Allen Ayers

M.J. Wayne wrote:
Thanks for that info. This book was published in 2019. That's not very old, but neither is AI. Was AI in use even back then? (asking because i know little about it)

It was used in 2019 but it was much more limited, that book was probably published before the author got into it so in theory it should be more reliable than her more recent works.

As someone who's starting to look into herbal medicine myself, The Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine by Andrew Chevallier, The Modern Herbal Dispensatory by Thomas Easly, Medical Herbalism: The Science and Principals of Herbal Medicine by David Hoffman, and anything by Rosemary Gladstar are all highly recommended by the herbalists I know.

M.J. Wayne wrote:I love this book. I like that you can search by ailment, or by herb. It also explains how to harvest, dry, prepare herbs. The uses and benefits of each herb are explained separately. Glad I bought it.

The author Nicole Apelian has been accused of heavy AI use in several of her books by many herbalists, I'd recommend doing your due diligence and double checking any recipes or claims you see in that book. Better safe than sorry!

I've had a few starters over the years, but I tend to get lazy feeding them in the summer heat when I don't do much baking. My personal favorite thing to make with them were always crackers, the tangy lactic acid bite almost makes them taste like cheese crackers! I also love to bake cookies, and it turns out sourdough adds a lot of depth to chocolate chip cookies.

An interesting thing to consider with butterfly weed is that, ironically, the leaves are significantly less desirable for monarchs to lay their eggs on than common or swamp milkweed. Monarchs will still utilize them if given no other options, but I think a nearby planting of common milkweed could be beneficial if you're interested in having them.

As someone who constantly battles an onslaught of kudzu encroaching from a neighbor's property I do not share this thread's optimism. While I'll happily take advantage of an invasive species that I come across (like the lovely chinese yam I found growing on my fence) I refuse to intentionally propagate an invasive species on my property; I'm quite a lazy gardener and all it takes is one growing season of negligence to create a problem that won't be easily gotten rid of.

Cara Campbell wrote:I don't know why they aren't using kudzu for its edible starch. Why does it seem all the kuzu powder comes from Japan? It seems a really stupid missed opportunity to get rid of the overgrowth and start an industry.

Kudzu roots are very deep, difficult to dig up, and almost always intertwines with rocks, not to mention that a lot of it has been repeatedly sprayed with herbicide for years. It's a lot of trouble for a product with very little demand that's more often than not contaminated.

I wish all of you doing this the best, and I hope you don't accidentally cause a localized ecological disaster.

Wild-type orange daylilies are my favorites, followed closely by chives and nodding onions.

Judielaine Bush wrote:Regrets to Allen Ayers for hijacking their post.

No worries! I've completely neglected this thread so I'm glad you were around to keep it alive. As for the bitterness issue, I've heard that some populations are more bitter than others and that changing the cooking liquid partway through lessens the bitterness, but I don't like the idea of tossing perfectly good bean broth and I can't remember where exactly I heard that so take it with a grain of salt.

The seeds I mentioned in the opening post were all devoured by groundhogs in the seedling stage, unfortunately. This spring, I got another packet from Experimental Farm Network, planted the 4 largest seeds on my parent's property, and guerilla planted some of the smaller seeds around my neighborhood. I've not checked on the guerilla planted seeds for several months, but the 4 on my parent's property are doing quite well despite the neglect I've heaped on them. Currently they're fighting for their lives against an onslaught of both invasive weeds and native wildflowers, putting out quite a few flowers in the process. Only one plant has proper seed pods at this point.

A few years ago I had the delightful experience of tasting a gooseberry for the first time, and I was hooked! While looking into how to grow them for myself, I discovered that a lot of domestic varieties prefer cooler summers than we get here because they're mostly derived from northern European Ribes species. Since I love to dabble in plant breeding, I've decided to try my hand at producing my own locally adapted varieties and maybe even try to cross them with with the local Eastern Prickly Gooseberries and Missouri Gooseberries. Does anyone here have any experience breeding gooseberries? I'd love to hear any tips you may have!

I'll second everything already said, with the addition that if you really want a stone fruit to thrive here and you don't mind tart skin then wild plums (Prunus americana) do better than domestic stone fruits! Mulberries also do great if you don't mind colorful bird poop on everything.