So I went for one of my uber long walks today and as I was walking back I suddenly thought to myself - why is it I feel OK about walking on grass but not OK walking on flowers? It's not like the grass is less important or less attractive as the greenness of it is so lush. Who decided this was OK? Also who decides which plants are weeds and why? I saw loads of apparent weeds today that I thought were really beautiful!
grass can handle being walked on much better than most flowers can. i think pretty much anyone can decide which plants are weeds. a weed is just a plant growing where it isn't wanted, so if you want it there it's not a weed, and if you don't then it is.
hehe that's so typical isn't it? Everything in this world seems to have double rules! It's like people always say that nettles are weeds but they have so many healing qualities
Stinging Nettle has a flavour similar to spinach when cooked and is rich in vitamins A, C, D, iron, potassium, manganese, and calcium. Young plants were harvested by Native Americans and used as a cooked plant in spring when other food plants were scarce. Soaking nettles in water or cooking will remove the stinging chemicals from the plant, which allows them to be handled and eaten without incidence of stinging. After Stinging Nettle enters its flowering and seed setting stages the leaves develop gritty particles called "cystoliths", which can irritate the urinary tract. In its peak season, stinging nettle contains up to 25% protein, dry weight, which is high for a leafy green vegetable. The young leaves are edible and make a very good pot-herb. The leaves are also dried and may then be used to make a tisane, as can also be done with the nettle's flowers.
I absolutely love eating Nettle! I personally hate lawn grass, but there are lots of grasses that are extremely rare and it wouldn't be right to walk all over them. But I do look at rare plants for a living so I am kind of biased and I hate to trample on any plants as long as they are native.
I think grass actually enjoys being walked on. Its a very kinky plant, you know. Flowers are much too delicate for that.
I like walking on grass and if you go back through history grass as in lawns are a fairly new idea relatively speaking. I really like now that nurseries are selling plants that are termed as step-ables, so you can plant them and walk on them. They are rather pretty and hardy as well.
I once trod about 400 feet straight down the side of a clear cut mountain, walking on top of the massed tangle of blackberry vines overgrowing the hillside. The blackberries didn't seem to mind but they tore the shit out of me. Fuck em if they can't take a joke.
