Japanese Knotweed - Tunnel Vision and Wheatgrass update

It’s interesting to see the length the local council is going to curb the spread of Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica). Once the jewel of a Victorian garden container has escaped and is wreaking havoc in open spaces and waterways, not to mention our own gardens. 

The creeping root systems and ability to regrow from the tiniest slither has marked the plant out as number 1 in the invasive plant league.  Our council have found a small clump with three stems along the edge of a fence near some land earmarked for development (at some point)  One time the plant would have been pulled up or strimmed down when mowing. 

Now though a square fence has been erected around the plant and fenced off with wire. We have a professionally printed plastic sign telling the tractor drivers to keep away and then detailing the three main stages of the plant for identification purposes. Images of the green leaves, dead stems and overall foliage are shown se we know what to look for.  I and making an assumption the plant itself will be treated with a suitable chemical and then removed before the fence is taken down. It all seems a bit OTT for three stems but if left unattended for a few seasons and there would be a massive clean-up operation needed as we all now know that you can’t just dig it up and dump it. Good show and well done the council for being so responsible. 

Tunnel Vision

I’ve finally gotten around to clearing the polytunnel. The frog seems to have left the tunnel without leaving any spawn in the pond (well submerged bucket filled with water)  So it looks like I will be going onto the local park and rescuing some that have been laid on damp tyre tracks in the grass. I know we shouldn’t move frogspawn and let nature take its course but when there’s no chance if it hatching as the soil dries I just can’t resist the temptation of picking a few clumps up.

I have some old parsley, rocket and other salad leaves still in there but everything else has been cleared. I’m mulching the ground with well rain rinsed leafmould that came from the edge of some beaches around the peninsula. It’s great stuff as it contains quite a lot of finely shredded seaweed too. The tide has broken everything down to a beautiful consistency which is easily worked into the soil. 

I have a smaller plastic covered frame in the tunnel too and although neglected it has housed some very healthy micro greens aver the winter. I have small shoots of broccoli and kale in there and they will be chopped back in much the same way the wheatgrass is being used. Talking of wheatgrass….

UPDATE:  Wheatgrass Experiment

The wheatgrass is thriving in the trays and I have got a pretty efficient rotation system going. I have about 8 trays on the go, all on different stages of growth - From new seedlings to fully grown grass ready to cut. I’ve found the leaves are at their best when about eight inches tall with a couple of inches of white at their base. When cutting I am leaving about an inch of plant and starting to get a bit of a second flush. They aren’t as strong looking but will test them out in a week or two.

One thing we found though is that a centrifugal juicer doesn’t extract the chlorophyll and liquid from the grass. Try as we might we managed to get one teaspoon of juice from nearly a whole tray of grass.  We have picked up a masticating juicer online though for about €25. It looks very similar to the old metal meat mincing machines we used to use before the butchers did it all for us.  After a few clinical trials I can safely say that this type of juicer extracts roughly the same amount of juice as the centrifugal one. I did have it set up wrong at first and most of the juice went onto the floor instead of into the plastic jug, but one sheet of tissue more than mopped the spill up. I think I need to grow the wheatgrass on a bit; at least that way I’ll get more than a teaspoon full from a tray.

UPDATE 2:  The frog appeared from under a small log in the bucket so just like in the building industry when they unearth an antiquity; all work has stopped in the tunnel until further notice.