A Weed By Any Other Name Is Still a Weed?

I've been meaning to get back here, I really have!  But I've been busy with a lot of other things.  I still don't get all my projects done that I'd like, but I guess the most important things, such as keeping my family fed and clothed, is getting done.

Lately I've been focused on weeds.  What is a weed?  Having a garden (or two or three) to tend, this is a topic that will come up eventually.  And there are differing perspectives on just exactly what makes a plant a weed.  I heard it said once that a weed is any plant for which you haven't yet discovered a use.  I asked some of my friends recently to share their own personal definition of a weed, and this is what they had to say:

"My favorite theory is that a weed is any plant that is growing where the gardener doesn't want it to grow."

"A weed: an unwanted plant."

"A weed: any plant in a space I do not want it in."
"To me a weed is a plant that is not in a place where I want it."
"Any flower is technically a weed."

I also asked, "Are there any plants that you always consider a weed? And under what circumstances do you not care about weeds?"

"Scotchbroom is a weed.  It is an annoying noxious weed.  It grows and grows and grows.  Teenagers don't grow as fast as Scotchbroom, and you and I both know just how fast teenagers grow!"
"Sow thistles are always a weed to me!"
"Nope.  Most."
"No.  When it is in a place that I don't care if it is overtaken with greenery."
"No, not really. It really depends on if I am low on something as to whether it will stay or not.  I really don't care about my weeds if they can be well hidden. In town the tend to frown on anything that they don't care for. For instance, we eat and use our dandelions, but the neighbors would rather sneak over in the dark of the night and spray them all gone. LOL"
" IF I had a garden I'd weed out the plants that I would not use to produce food, herbs, or what I consider beauty."

Since I do have a garden (or two or three) I've had to make some of the decisions on what to pluck out of the ground and what to leave.  My mantra of late has been, "If you don't know what something is, leave it alone until you can positively identify it as something you don't want!"  Unless you are very familiar with what a plant looks like in its early stages of growth, you might very well pull out something you really did want.

What are some possible reasons for not weeding?

1. When you have newly planted seeds or young plants, pulling up nearby plants might disturb the soil too much and uproot or stress them.  In this case, wait until the plants you want to keep are a bit bigger with some established roots.
2. You might accidentally pull up the wrong plant.
3. Any plant that is larger provides some shade, which is a good thing to a baby plant in the hot sun.
4. Any plant that is larger provides some wind protection, which is a good thing if you live where the wind blows quite fiercely at times.
5. Any plant growing provides protection against soil erosion and water loss.  Observe that bare dirt dries out faster than where vegetation is growing.
6. Some plants send down deep taproots, to reach the water and minerals that are deeper in the soil, also bringing them up to the surface.  This provides a pathway of loosened soil for neighboring plants to reach down for the good stuff.  Most garden vegetables don't have a deep root system.
7. Most "weeds" are edible, and are actually more nutritious than the stuff you plant, plus they will grow better because they are hardier and more acclimated.
8. Many "weeds" are medicinal.
9. The plant is pretty.
10. It's a lot of work :D

And I suppose, to be fair, I should list some reasons you might want to weed:

1. You like the "neat" appearance of bare soil around your plants.
2. Some people believe that "weeds" compete for water and minerals (which they might at certain stages of growth.)
3. You might be allergic to a particular plant.
4. They shade your plants too much.
5. They might obstruct proper growth of the plant you are cultivating.
6. They might really be "taking over" your garden.

Please feel free to share any of your reasons for or against "weeding" "weeds" out of your garden, yard, or elsewhere.

At the moment, there are two plants that are pulled out at sight:  Wormwood and Ragweed (I don't have any pictures at the moment of either one).  Both plants when in bloom cause bad allergic reactions to people who live on or come to the farm.  In the garden and immediately around it, they are uprooted, if at all possible.  Elsewhere on the farm, they are mowed down before blooming.  Both plants are medicinal in nature, but are not needed in great quantity.  The pastured animals will eat wormwood when they need it, but it otherwise gets left alone.  A tincture can be made of ragweed blooms to prevent the hay-fever / allergic reactions, but since it takes several weeks to prepare the tincture, it won't be of any use until the following season.

As to what "weeds" I am less likely to uproot, that will have to wait for another post.  I intend to write about each one that I have encountered in our yards and gardens.  Or, at least a few of the more interesting ones.

Curry for (my) Company

Recently I had the opportunity to make a curry dinner for a friend who had never tried curry previously.  She liked it and suggested that I blog about it.  I took pictures of the meal in progress, but you will just have to use your imagination for the preparation stage.

Firstly, you may be asking, "What is curry?"  From Wikipedia,

Curry ( /ˈkʌri/) is a generic description used throughout Western culture to describe a variety of spiced dishes, especially from Pakistani, Indian or other South Asian cuisines. Three spices found in most curry powders are turmeric, coriander, and cumin; a wide range of additional spices may be included depending on the geographic region and the foods being included (meats, fish, lentils, rice, etc.).^[1] The word "curry" is analogous to "soup" or "stew" in that there is no particular ingredient that makes something "curry."

