[PLUG-TALK] Fwd: Lawn weeding robots

[David Mandel]

Dandelions are interesting.  As I understand, the dandelions we have are
actually a combination of true dandelions and false dandelions.  I suspect
the two are closely related, but I don't know.  Both are
edible although true dandelions are said to taste better.  I'm not sure I
can tell the difference between the two when I see them, and I strongly
suspect that I used a combination of the two when I have
harvested dandelions for wine and the like.  Now days when I
want  dandelions I buy seed from someone like Territorial Seed, Nichols
Nursery, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed, or even Johnny's Selected Seeds.  Most
of these companies carry the call French dandelion, although has a lot of
different dandelion varieties and not all of these
companies French dandelion seed is the same.  Territorial Seed is now
carrying Italian dandelion which has red stems and is simply lovely to look
at.

Dandelions are wonderful.  You can make wine from them.  I did that once.
Seemed like way too much work.  You can roast dandelion roots and make a
coffee like drink from them.  I have never tried that.  And you can use
them as either cooked or fresh greens.  Moreover, dandelions do pretty well
way into the summer when it is too hot for lettuce and a lot of other
greens.  And, dandelions are short-lived perennials so you don't have to
replant all the time like you do with lettuce and many other greens.
Dandelions will grow just about anywhere, regardless of soil conditions,
and they can take frost and other cold weather.  They even do well in
shade.  They are a great plant.

Now interestingly, dandelions produce lots of "seeds", but they aren't big
on sex.  Surprisingly, most dandelions are reproduced clonally.  See:

   -
   https://www.howplantswork.com/2009/06/08/is-sex-necessary-for-dandelions-apparently-not/
   -
   http://biologicalthinking.blogspot.com/2012/04/parthenogenesis-and-dandelion.html

David

On Sun, May 23, 2021 at 3:06 PM TomasK <tomas.kuchta.lists at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sun, 2021-05-23 at 14:38 -0700, Keith Lofstrom wrote:
> > On Sun, May 23, 2021 at 09:33:29AM -0500, Bill Barry wrote:
> > >
> > Perhaps a robot cage with an open bottom, shielding rabbits
> > while it slowly traverses the yard, would be an automated
> > cat-and-coyote-resistant version of Rich Shepard's Illinois
> > cage.  Bionic bunnies!
> >
>
> Having experience with picky animals (in someone else's yards/farms)
> they would eat the tastiest bits and leave the rest for you - most
> likely the weeds.
>
> I am afraid that it is down to killer robots or selective herbicide. I
> buy lawn feed pre-mixed with selective herbicide. I spray only the
> places which needed it along the edges and stubborn weeds once a year
> during the dry season.
>
> Yes, and I think of Linux while doing it so that I can write about all
> of it here. LOL
>
> -T
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