? Unapetizing Podding, Flowering, Fuzzy Plant...

We NEVER thought of eating these...

There were several of 'em last summer. We tried to pull all of 'em before they seeded our bed. They grew thick, hefty stalks but were really top-heavy. What if they show up again?

Hmm...the picture is hard to see and I'm not very good at plant identification yet. So, I can't help you with what it is or if it's desirable. One thing, though, that I did find with SFG was that if you are diligent about planting your squares by the book in a pattern, it's fairly easy to tell what is desired and what is not. I'm a total newbie so I don't recognize things in their sprout stage. Sometimes I let something grow a few inches to see if it looks like all my other plants (especially if it was really windy when I was seeding...lol). But with MM it's pretty easy to yank out what doesn't belong, even if you let it get a little larger.

So my answer to your question is....you now know what the leaves and plant look like. If you see it growing, don't want it, and it gets to a state where you can identify it (hopefully before seed pods form)...

Yank it! Just yank it!

kids were playing some kind of Michael Jackson Just Dance game the other day...

I think you posted this photo as a thumbnail so I cannot make it bigger for closer inspection. Did it have blue flowers and did the bees love it? It looks to me like it may be borage.
http://ooooby.ning.com/profiles/blogs/borage-1

Looks to be Borage to me. Perfectly edible, highly useful for both pest control and homeopathic reasons. Known to the ancients through to the modern era herbalist in Europe. I will say that a lot of plants I've grown and used for homeopathic reasons aren't popular in the US but that seems to be a cultural thing of trusting a pill rather than a plant.

You can look up "A Modern Herbal", "CU Herb Society", & "Flower Society (.org)". Sorry, still within my first week so I can't post links directly to them.

You can jelly the flowers, you can stirfry the young leaves (or wilt like spinach). I wouldn't use the older ones as they get much stronger with age. Don't attempt to dry it for later use, it is NOT recommended.

You can apply it as a skin conditioner/cleanser as well. I've heard of its use for high blood pressure & countering depression but I can't vouch for any such use so take those with a big grain of salt.

supposed to be a good companion plant for tomatos. repeals hornworms

Kay

walshevak wrote:supposed to be a good companion plant for tomatos. repeals hornworms

Kay

REALLY??? Me and the hornworms got into an epic battle last summer - it grossed my wife and daughter out when I would grab them off the plants with tongs and squeeze them until..... well, you know.....

Camp, Rhianna and Walshevak - I have seen references to borage and knew it had blue flowers, but that's about it.
Ashort - I read that just last night on this site about companion plants which has been passed around on the forum quite a bit: http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html#ALFALFA:

ashort wrote:

walshevak wrote:supposed to be a good companion plant for tomatos. repeals hornworms

Kay

REALLY??? Me and the hornworms got into an epic battle last summer - it grossed my wife and daughter out when I would grab them off the plants with tongs and squeeze them until..... well, you know.....

Gotta say it did nothing against my horn worms. Of course they chose to go after my potatoes & not my tomatoes - which had peppers with them - so perhaps I just had some weak borage or some tasty potatoes.

I believe it is borage, as mentioned above. You can brew the leaves into a tea. The flowers are delicious. They taste like cucumbers and can be added to salads. Or frozen into individual ice cubes to add pretty and interest to a beverage.

I know I'm like a broken record when it comes to compost but here goes: borage is great for the compost heap, thick stems promotes air circulation in the heap and it is a great source of nitrogen therefore helps to heat things up. Easier to gather up compared to raking up a bunch of lawn clippings.

llama momma wrote:I know I'm like a broken record when it comes to compost but here goes: borage is great for the compost heap, thick stems promotes air circulation in the heap and it is a great source of nitrogen therefore helps to heat things up. Easier to gather up compared to raking up a bunch of lawn clippings.

I'll remember about the borage llama momma! Is it perennial?

Windsor.P
The book I'm looking at does not say if it is a annual or not. But it does go on to say this -- young borage plants will stand through several frosts. If you grow borage often, expect to see volunteer seedlings, gently lift them to avoid injuring the taproots and quickly transplant to where you want borage to grow. So Windsor, to me it sounds like it is an annual but can reseed itself too.

Llama momma is correct. It is a WILDLY self seeding annual.

ladies!

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