Goosegrass


Goosegrass may be a common weed, but it's the first time its shown up on my plot and it's making up for lost time. Here it is trying to consume one of my larger compost bins. I'm always amazed at how much of the stuff can be traced back to one tiny stem in the soil. Thankfully it's doing a good job of suppressing most of the other weeds around it and is relatively easy to clear.

It's well known for it's velcro-like properties as the leaves and stems are full of tiny teeth-like hooks which stick to anything they touch. No wonder one of its other common names is sticky weed. When my niece comes to visit, she loves to find pieces of it to cling on the backs of our clothes. She then goes around giggling a lot until we twig what's happening and tear it off in disgust. This makes her giggle even more!

Other names for Galium aparine include cleavers, catchweed, everlasting friendship, grip grass, loveman, sweethearts, clivers, stickywilly, stickyjack, stickyleaf, robin-run-the-hedge and coachweed. Its seed is rather tenacious too and adapted to cling to e.g. fur to aid its dispersal. I often find one or two of them in my daily porridge as it's a common weed of arable fields and difficult to separate out for grain storage or during food packaging.

I'm beginning to have a rethink about weeds, especially as I seem to manage to get them to crop quite well up at the plot. Our ancestors thought much more broadly about what the land has to offer and made a much wider use of the plants they found. As goosegrass is such a rough textured plant, I thought it wouldn't be that useful, but I'm surprised to learn the seeds can be dried and roasted as a perfectly acceptable coffee substitute (it's related to Coffea arabica, the Arabian coffee tree, though lacks the caffeine of its cousin) and the plant can be used to make a tea if gathered just before flowering. The stalk has been used to strain milk and the plant also has quite a few herbal uses.

I've even found some recipes for a spicy chicken dish, plus a version of kedgeree. The link recommends that only the leaves are used as the stalks 'are like chewing on a doormat'. The Wiggly Wigglers blog extols the virtues of  Goosegrass Soup, though to be fair plenty of other weeds, plus lots of herbs are included in the recipe.

I nibbled on a leaf the last time I was up at the plot just to see what it was like. It was fairly bland in taste, but had a very different sensation to most foods I've tried. I managed to drag the leaf over my bottom lip and it felt very similar to a cat licking you if you've ever experienced their rasp-like tongue. Like nettles, this is definitely a foodstuff which requires some cooking ;)

Have you found a 'new' weed on your plot this year, or are you just battling with the usual suspects? Tell all in the comments below...

Comments

  1. Anonymous22 April 2011 at 08:54

    I'm not so sure about eating Goosegrass but this year the wonderful Wild Garlic has somehow managed to come into the 'quiet' corners of our garden. Fantastic stuff as you can literally eat the whole plant, bulb as well. Lovely chopped into an omelette.

    ReplyDelete
  2. VP22 April 2011 at 09:09

    wartimegardening - welcome! We have lots of wild garlic in the woods around here but it hasn't invaded our garden yet. I love using the leaves, but as it's truly wild, I have to leave the bulbs well alone.

    Top tips from the lovely @Alysfowler: I love the young tips before it flowers cooked in butter with nutmeg grated on top. Also use it to balance more bitter greens

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cathy x.22 April 2011 at 12:09

    goosegrass sounds so interesting. so many weeds seem to have uses that most people don't realise. nasturtiums have taken over my front garden and i spent a while trying to keep them under control before i learned that they're edible, petals and all! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. petoskystone22 April 2011 at 14:54

    we have copious amounts of wild onions about, plus dandelions. the last place i lived specialized in rosa rugosa..what i called 'wild rose'. suckers everywhere, but sent them out a long ways before a plant would surface as they need something to grow upon.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Joan22 April 2011 at 16:30

    wow! who knew all that about that pesky sticky weed? great info VP! we get it all over here too, and finding those seeds in my boot laces before I get home is a must!

