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Anyone have any idea??? I'm guessing its something that normally grows in livestock fields... but I don't have a clue.
Its HUGE - like 8 feet tall at least. Some kind of thistle?
Its tried to come up in the same place twice now - this year I just let it grow. For a while I thought it was that Mullein that Ginny was so happy to find (and that Cecil heroically harvested).
But then it got these spiky kinda things on them. Who can ID this monster for me - and can I do anything wit it???
In other news, I've probably driven about 400 miles since last Thursday's duck rendezvous. I have to tell you - people are crazy. Mostly I drive down to our little town at about 35mph and its only about 6 miles one way. The rest of the time I'm a passenger but we still never really go anywhere. So when I got on the freeway I was shocked that everyone was driving so fast! And people are crazy!
I used to drive a lot and never really minded. And yeah, I drove a little fast too. When we are were on our epic drive out here from the Left Coast I rolled over 99,000 miles on my beloved (now gone) Explorer. Right as the odometer clicked over I was going about 90 mph, uphill, tossing mahalo's out the window to the long haul boys as I blew past them somewhere in Idaho. Now, I poke along in the big work truck waving to the Amish guy that will probably beat me into town in his buggy being pulled by Ol' Gluefactory.
Anyway. I'm pretty sure most folks are nuts - or maybe its just us. I'm thinking about the contrasting meals I shared with two very different kinda people. The first with a fellow Farm Pirate - the both of us eating like inmates shoveling in plates of fried chicken and coleslaw like we hadn't eaten in a week. The talk was about our farm butchering schedules and our outrage at all the new laws to "help" us. The next was with regular people. They showed me their fancy phones while eating around the served food because several of them had dietary restrictions due to health problems. And why were we wasting our time growing our own food? Wasn't it expensive? Wasn't it just cheaper and easier to buy it in the store so we would have more free time?
I drove back to the farm as fast as I could.
That's my story today. Stay cool - its a hotsy totsy out there already! We have a heat advisory, do you? 100* here we come!
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11 comments:
That does look like some type of thistle to me.
Don't you just love sitting around with some people??? Aren't you just thinking "what the heck??", "they don't have a clue", "no wonder they have dietary restrictions" and things like that? I really have to be careful about what I say. Like when my sister in-law served us a wonderful dinner with pre-sliced carrots and stuff like that. I said "you really should go to the farmers market and get some real veggies" oops!
Heat Advisory here in NC too. I hear what your'e saying about people being crazy. I only work 4 days a week so after a 3 day weekend, Im heading into the big city traffic and I'm in shock... and I take the back roads. Speeding while texting is my big gripe. I think the new "posture" is walking around with your head down. If you don't look up, you won't see what about to smack into you. People are becoming so anti-social. They don't know how to talk face to face anymore.
Looks like Bull Thistle to me.
It's teasel!! It makes a wonderful addition to dried flower arrangements. It is one of my favorites.
I think it's some kind of Thristle! it sure ain't Mullein :o)
What use it has I also don't know..don't cut it down until you get more info..it might be a life saver :o)
I'm been living so casual here lately in NC I forgot how to set the table :o( I ask people to wash their hands and then help their own plate from the pot..take as much as you like , but eat what you take. Life is more relaxing for me that way.
Difficult to see the pic clearly, as I'm reading on my phone, but it looks like teasel to me. Google "common teasel".
That is a teasle. They grow rampant on our Oregon farm. Each one of those bristly heads has hundreds of seeds and once they take off, you'll be chasing them forever. Recently I've seen the harvested heads dried and with various colors to use as filler in professional flower bouquets.
Your monster is teasle.
I'm not sure if it has any medicinal use but my mother likes to collect some in the fall after it's dried and put it in a clay vase. I've seen people spray it silver or gold for the holidays but I don't really understand it - that stuff is prickly!
So this thistle looks like a plant we have in Texas, becoming a beautiful purple in August. Up until a few years ago, when the purple was at its peak, farmers knew that was a sign of 6 weeks of hot weather left for the year. I hope the indicator is still working in your part of the country.
Thanks cabighorse! As I was driving I noticed some blooming - so here's to six more weeks of hot!
Back in the day the thorny top burr of the teasel was split in half, mounted on a board or roller and used as a brush to separate the wool fibers before spinning and weaving.
We have a antique woolen mill near us called Watkins Mill and the history guide was demonstrating with antique wool combs made from teasel. Evidently places where spinners used to live often still have teasel patches.
See every weed has it's purpose.
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