As you might guess from that description, the possibilities for flavors and combinations of ingredients in curries is practically endless!

For this particular dish, I started with a green curry paste made by Mae Ploy.  They also make red and yellow.  The ingredients are:

• green chili
• lemongrass
• garlic
• salt
• galangal (I had to look this up; it is related to ginger, but with a different flavor)
• shrimp paste (shrimp, salt)
• kaffir lime peel
• coriander seed
• pepper
• cumin
• turmeric

I looked at the online prices for this 14 oz container and they range from $2.31 to $5.19.  I paid $2.50 at an authentic Asian grocery store.  If you are at all interested in cooking Asian foods and trying something new, I recommend locating an Asian or other specialty ethnic store (oftentimes one kind will carry food from other cultures in addition to their own) near you.  They are a delight to the senses to wander through, and you should pick up something new to try!  Many have fresh produce in addition to their dry, canned, and frozen selection.

I like to follow recipes, at least the first time I try something new, but I'm not afraid to change things up a bit, to suit my tastes of the moment or what I have on hand.  The basic recipe on the curry container follows. 

• Stir-fry 50 g (≈ 1/4 cup) of Green Curry Paste in 1 tbsp soybean oil (I avoid soy, except for soy sauce, and prefer olive or coconut), then add 1 cup (240 ml) of coconut milk.
• Add 200 g (≈ 1/2 lb) of fresh meat and keep cooking.
• Add another 1/2 cup (120 ml) of coconut milk and 1/2 cup (120 ml) water, heat until boiling.
• Add 100 g (≈ 1/4 lb, or a little over 1/2 cup)vegetables and cook until the vegetables soften.
• Add 1 1/2 tsp sugar.  Taste and season as required.  (I don't even remember reading this step until now!)

Suggestion: For a milder flavor, half portion of the curry paste should be used.  (I agree with this!  If you are new to curries or just aren't sure about spicy foods, then definitely use less curry paste and work your way up to full-strength!)

For measurement conversions, Google is my friend!  Gram is a weight measurement, but most cooks don't employ the use of a scale in their kitchen.  Recipe Goldmine has conversions for common baking ingredient, but for this I used Online Conversion and cook az.  You need to know the approximate density of the food if it isn't on their list.  For example, curry paste is, not surprisingly, not on their list, so I went with peanut butter.

(Now, right here I had more typed, but my little man-cub decided to close my computer, and apparently not everything I had typed was saved.  Drat!  So, to start over...)

I started by putting a glug of olive oil into a large skillet over medium-high heat.  It was probably a bit more than 1 tablespoon, but why dirty a spoon over something like this, right?  This curry paste comes in a plastic bag inside the container, so I simply cut a corner off and squeeze out however much I want, which in this instance was about 1/4 cup (but remember my suggestion to use less unless you are prepared for mega flavor!)

Most Americans are used to adding seasonings partway through the cooking process.  However, in many cultures the spices are the heart of the dish, so they are added first.  Heating them releases their scent and flavor, and adding it to the oil helps it blend throughout the rest of the ingredients.

 After the curry smell starts filling the air (and your nostrils), add about 2/3 of a can of coconut milk to the pan (I always have a taste off the spoon, too - yum!)  When it is heated, I added the meat: I cut up two chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces.  You can use any meat you want, though, or even go meatless if that's the way you roll.

When the meat is cooked, add the rest of the coconut milk and some more liquid.  I prefer to use my homemade chicken stock for extra flavor.  I also use more than 1/2 cup because I like to add more vegetables than the recipe calls for, and you need to make sure there's plenty of liquid in the pan to cook the vegetables without them sticking.  (I have even made curry soup by putting a LOT of extra liquid in the pan.)

This particular meal I cut up a small zucchini, a small yellow crookneck squash, an onion, a potato, some grated carrot, chopped mushrooms, and tomato.  You can really use any vegetables you have on hand, such as bell peppers, cabbage, and even fruit like apples!  Use your imagination!

I like to put curry over rice, so I had a pot of white rice cooking while I prepared the curry.  I have grown very fond of my rice cooker, but it's actually very easy to cook in a pan on the stove top.  Simply rinse your rice a couple times, and the cover the rice with about an inch of water (or more chicken broth!) An easy way to measure that is to put your finger into the rice and measure from the top of the rice to the top of the liquid the same distance as between two knuckles.  Put the pan on high, and once it starts boiling put a tight lid on (preferably clear) and reduce to low so it simmers.  It will only take about 15 minutes to cook, so be sure to check it or you might end up with rice stuck to the bottom of your pan.

As I said at the beginning, I had already started eating before I thought to take pictures, so here is my plate partway through the meal.

I hope that if you try this sometime you will tell me how it turned out, if you liked it, and what you did to make it your own special recipe.