free mulch - if you skip pulling the right weed

[paul wheaton]

This video shows Helen Atthowe talking about penny cress. If you leave it alone (read: don't pull it out or smother it like you might do with other weeds) it will reseed, grow in the early spring and then go dormant - providing your garden plants with a helpful mulch that does not compete.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_fBY5UG-Q4

 

[Marianne]

Interesting, Paul. We must not have penny cress in our area as it didn't look familiar.

I consider weeds in the garden 'free mulch'. Most is ragweed and other nasties, wild grasses, etc, so I smother it with straw or yank and drop. I'm just dealing with a 24' x 40' area though. If I had acres that I was working, it'd be a different deal!

Thanks for posting.

 

[Neko-chan]

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[miss_thenorth]

I googled it to see what it looked like. I have plenty here. I seems it is being grown for biodiesel also. who knew . http://growpennycress.com/strategy.html