Ac Baker

My immediate thoughts parallel others above:  generally, built-up areas need more open earth to reduce rainwater runoff.

But I've been worrying more recently about what contaminants are left behind after concrete or other "industrial" built surfaces are removed from urban soil, too.

If, as you hypothesize, funds allow, after cleaning back to soil, I would also like a soil analysis for persistent contaminants.  

The results would inform my decisions about what to do next, in remediating the soil.

But I would definitely want most of the concrete gone if at all possible.

Best of luck.

Here's the folded 'tent' polytunnel cover we've been gifted ..

Still no sign of frost, which is getting relatively late for the Midlands of England.   Outdoor tomatoes and runner beans still quite green, and the toms are still flowering.

We have also been gifted a one year old 'mini polytunnel" cover, that's almost like a frame-tent with four hitches for guy ropes.  All that's wrong with it is that the two zips on the door flap have gone.   We have a plastic tube frame the previous plot-holders constructed as a net tunnel, which is almost exactly the right size for the polytunnel cover.  So our wonderful volunteer C is offering to help us convert the net tunnel into a polytunnel.  Watch this space!

C is also offering to make plant labels, to help other people who are learning to identify vegetables, green manures, and other beneficial plants.  Go, C!

I must remember to take some photographs next time it's sunny!

So it seems that there's quite a range of Phaseolus coccineus varieties, with different colours of flowers and mature beans, and seed patterns and colours.  

I was brought up in England exclusively eating the young sliced pods more like a 'mangetout pea', calling them runner beans.

But it seems lots of cultures eat theature bean seeds too, made edible as with the removal of lectins from red kidney beans e.g. a long soak, a minimum 10 mins hard boil, and then a long simmer in fresh water.

Exciting! Anyone here found any variation in the flavours of the cooked beans from the visibly different colours & patterns of seeds? Thank you!

Lots more info & important caveats on Plants for a Future:

Evening Primrose,
Oenothera biennis - L.

https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Oenothera+biennis

Transcript:

[23

BASAL LEAVES PRESENT, STEM LEAVES ALTERNATE, TOOTHED

16 Evening primrose (continued)

RELATED EDIBLES: There are many species of evening primrose in North America. All are safe to try but many are too tough or strong to be food.

HABITAT: Sunny, well-drained, disturbed soil: farm fields, pastures, building sites, gravel pits, beaches roadsides, riverbanks, sloped prairies. Native.

FOOD USE: Dig roots from fall through spring from rosettes that lack a stem; cook them before eating.

Tender, erect leaves from second-year plants in spring, just before the stem bolts, make a decent potherb In late spring shoots can be eaten after peeling and cooking.

Flower buds (located above the open flowers) are eaten raw or cooked.

Flowers make a pleasant nibble or cooked vegetable.

The seeds from ripe, dry pods can be ground and used in hot cereal or breads. Conservation 2/1/1.

COMMENTS: A common and versatile plant, sometimes subdivided into multiple species. All parts but the flowers and seeds are slightly irritating to the mouth and throat, especially when raw.

In some ways, my favourite volunteer plants are brambles, with their beautiful nectarful flowers as well as gorgeous fruits.  

But I also love scarlet pimpernel and veronica / speedwell for their flowers & gentle ground-cover.

Then there are the volunteer, self-seeding edibles such as salsify, and corn salad.

I love accepting the ways volunteer plants can enhance the local ecology.

I have absorbed from many sources, including Robin Wall Kimmerer, the concept of vigorous volunteer plants - of cultivated, or uncultivated origin, for which I can learn the virtues & most harmonious configurations - to displace the concept of "weeds".

"We’re showered every day with the gifts of plants. They provide the food we eat, the air we breathe, and medicines for mind and body."

https://plantbabyplant.com/

"“There’s no such thing as a weed.” This concept, from renowned Japanese botanist Dr. Tomitaro Makino, reminds us that every plant in nature has its proper name and purpose. "

https://hanamikke.com/en/172.html/

Kathy Gray wrote: I had 2 (Autumn Olive Shrubs)—-Service Berry …
Much to my dismay, one of my neighbors cut one of them down to the ground!☹️
They came on my property!

That is pretty scary.

What community support might you be able to find, to hold your neighbour accountable for such harmful behaviour?

Good evening.  Although I only did observational astrophysics, and how it helps constrain cosmology, I do have an observational cosmologist to hand.

Our first note is, we are observing from within the system when it comes to the Universe.

So that's fundamentally different from when we observe a black hole, as in that case we're outside the system, and the event horizon.

With the Universe, there is no "outside" from which to observe it.  By definition, the Universe contains everything within itself.

I hope you feel better soon: no rush to reply!