Controlling Thistle

[tortoise]

That certainly supports my pulling tactic.

How old is your son? Some of those thistle are hard to pull for an adult

He is 12. I pulls the little ones out with a dandelion weeding tool. He goes for the smallest ones. LOL. spring through fall, when he mouths off to me I tell him to dig thistles, usually 200. Which takes him about an hour. Part of the pasture is 75% thistles. Mostly little ones. DH brushhogs the pasture before the can set seed, but we're not winning. It's worse every year.

 

[tortoise]

 

[milkmansdaughter]

@Britesea , that's FUNNY!
But, that being said, IS it possible that you could harvest it?? Plants like thistle with long roots often bring up nutrients deep down in your soil, and also bust up the ground for other plants. I've been watching some videos recently that are changing my ideas about land management, and I'm wondering how you could benefit from this plant. But maybe there is a way for you take advantage of the bumper crop of thistle you seem to have? Here are a few ideas...
https://vifarms.wordpress.com/2012/...-properties-of-invasive-weeds-canada-thistle/

https://sites.google.com/a/georgetown.edu/urban-herbs/canada-thistle

http://www.preciousprairieplants.com/blog/canada-thistle

 

[Britesea]

There does seem to be a lot that is good about thistle. I'm wondering if ALL thistles are edible like the Canada thistle? It sort of sounded like it.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

In this case, I'm betting gf was Grand Father!!!

 

[Britesea]

found this... apparently the ubiquitous tumbleweed is edible, as is every true thistle (there are some plants with thistle as a common name that are not edible).

The Edible & Poisonous Tumbleweed: Russian Thistle – Salsola Tragus | SBCSentinel

 

[flowerbug]

We were not successful training sheep to eat thistle. Unlike the situation in the video, our pasture is to large and too good for the sheep to eat thistles. We are considering mob grazing the worst thistle pasture, but IDK if that will be enough.

More digging. 😝

i think it is so important when dealing with an infestation to learn about the life cycle of the particular plant so that you can apply various control measures when they are most effective.

just keeping up with cutting them back before they can set seeds.

also when using various machines to make sure they are cleaned out well before using them in some other area that isn't infected yet.

digging to me has usually taken one or two times to get all the deeper roots out and to exhaust any bits that you've missed the first time around. then keeping an eye on the area to make sure any residual seeds don't have a chance to get the deep roots established again. stirrup hoe, gets used a lot to keep areas clear once they've been finished and then reseeding with whatever cover crops i want in that area again.

consistency of efforts, making it a part of the routine and having time set aside for the tasks involved.

when you have clay digging can be quite the challenge but i find it a good time to take stock of the worm population and general soil conditions and seeing how my efforts to improve the soil have been working out.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Love me some mulch! That sounds a whole bunch easier than digging!

 

[flowerbug]

I dare you, lol!

i can't do it. but it is an amusing thought.