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This weed gets my goat!

6/16/2015

5 Comments

 
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A few weeks ago I’m at the airport picking up hubby and listening to CBC radio while waiting for the call to drive up to the arrival area to pick him up.  We have this thing where I wait at Tim Horton's parking lot and he calls  that he’s landed and has his suitcase off the carousel.  We started doing this when I used to take the pups along for the ride and didn’t want to leave them in the car because it was either too hot or too cold and then there’s the worry of someone stealing my precious babies.  When my pups are with me, I never park anywhere unless I  can see the vehicle from where I intend to go.  The airport changed the rules and doesn't allow dogs unless they are working ones.   I don’t think I could pass off wearing shades with four seeing eye poodles. 

I mind paying for parking, walking a mile to the arrivals area and then waiting in the crowds, especially if the plane is late.  This way I sit in the comfort of the car, seat back for a little nap instead of standing with a  throng of strangers complaining about the delays.   If we were younger and his coming home was more of an endorphin rush, well maybe I’d be inclined to wait with the masses to catch the first glance of him descending the stairs so I can see his face light up when he sees me.....ah...those were the days....  We kinda feel as old as crap and we’ve done it so many times that it’s no biggy.  He’s home, he’s safe, what more could we want! 

So I’m listening to this gal rag on and on about something called Goat Weed.  It’s infiltrated her garden to the point where she is at war trying to beat the enemy back across the property line. She’s pulled it and dug in the ground for the roots, even burned it with a torch but it barely ruffles the leaves of this tenacious weed.   She’s angry that it has taken over her garden, ruining any chance of sharing the fruits of her labour because she’s worried she’ll accidentally hand over a small piece of root that will infect another garden with the vicious interloper.  I’m thinking, boy this weed must be awful!  I have similar problem I’ve been battling for years that if I don’t weed constantly it creates a total ground cover but I've not lost my mind over it.  I yank it all summer but it keeps popping up here and there and luckily, because it's a shade lover my other gardens are saved from its squatting. 

With time to kill, and my curiosity peeked as the interview droned on, I had to see what this scourge looked like.  It was painted as evil, I needed to see the face of this green devil that surely had horns and fangs, so I got out my IPhone and looked it up.  I actually laughed out loud when I discovered the variegated nightmare staring me in the face was the same pain in the arse weed I’d been battling.  So now it had a name, "Goat Weed", the bane of her existence was also the bane of mine.  This weed was so infamous, it actually managed to get time on the radio.

Then it hit me.  I'd been wrongly optimistic for years....I would never win the battle. Only old fashioned hand weeding will offer a temporary reprieve. It will come back time and again like a well thrown boomerang.   It's a beautifully, variegated soft green and white, so I thought I would meet it half way and allow a manicured  small patch to stay,  that way we can both gain a little ground in this battle for territory.  This Goat Weed might get my goat, but I’ll take it by the horns and beat it back on my terms.  

5 Comments
shannon
6/16/2015 04:12:24 am

i love your blog. you wear your heart on your sleeve. awaiting the book lol. p.s. vinegar kills most weeds. buy the big jugs of white vinegar and go to town. unless you decide the goat weed stays.:o)

Reply
Donna
6/16/2015 04:55:02 am

Horny goat weed is an herb that has been a traditional remedy in China for centuries. It’s used for low libido, erectile dysfunction, fatigue, pain. Lol you are all set..

Reply
Della
6/16/2015 11:01:02 am

OMG, I have the same, back of my house, has ruined my flower bed. I tried to stay ahead of it with no success. Most of the say it is shaded back there, I had beautiful Sweet William growing back there, I dug up the entire bed trying to get rid of the week to no avail. I've given up and I've let it take over hate the stuff, sigh, spreads like fire

Reply
Shirlee Hogan link
6/16/2015 10:58:54 pm

LOL, Christine: I googled Goat Weed to see if it is what I have here and I got a site that told people how to get a goat to weed your garden.... have a good day!!

Reply
Judith Stevens Burgess
6/19/2015 11:52:17 am

I simply weed my garden and then throw a lot of much over the area. Alternately, you can use a chemical to kill the weeds followed by mulch.

Reply



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