"Annoying thistles" is a double entendre. Thistles really are annoying and today's subject thistle is canada. They are now ubiquitous and very annoying. When I was a boy driving the tractor that pulled the grain binder, on which my dad rode, harvesting small grain, we'd stop if we saw a thistle. There were that few. Getting our pliers we'd pull them. Now knowing more about their root system it's clear that that was not an effective method of control. With modern herbicides they are not much of a problem in crops. However, they are a problem in grasslands and that leads to the other meaning of "annoying thistles".
Today it was my task and turn to annoy thistles. They often occur in clumps, colonies, groups, bunched together. There were infected spots in a grass field. How did I annoy them? By mowing them and they were in full bloom about to go to seed which is the perfect time to annoy them. Why do I say "annoy". It's my choice of description because mowing may not kill them. Sometimes, after mowing, the grass will out compete them and they do wither. That is the hope.
Mowing at this stage of their development also greatly inhibits the spread of thistle seed. That is reason enough to mow. A side benefit this morning was disturbing insects and the flock of barn swallows took full advantage of that. They would swoop around the mower catching insects in flight. Suddenly they'd all fly away together to feed their babies what they'd gathered. A few minutes later they would return to the hunt.
This story is a clue that Kaia and I are back at The Little House.
Takk for alt,
Al
Grass with milkweed.
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