Flowers and seeds

Rhubarb seeds galore!

Two years ago I planted several rhubarb root balls.  Two of them took, and this year they decided to flower and give me an abundance of seed.  I love when plants seed, it is the epitome of abundance.  I am looking forward to experimenting with planting these seeds to provide a plant with so much vitamin C it makes my mouth water just thinking of it.  So maybe we can't have orange trees, but we can have rhubarb galore here in the midwest.

As I was out and about, I also saw another plant flowering.  But this time I was not so excited.  Five years ago when I moved into this property which would become the start of the CHN, I had an infestation of poison ivy.  I did what any city person would do, I hid inside.  Then I decided to tarp the entire back yard, then I didn't have enough tarps, so I decided I would find out what poison ivy looked like, and tarp off that area only.

I had great success.  I tarped the area for almost 4 months, and when I removed the tarps everything was dead. How brilliant, I thought. I am so smart! I don't have to use poison and I got it all in one go.  Little did I know you can still get poison ivy even when the plant is dead.  So city girl meets poisonous plant, and plant wins.  Since then I have quite the eye for poison ivy and I am quick to address it.  

Needless to say when I saw the massive flowering vine on my neighbors tree I was not in the least bit happy.  I could even feel myself starting to itch.  POISON IVY!  Yikes!  This was the most massive vine I have ever seen and it is about to throw seeds all over the neighborhood!  What should I do?

Well, first I went inside and washed off with dish soap.  Then I email the owner and my city council person.  Now I am blogging about it and hoping to see it be taken care of.  I am on a mission.  It is terrible to be afraid to play in the yard.  Our kids deserve a safe outdoor space. 

Most importantly, we are stewards of the land.  We help to make the world a little better when we plant healthy plants, and remove poisonous one.  This makes our neighborhood closer to the Garden of Eden.  The way it is meant to be!

So, keep your eyes peeled for poisonous plants, and quickly remove them when you seen them.  
Then, plant some seeds of your favorite edible forgeable.  Let's create the world we want to live in.

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Finally, I have thought a lot about the role we play in tending to nature and Mother Earth.  I suppose if it takes a bit of suffering to get to the point of eliminating those elements that would make our enjoyment of mother nature unsafe, then I am willing to take one for the team.  

This time, however, I am letting the professionals do the digging.

when city girl meets nature.

Most massive poison ivy vine.