8/01/08 A WEED IS A WEED IS... NOT A WEED

Friday, 8:00 AM. 61 degrees, wind WNW, light to moderate. The waters of the channel are again prettily patterned with varying degrees of wind and wave action. The sky is blue and mostly cloudless, and that is what the barometer predicts.
Soapwort, or bouncing Bet, Saponaria officinalis, in the Caryophylaceae or pink family, is a common perennial field weed of European origin. It is as pretty as many garden perennials. It may have arrived on our shores mixed with seed grains, or may have been brought by settlers as a useful plant. It exudes a mucilaginous substance which when mixed with water forms a soapy lather, from which it gets its common name, and it was so used by early settlers.
Many, if not most “weeds” are associated with food crops, the one not likely to be available to us without the inconvenience of the other. And, many “weeds” once had their own food, medicinal or other utilitarian uses. So, most of the plants we now call “weeds” were formerly nurtured by us as being useful, and yet we actually blame these “weeds” for our own current ungratefulness or ignorance. Sounds typically human, doesn’t it?