the other neighbors.  But they don't seem to mind my ramblings too much.  I recently found these two gifts at my front door. Aren't neighbors great! 

Crazy Weed Lady

Just after it rains is the best time to pull out weeds. So when I awoke this morning, I rushed outside in my bare feet to take advantage of the wet ground. Out there pulling weeds, got me wondering if the neighbors ever think, "There goes that crazy weed lady with the disheveled hair."

Earth mother that I am, I like to go barefoot to feel the ground under my feet. So I pick all of the sticker weeds - like the dreaded goat heads - before they go to seed.  (Especially seeking out those that disguise themselves with pretty yellow or purple flowers. They don't fool me!)

sticker weed on neighbor's side

Sometimes, I'll be weeding along the property line, and I see some sticker weeds in my neighbor's yard. I'll just grab those too while I'm out there.  And that little one over there... Soon I'll end up picking all the weeds on that side of their house. I practice what I would say if the neighbor caught me pulling their weeds... "Just bein' neighborly, ma'am! You know...random acts of kindness...pay it forward...and all that." At least their stickers won't get tracked into my yard! And maybe, just maybe I won't get woken up at the break of dawn by a noisy weed-whacker!

I'll admit I drive Dan crazy by stopping to pull out a weed in a neighbor's right of way on our walk to the store. There are two benefits for me: to catch the sticker plants before they take over their whole yard and get tracked into mine while (hopefully) discouraging them from using weed killer in our neighborhood.

You might recall I had some run-ins with a certain landscaper who insists on spraying Roundup in our neighborhood. Remember this photo on facebook?

 Poisoning by T.D.T. 

This guy said, "If the city can use it, so can we."  Then a member of the "landscape advisory committee" stood up at a city council meeting and asking them to spray pre-emergent on all of the city property before monsoon rains brought out more weeds.  That was the last straw! Even the Pima Department of Environmental Quality's G.I. manual states that herbicides seep into our ground water.  I wrote the mayor and my city council member urging them to stop spraying the ineffectual weed killer. The mayor forwarded my e-mail to an expert who agreed with my assessment. I've been placed on the landscape advisory e-mail list.

Found on Aug. 7, 2018

I wasn't always obsessed with weeds. Dan started it!  In an early blog, I expressed my shock when Dan weeded our overgrown garden only to turn around and cover it with Bermuda grass clippings!

chard we grew in Bermuda weed mulch

Since then, we have successfully used Bermuda grass as mulch in our garden and around baby trees. No new Bermuda grass came up. I'll repeat that... No new Bermuda grass came up. Now I harvest Bermuda grass for mulch and compost! Bermuda grass is so abundant in our desert. Why shouldn't we put it to good use?  You just have to be sure to gather it before it goes to seed.

Speaking of crazy... I wonder what the neighbors thought of Dan out there in the heat of the day digging up Bermuda grass (a foot deep) to make a right of way catchment basin - and then purposely transplanting native grass into that basin! (This is actually a thing. The native grass works with the wood chip mulch as a sponge to keep the ground moist. Native plants also prevent erosion on the sides of the basin.)

Last year, Dan looked on in dismay as I picked the Bermuda grass in the easement behind our house... and the neighbors' house. But there was method to my madness! I was making room for the edible weeds to come up. And it worked! We had an alleyway buffet of amaranth and purslane!

Remember this sign?

our alleyway buffet

This year I posted a bigger sign, but so far there aren't as many edible weeds. Was it because of the slow, erratic monsoon season? Maybe the lizards are getting all the amaranth? Usually, purslane comes up after the second or third rain. Maybe it can't take the record heat either.

So... I've had to resort to finding my purslane elsewhere. I've been known to pull out weeds in front of the neighborhood steakhouse, so they won't start spraying poison on them. There were three huge patches of purslane under the downspout from their giant roof. One day I grabbed a big bunch on the way to the bus stop and put it into my reusable grocery bag. (Caution: stinging ants under the weeds.) Of course, it's always a good idea to ask the owner if they use weed killer. If you're not sure, you can still liberate that purslane and replant the roots in your own yard. That's how I got a nice row of purslane in my garden last summer.

I have two pitchers full of purslane that I nibble on throughout the day.  During purslane season, I like to throw it into everything: soups, salads, scrambles, and sauces. (Well, everything starting with "s.")

The other night, I used a big bunch to make one of my favorite purslane dishes: verdologas stew! YUM!

Scroll down the blogs on this link for more of my favorite purslane recipes.



