Nature at Work — There’s Bugs and There’s Weeds

Our asparagus has bugs, even though Carl and Doug fire-blasted them a few weeks ago. I weeded the patch in early June and plunked in a few strawberries, some spinach seeds. We will see if they will win out over the weeds!

And then our peaches’ leaves have curled, and the plumcots (a hybrid of plum and apricot) have some worm. Carl is distraught. We went to Agway and bought “Surround.” I guess you put that in the soil around the trees and that will begin the attempt to get rid of the bugs that are killing our fruit trees.

It is heartening to know that Carl isn’t alone in his fight. Doug has, for years, worked to keep his own orchard—full of apples and pears and plums and myriad others plus berries—alive. Now Carl is being trained into the magic of Doug. And I have my fingers crossed and pom poms lined up to cheer them on.

Meantime, an herbalist friend of ours came by to see what we’ve got growing. My hopes for all the medicinal herbs we planted (and some volunteers!) are coming to fruition. The following plants are in ours and nature’s medicine chest: yarrow (hemostatic); comfrey (vulnerary); dock (for liver and digestion); wild lettuce (hypnotic and pain relief); nettle (nutritive/allergies); willow (salicylates aka aspirin); hollyhock (similar to marshmallow, which I could have sworn we had somewhere, but in any case soothing anti-inflammatory); plantain (skin soothing and psyllium husk… whatever that means); goldenrod (anti-candidal and helps with allergies; just the leaves); and witch hazel, st john’s wort, rosehips, chamomile… Thank you

All to say, those bugs are bugs, but these aren’t weeds. And no, as might have been noted in my run-in with essential oils, I don’t know how to concoct all the wondrous herbal remedies that have worked for millenia; I leave that to the next generations.