This post, from two years ago, brings back memories of what I'll be doing today.
I hope your Saturday holds much more fun.
***
The ranch has been truly blessed by the summer monsoons. My acres of brown dirt have become a verdant meadow,
I hope your Saturday holds much more fun.
***
The ranch has been truly blessed by the summer monsoons. My acres of brown dirt have become a verdant meadow,
covered with plants and grasses and wildflowers the likes of which I have never seen.
"If it's green, it's good," I say, with only a few exceptions. Meet this summer's major exception:
This delicate, happy, little yellow flower...
...is now turning into an evil, sharp, dog-paw piercing fruit, which will dry and become the bane of Smooch's existence.
Out here we call them goatheads. My dearly beloved Willie takes great umbrage at the comparison.
There's a bumper crop of the stuff this year, and I spent the better part of the weekend
yanking it out of the back yard and the paths where Smooch and I walk.
The yellow flowers make it relatively easy to spot amongst all the other green stuff, but I will admit
to being totally overwhelmed by the task. There's no way I can make a dent in getting rid of it all.
I'll do the best I can, but I've already warned Smooch that she may have to wear shoes on our walks this fall.
Worst case, I'll get her a stroller.
No stroller! Smooch is spoiled enough already!
ReplyDeleteDid you ask Smooch about that? She may have a different opinion.
DeleteI'm quite sure that Smooch would say: "Run. Lemme RUN!!! I gotta RUNNNNN! But I'd appreciate it if I didn't have to pull goatheads out of my paws myself--getting some help with that would be cool. And then I can run again..."
DeleteThey stick in the soles of your shoes and come into your house that way, especially with carpeting. Nasty Puncture Vine. I pull them up along with my Russian Thistle (tumbleweeds) as soon as I see them n the Spring and early summer. But with the vast acerage at the 7MSN, they're probably impossible to control. Perhaps you can submit a proposal for a new weaponized goathead material to DARPA and make some money off the darn stuff? I've been thinking about how we can use the Cane Cholla in such a way given it's one of New Mexico's greatest resources.
ReplyDeleteCan't you spray some weed killer in your fenced in area? Sure looks painful!
ReplyDeleteWeed killer does not touch nor faze goatheads ... they can lie dormant in the soil for 3 to 5 years and with a good rain, they pop up overnight! They are almost impossible to get rid of but a nice thick carpet of grass seems to stifle them. I never had any luck with the grass, but the weed ... OMG ... grew like ... well, a weed!!
DeleteMarcia in CO
Spraying won't help because the seeds remain unaffected and propagate the following year. I found a biological control - puncturevine weevils - but they look to be rather expensive http://puncturevineweevil.com/strategies-for-establishing-puncturevine-weevils/
DeleteHmmm - an actual goat might come in handy about now. Won't they eat just about anything?!
ReplyDeleteYes, Carson does need to extend her animal collection. A goat or 2 would do nicely :-)
DeleteWhat about Hank, Lucy and the boys? Do they eat it or avoid it?
ReplyDeleteIs it safe/edible or does it taste bad and they avoid it?
M in NC
.... more worried about sick equines than weed control in this instance
If you get a stroller, you can't call it a walk. It'll be a stroll.
ReplyDeleteyukyuk couldn't resist
oh yes, little cowgirl boots for Smooch, that will be great!
ReplyDeleteGoatsheads, what a bane and a big pain. I've heard that they can even puncture bicycle tires. Stuck in the bottom of your shoe they can mar a hardwood floor. And that each one of those little goatsheads contains 7 seeds which each can lay dormant in the ground for 7 years!!
ReplyDeleteIt took me about 7 years to rid our vegetable garden of these nasties! What a satisfying feeling, a job well done.... and then we moved to another ranch and I have to start the battle all over again :-(
Good luck with the battle!