Thistles

I have a lot of thistles this year! I've dug up (carefully) those that are in the way, plan to chop and drop the rest at some point. I know bees love them (and snails, it seems) so I don't want to get rid of them all....

1. Any suggestions on control so they don't take over? Some areas of my field are left wild, currently 3rd year, ryegrass, mugwort, dandelions, some nettles this year, plus assorted minor players like chamomile, wild geraniums, wild chervil, bugloss, some kind of creeping thing I don't know... It's different every year so far...

2. Should I just compost them, or is there anything else I can more usefully do? Brew them up into a fertiliser? Can one eat them? (How?) I can't burn them as it's only allowed to have fires outdoors in March and (I think) September here... And I don't think my chimney would appreciate doing it indoors. I could be wrong...

I know thistles are very pretty and are liked by pollinators.  The only way to control them is to chop and drop them before they bloom.  I actually feel they are easier when gotten rid of when young.

Kristy said, . Should I just compost them, or is there anything else I can more usefully do? Brew them up into a fertiliser? Can one eat them?

Composting thistles is a good idea. Making compost tea is good, too.

Young thistles can be consumed by grazing animals.  As they get older, they could be rolled to eliminate the bristles and the livestock can sometimes still consume them.  They are quite edible and nutritious.  They grow in soil impoverished in available calcium, i.e.soil that has not enough active microbes to break down calcium or just calcium deficient.  I once tried chop and drop and it just made them spread.  They make excellent compost as long as seeds are not mature which would only spread them more.  Keeping them mowed will eventually weaken them, and applying humate so you have active microbes and lime as a source of calcium usually takes care of the problem.  

Fiskars makes an upright weed puller that I use. It is very effective for thistles. It has four teeth at the bottom. You step on it, and then bend it back to clamp and pull.

A little one won’t work. Needs to be as big as the Fiskars or bigger.