TINO: When it comes to wide open vistas,
it's absolutely beautiful here.
But if you take a closer look, things can get a bit uglier,
at least from the point of view of most gardeners.
There are swathes of common weeds across our farm
that need to be managed.
And although I'm none too keen on them,
they don't just have to be uninvited nuisances.
They do have their uses, especially when it comes to understanding
what's going on in the soil.
Capeweed and stinging nettles are indicators of nutrient-rich,
free-draining, cultivated soil.
Thistles, chickweed and purslane
are other common weeds that also usually indicate fertility.
Any of you who are gardening in a lighter soil
will be familiar with this stuff.
Capeweed.
But if you look at the plant individually,
it's got good strong growth and good verdant leaves,
which indicates to me that the soil in this patch is pretty good.
And like the capeweed,
these nettles are another good indicator of soil fertility.
If their growth was stunted or their leaves were yellow,
it'd show that the soil is lacking in nitrogen.
But they're growing pretty well,
so all good here.
And by the way, we love our nettles, and I'll show you why later on.
And another sign that a soil may be lacking in nitrogen
is the proliferation of weeds that fix their own, like white clover.
Really poor soils that lack structure
will support weeds like dandelions, flatweed and oniongrass.
Then there's dock and plantago.
These indicate the soil is likely to be acidic and heavy,
and most probably boggy.
You can often see them alongside sedges, like coach and nut grass,
in wet, waterlogged soils.
Native species like bracken are viewed as a weed in some situations,
but it can tell you a lot about the site.
It usually occurs when the soil is nutrient depleted
or when it's been disturbed or overgrazed.
But bracken, like many weeds,
is just colonising an area to protect the soil
from the harsh rays of the sun and weathering.
And your perennial weeds, like your bracken,
are able to tolerate the conditions in a spot for more than one year,
so they're more reliable indicators than, say, annuals,
which may only survive for the one season.
But regardless whether you've got annual or perennial weeds,
a mixed community of weeds,
where you've got many species, like here with your nettles,
capeweed, mallow and chickweed,
it's a better indicator of soil health than just one species,
because that may have been blown in on the wind, dropped by a bird,
or maybe that bag of manure that you bought off the side of the road.
So that's what weeds can tell you about your soil,
but how do we manage them here?
We slash, we mow and we brush-cut to get them before they flower
and then we chip them out with hand tools individually.
But long term, we mulch heavily
and we plant densely with cover crops.
And the nettles?
Well, Joy makes a mean gnocchi or a soup from the leaves,
but we couldn't possibly eat them all.
Instead, I compost them, or if they've got seeds on them,
I'll use them to make a weed tea -
a DIY liquid fertiliser that's good for your garden
and your compost heap.
All you've got to do
is whack your weeds in a hessian or a shadecloth bag.
A pillowcase will work.
And this is a good technique for plants that have seed heads already.
In here. I've got some nettle, I've got some chickweed and some capeweed.
And remember, the greener and fresher, the better.
Dump your weed teabag in a bucket of water and weigh it down
and leave it there for a couple of days, stirring it regularly -
bearing in mind, depending on your weed species,
you may to leave it there a little bit longer to kill the seed.
You can pour your steeped brew into a watering can
and splash it around directly onto your leafy greens
to give them an instant hit,
or chuck it on your compost.
That way it can help to speed up the composting process.
So read your weeds to understand your soil
and use them to make the most of the plants
that you DID invite into your garden.