    right now the nettles are going strong and I just learned the other day that the weed 'dock' which can be found growing near nettles will take the sting out if you rub dock juices on your stinging skin.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jennifer Tetlow22 April 2011 at 16:46

    What an interesting post, learned lots - I will be more careful when I find it next time. I'm harvesting nettles just now, for tea, and they make a great soup, strong flavour with a swirl of creme fraiche. Also combine really well with Good King Henry, tomato and cheese for making pasties - eaten for supper they give power and big energy the next day for more weeding!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Arash22 April 2011 at 19:18

    Hello, tnx for ur nice blog, it is very useful for me :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jim Avery22 April 2011 at 20:48

    If even weeds won't grow I'd seriously worry about the soil! I'm relieved to say there are plenty of weeds appearing on my new allotment - busy day for me tomorrow!

    ReplyDelete
  9. robert webber22 April 2011 at 21:05

    Wot is a weed?
    Apart from all the usual suspects, including stickywilly (thanks for such informative post by the way) I leave lots of things with the vague idea of rounding them up into sizeable drifts. The benefit of gardening in an old garden is that things long lost are continuously coming to the surface and I have 2 seedlings at the moment that I am very curious and indeed hopeful about.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Lu22 April 2011 at 21:52

    I have discovered that my chickens love dandelions, which is useful! This year I've also used dandelion leaves in a mixed salad for the first time - just the young more tender leaves, and they have been very nice.
    A bit of advice on the goosegrass - do NOT let it go to seed, or you will regret it next year!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Janet/Plantaliscious23 April 2011 at 20:47

    As a first-timer on the allotments I am discovering all sorts of new and vigorous annual weeds to complement the couch grass and very abundant dandelions. I rather like the taste of bittercress, though I'd prefer to have wild garlic - I picked some the other day on a walk in a local wood, delicious. One weed I find it hard to get rid of is the poppy - abundant. I rather like the idea of my plot being filled with them! Though not at the expense of the veges...

    ReplyDelete
  12. VP24 April 2011 at 08:41

    Cathy x. - hello! Nasturtiums have taken over one part of my plot. We enjoy them in salads and I pickle the seeds as a capers substitute :)

    Petoskystone - we have Rosa rugosa here on the estate. It's a common constituent of our hedgerows, so it got planted by the builders to blend in with the old hedgerows they retained as part of the estate's open space plans

    Joan - dock's soothing properties are one of my earliest plant memories. Handy how some always seem to grow where nettles lurk :)

    Jennifer - I like the sound of your pasties! I have self seeded Good King Henry on my plot, so will have a go at making some

    Arash - you're welcome

    CorshamJim - great to see another local commentor :) I've noticed some of the weeds are dying up at the plot - chickweed and Ajuga are really struggling. Busy times for me up at the plot too - lots of clearing and planting left to do...

    Robert - we could have quite a debate on whether weeds are really weeds!

    Lu - I fear it will be a constant battle as there's quite a reservoir of the stuff by the hedgerow bordering our site

    Janet - I've been tasting bittercress too - more on this another time

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anna25 April 2011 at 19:38

    Wrestling with goosegrass both at home and the allotment. Quite a character though and I enjoyed your post. Will be checking my porridge more carefully in the future. I like one of its other names ~ Claggy Meggies ~ most apt :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous27 April 2011 at 21:48

    Ah, we have goosegrass too. It clusters around the less cultivated patches in our garden - its saving grace that it does pull out very cleanly roots and all, but I don't like the feel of its grasp on my skin so I try and wear gloves when I remember... Amazing to know that it has some culinary value too, though I suspect we won't test it ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  15. VP31 May 2011 at 10:10

    Anna - ooh another name for goosegrass - thanks!

    hillwards - I don't think we'll be eating it either ;)

    ReplyDelete

New comments are not allowed.

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it ...
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl...
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape...
Read more

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Image
I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on. The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;) A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever. I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing ...
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the...
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee...
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi...
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso...
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter, ...
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener...
Read more