Growing Wild On Bedlam Farm

There’s a patch of Horsenettle growing in the corner of the North Pasture. With its thorny stems no one seems interested in eating it which is good because it is poisonous in large quantities.   It does provide pollen for bees and the yellow berries that grow in the fall are food for some birds and rodents.

Not too far from the Horsenettle a Red Current bush is growing.  It’s up against the north side of my studio.  It was only last year that I saw the red berries.  There were bunches of them then and there are more this year.

From what I’ve read red currents make a good jelly.  Which makes me wish I wanted to make them into jelly.  I even read a few recipes some marked “easy”.  But they don’t seem easy to me.  So I’ll leave all those red, red, sour berries for the birds and just enjoy looking at them and knowing they are there if I ever choose to make them into something I want to eat.

The swamp mint was easy to spot.  It looks much like some of the mint that grows in my garden.  I was surprised when I picked a leaf and rubbed it between my fingers that it smelled more like lemons than mint.

It’s growing around the edges of the marsh in the South Pasture.  I haven’t noticed the sheep or donkeys eating it.

The Swamp Verbena is also blooming in the marsh.  Like so many of the wildflowers growing on the farm, it is pollinated by bees, butterflies, and flies.  This one is not poisonous.  The seeds can be roasted and eaten and the leaves made into tea. The leaves and roots have also been used to treat certain ailments including nosebleeds.