So there are good weeds and bad weeds. I leave the good weeds where I want them and pull the bad.

I spent the better part of one summer trying to eradicate the Russian thistle from the alleyway and our garden.

Russian thistle right next to our fenced in food garden...

This weed would climb up the fence and throw it's pink seeds into our garden.  Everyday I had to pull the tiny weeds out of the garden, making sure to get the whole root so it wouldn't come back. These were so invasive that I would pull them out in the easement behind other people's houses too - so they wouldn't spread back to my garden.

I was successful at getting rid of the Russian thistle. Here's a picture of that same spot last November. The ground was so rich from the decomposing weeds and leaves that we grew a 3 Sisters garden without any fertilizer - just a thin layer of wood chip mulch.

This patch was overgrown with Russian thistle.
Here I'm watering some cowpeas that survived the hot summer.

That's odviously amaranth! 

Remember my blog, "Are you a good weed or a bad weed?" Immediately after posting it, there was a rush of views. But viewership slowed way down once people realized that I wasn't talking about another infamous weed. Come on, guys! I'm not that kind of weed lady!

I'll bestow the virtues of edible weeds on anyone who will listen and even some who won't (much to the horror of my teenage son). Hey, they'll be glad to have that food security if we ever have an emergency where Mexico and California stop delivering us produce.

On the way home from the store yesterday, I noticed some amaranth growing in a neighbor's yard. I knocked on the door and asked if they were going to eat the edible weeds growing there. Because if they weren't, I could save them the effort of picking it by foraging it myself.

Yep, I'm the crazy weed lady. I own it. But - seriously - Dan started it!

More Information:

What common weeds have to offer the organic gardener and how to keep them from taking over

Planting monsoons and moringas in our street-side basin

For those of you who wanted an update on how our beloved street-side basin would fare during the monsoon, this is for you!  

In the previous blog, I detailed our painstaking efforts to get rid of the well-established bermuda grass while digging our street-side basin and how, in a incredible act of optimism, we planted moringa seeds in that basin. 

 

We were advised (thanks Chetan!) to plant three moringa seeds in each hole and, when they had grown, remove the smallest plants so the strongest plant could flourish. But the other two were doing pretty well, so we decided to replant them in the remaining holes. 

But then it got hot, REALLY HOT. Could our delicate little trees survive the 114 degree weather?

I did everything I could think of to protect my babies from the scorching sun. I concocted a contraption for shade. I did my best to keep them moist, but those poor little displaced moringas were in desperate need of the monsoon rains. 

 

Finally, the monsoons arrived! 

Would our fragile little moringa survive or be blown away in the storm?

Dan rushed home to see how his basin was making out. 

It worked!  The rain was sinking into the mulch like it should. Our precious baby moringas held tight in their blanket of mulch!

We watched as the rain from the sidewalk flowed into the catchment basin, instead of into the street (like the water from the driveway shown above).

You can see the path of the water from the erosion in the pic above... (Dan's going to have to do some maintenance to shore up the sides of the basin.)

Our replanted moringa are doing fine. They have even sprouted some new leaves! 

The stronger moringa is getting too big for it's shade contraption.

It's such a delight to see everything so green from the rain. Well everything but that brown grass that Dan planted in the basin. (The desert grass works with the mulch to create a sponge to soak in the water and helps prevent erosion!) 

So I spent the morning transplanting some desert grass into the basin.  

Moving away the mulch,  I could see how rich the soil is under it and how much it maintained the moisture.  I took some of the dirt and gravel that the grass was growing in so it wouldn't have such a shock when replanted.

While I was there I spotted something sprouting on the side of the basin. This little guy...

With the rain comes new life and - our old rival - bermuda grass. 

You might recall that our whole right-of-way was overgrown with bermuda grass (see the pic to the left). They say that you have to dig four feet to get the whole root system and our basin isn't that deep - especially the raised terraces the moringa are planted in.

Catchment basins do take a little maintenance. So I try to stay on top of it. I love to go check up on our moringa trees anyway.  I'm getting to know the neighbors.  In the month and a half that we've had the basin, I've dug out maybe 7 or 8 sprouts.  (No doubt the heavy rain will double that amount.)   I try to dig deep enough so they won't come back up anytime soon. I think I'm winning the battle.  I suppose nature will win the war.  I'll just have to learn to live in harmony with it. Commit a few minutes everyday to take in the smell of the rain, feel the sprinkles on my face, and watch the birds scampering in the puddles as I dig up a stubborn sprout.

