Thanks to John for this BBC article.
Previously, in many blog posts, I have talked about the nutritional and medicinal value of many of the plants we routinely label as weeds in Tasmania. After reading the BBC story I wondered if anyone is writing positively about Tasmanian weeds in such a way that it captures headlines. Alas – a google search revealed none. This is not to say that some Tassie residents don’t collect and use weeds or even actively cultivate some species; clearly from reading local permaculture sites and personal Facebook accounts these activities occur. Perhaps for the majority of the population the change in understanding and behaviours will be a long haul.
But then I remembered the neutral definition of a weed as ‘a plant in the wrong place at the wrong time’. In recent weeks I have had pea plants in the wrong place at the wrong time. Guess that made them weeds. I did pull and add them to the compost as I would any other weed. Right now I have a multitude of Feverfew plants in the wrong place at the wrong time, and have started removing these in the manner that I would for a weed.
So how many of your plants are useful at times and then not at other times?