Learning a Few Things in the Garden

1. Do not water cucumber from overhead. Oops. Water around the plant as not to get the foliage wet. Same goes for zucchini and tomatoes.

To water tomatoes: water slowly and deeply every 2-3 days at the height of summer (if it rains, that counts). Water once a week once weather cools.

2. Plantain. I recently found out about this weed and I'm pretty sure we have some in the yard, but have never paid much attention to it. I will purposely go out and look for it now for positive identification. It has many uses: (Source: click here for info and uses.)

(It's the weed in front with the spikes: Phot0 Source: same as link above)

- "Plantain is edible - harvest the young, tender leaves for use in a salad, or steamed and used as a spinach substitute. The leaves do get tough quickly, so make sure to harvest only the youngest leaves. The immature flower stalks may be eaten raw or cooked. If you're really adventuresome, you can harvest the seeds. They are said to have a nutty flavor and may be parched and added to a variety of foods or ground into flour. The leaves, seeds and roots can all be made into an herbal tea. "

- "Modern medical research is proving to uphold many of the historical uses of plantain - especially as a wound healer, and as a treament for lung conditions such as bronchitis or asthma. Medicinally, plantain is astringent, demulcent, emollient, cooling, vulnerary, expectorant, antimicrobial, antiviral, antitoxin, and diuretic."

- "One of plantain's most common uses is as a poultice for stings, bites, scrapes and rashes. The simplest way to harness plantain's healing powers is to crush a few fresh leaves, and apply to the affected area."