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Rob D's avatar

I was recently on a short road trip and saw lots of amaranth on the side of the highway almost ready to harvest seeds! I almost stopped. Haha. Yeah, it is amazing how many edible plants have been classified as weeds or invasive species. Especially ones that are native to the area (I get it when something gets started from another area of the country/world).

Almost makes a person believe that "they" don't want us to have free food....

weedom1's avatar

All the poison warnings on plants that have been food for thousands of years in so much of the world has caused me to get that feeling. The "AI slop" amplifies the excessive warnings.

Mary Ploppins's avatar

Thanks for the rundown! In Jamaica, it's called callaloo. It is typically cooked with salted cod, onions and a bit of tomato and served with boiled, buttered green bananas. YUM! Several varieties of it grow in my desert-like conditions, but mostly the seedy or spiny kind. Trying to grow large leaf varieties.

weedom1's avatar

Glad you liked it. Callaloo recipes look great. The A. retroflexus took our drought years very well, but I guess you'd have to dig some ditches to get it established in the desert.

Mary Ploppins's avatar

It's gradually becoming a food forest. Taking an extra long time with only 10" rain per year.

weedom1's avatar

Wow, that’s dry. Like half of our drought years. Is catching water from the air part of your sequestration efforts (in addition to what the plants do)?

Mary Ploppins's avatar

Do you mean capturing water with a sheet that drips morning dew? We get such fierce winds that everything shreds.

We use a lot of irrigation and have a tank to store a few hundred gallons of water for when the rain finally does come. We live next to a culvert. So when it rains on the mountain above us, we can drop a pump into the culvert and flood the beds, which are all over the place.

The best thing has been using biodynamics. It's actually been able to increase the amount of rain we get, but it takes time to stir the preparations and spray it out. Right now, I'm dealing with a sick chicken and an aging kitty which really eats into my time on top of trying to create social content for my Substack. So even though we officially only get 10", I've tracked almost 18" over the past few years since I started using biodynamics. Not sure how long it takes for the local ag office to update their assessment.

weedom1's avatar

Sounds like that culvert is your best friend. Getting the plants established will surely increase your water retention year by year. I don’t know anything about the biodynamic sprays. 🙏🏽🙏🏽 for you and your animals.