There was a little patch of star thistle taking hold on the hill between my neighbor’s house and mine. Just a few plants. Nothing that she even noticed. I just happened to pass by it the other day when I took a different route one evening to visit her.
The next day, the two of us went out with our buckets and garden gloves and pulled up all that we could find.
Star thistle is different from the blackberries around our yard that I’ve been trying to tame (more on them later!). Its roots aren’t that deep, and it pulls up easily. The thistle part if poky, but if you are wearing gloves (even a single pair) it doesn’t hurt. My neighbor and I spent a pleasant half hour pulling up the thistles, and returned the next day to find a few more that we’d missed. Every time I walk that way now, I stare at my feet to see if any more have popped up. I found a few today that were just starting to flower. Thankfully, I grabbed them before the flowers were fully developed, because apparently, each star thistle flower has one trillion seeds and enough power to take over the planet. Or something like that.
A few thistles that I found today. No planetary takeover for them.
I’ve been thinking a lot about invasive plants lately. During these months of staying “safe at home,” when I’ve been unable to work because massage therapy is an “unessential service,” I’ve spent a lot of hours in my yard. I started a new project, my “Blackberry Project,” which is my attempt to rid our property of invasive Himalayan blackberries, one twenty minute stretch at a time. I’ve posted a few “Blackberry Project” videos on my new Ordinary Holy YouTube channel (Apparently, making a YouTube channel is another way to spend time during a pandemic). Could you hop over there and take a look? Also, I’d be grateful if you would subscribe. I’ll be posting videos there that I don’t mention here on the blog. Here’s a link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRVwjQJYTm_F2l6WYQVg4MQ?
Thankfully, I haven’t had to do a star thistle project, because there is no star thistle in my yard. Not yet, anyway. I hope I can keep it that way by being aware, by regularly walking the property lines, and by pulling out the few plants that manage to grow. Our little town has been blessed with relatively small amounts of this scourge. So, when I see it, I do what I can to get rid of it.
I know there are more pressing matters. There is Covid-19 and systemic racism and white privilege and Donald Trump. Also, unemployment, which is something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately.
Even with all this, I can’t forget the star thistle.
I wonder how much of an impact we could have if we all did a little bit of star thistle weeding, whenever we were out in the world and ran across it. Especially if it growing near our homes or threatening places that we love. I imagine star thistle brigades, groups of like-minded people, venturing out in the evening, spending a few minutes together, talking and laughing, all the while pulling up a handful or two of star thistle plants. Or breath of heaven trees. Or Scotch brooms. Or whatever invasive plant is making a home near us. There sure are plenty of invasive plants around that we could choose from. What if we could just start seeing them and believing that our little bit of care could make a difference? Not all of it, all at once, but bit by bit over time?
That’s all I have right now. I’ve been spending my days lopping blackberries and pulling up star thistles, cooking elaborate recipes (Chile Colorado, anyone? It is delicious, but seriously took most of the day yesterday to prepare. Here’s the recipe if anyone is interested: https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chile-colorado. I found this in a Cooking Light magazine years ago, back when my children were little, but hadn’t made it very often. After spending all day in the kitchen, I remembered why. Still, it was tasty! After you make the sauce, you can add it to this dish, which my daughter loves: https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/red-chile-potatoes. Or this one, which I also made yesterday: https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/pork-marinated-chile-colorado
Also, if you’ve read this far, I have a favor to ask. If you are one of my faithful readers, would you please forward this post to a friend or two and encourage them to sign up for my email list? It seems like a good idea, to build my email list. I don’t know why, exactly, but it doesn’t seem like it would hurt. Especially in this strange time when so much is unknown.
Grace and peace my friends. Sending you warm greetings from the land of star thistles and blackberries, but less around here than there was before, so maybe even that small victory is something to celebrate.
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