PLANTING OUR MORINGA SEEDS

https://www.sustainablelivingtucson.com/2017/06/street-side-basin-ready-to-plant.html

MORE INFORMATION ON MORINGA

https://panlasangpinoy.com/moringa-malunggay/

Street-side basin ready to plant the monsoon rain!

If you've walked your dog down our street in the past few months, you may have wondered what that guy in the sweaty hat was doing digging a ditch in 114 degree weather. Well, I'll tell ya.  We are getting ready for the coming monsoons by installing a passive rainwater harvesting system to "plant the rain." The basins will sink the water from our roof and yard into the ground to irrigate the desert trees in our edible forest. The idea is to keep as much rainwater as possible from flowing onto the street and evaporating. The street side basin (above) is the last line of defense, so it is the deepest. If it works as planned, the street will be lined with a lush stand of moringa and wolfberry bushes.

This process has taken some time, planning, and plenty of sweat equity (especially on Dan's part.) Dan learned how to install passive rainwater systems by participating in Watershed Management Group's co-op workshops. At the workshops, co-op members get detailed instruction while working on passive (basins and berms) or active (cisterns) water harvesting or greywater systems. After volunteering for 16 hours, you can host a workshop in your own yard. If you have the money, I would highly recommend it. But to save money on the initial design consultation and co-op supervisor's fees, Dan decided to do the work himself. What a man!

*note: I think everyone should be able to afford to install waterharvesting features in their yard.  Apparently Watershed Management Group agrees. They've now offer a rainwater harvesting grant and loan program.  They also offer the free classes required to qualify for Tucson Water's rebate program. If you need inspiration, check out WSM's free living lab tour. It's fun!

Dan started by digging out gravel interspersed with (the bane of our existence) bermuda grass. That is one reason that this catchment basin is so deep. Some (sane) people would hire someone to excavate it with a backhoe. I would definitely recommend that if you have the money.

After Dan dug out the first layer of weeds, he had to remove a layer of plastic. Just under the plastic he found roots forming an elaborate design.

I was responsible for getting the weeds along the sidewalk. But I soon found that they were actually growing UNDER the sidewalk! Man! Those weeds are fierce! I used the side of the sidewalk as leverage to pry out the roots with my trowel (bending the trowel in the process!)

I got out as much of the roots out as possible. But the next day the grass under the sidewalk started growing again. Those weeds are invincible! They will be here with the cockroaches when we are long gone!  

I read somewhere that if you spray weeds with vinegar nothing would ever grow in that dirt again. Desperate times call for desperate measures.  So I sprayed vinegar right on the roots under the sidewalk.  

Those friggen weeds were everywhere! Here is my son Josh attempting to separate the weeds from the gravel. 

We still have 3 piles in our driveway: gravel, clay soil & palo verde mulch. (Four if you count the WEEDS! Argh!) We got free organic palo verde mulch from Romero Tree service.  They are happy to drop by the chipped remains of the tree they just pruned in your neighborhood! The only thing about our palo verde mulch is that there were still seed pods in the branches when they pruned it. A few of them actually sprouted, but I caught them while they were still small and easy to pull.

After removing all the gravel and grass, Dan started shaping the basins. He left truck-tire-shaped mounds to plant the trees and bush in. He made sure the floor of the basin was smooth - so there would be no puddling.

Before planting, we did a percolation test. I filled each hole with water to make sure it would seep into the ground in a timely manner. 

We planted the little wolfberry bush we got at Desert Survivors in one of the holes. Dan replanted some desert grass from our yard into the catchment basin. (No! Not bermuda grass!) The roots of the native grass create a sponge to keep the water in the ground. 

We mixed some sand we got from a nearby wash with the clay soil and put it in the bottom of the hole. (Moringa seeds need good drainage.) Then Dan mixed the rest of the soil mixture with some organic potting soil and filled up the hole. 

I planted 3 moringa seeds in each mound (about 1/2 inch deep) and watered them!

Dan worked by porch-light, then moon-light shoveling palo verde mulch into the basin. 

He was at it again the next day...

The mulch is so important to keep in the moisture - especially in the desert!  

Dan tamping sides of basin to make sure they don't wash away.

I watered the seeds just enough to keep it moist without soaking it. 

 In one week the moringa seeds actually spouted! Yeah! 

Then I deep watered the moringa and the hackberry bush every other day. 

I was worried about them in the 112 degree weather, so I put up some shade netting.

It also seems to help to water late at night. 

They are looking good. Growing new leaves! 

Ready for the rain!