permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflondon@mindspring.com>]

On Sun, 19 Nov 2000 15:42:52 -0800, "Yaya Balinci" <yaya@telus.net>
wrote:

>Is pigweed the same as ameranth?

Yes. It is in the amaranthus family;
pigweed (with sharp briers), leafy amaranth and grain amaranth
(both edible)

Then you have lamb's quarters, often found growiing in maure piles
with amaranth, chenopodium album. This is good raw or cooked
and is very nutritious.

>What are the benefits of morning glory (bindweed)?

It is an attractive annual flowering vine and is often thought of as a
pesky weed :-) but as such cannot hold a candle to Bermuda grass. It
can climb on tall growing crops depriving them of  nutrients, water
and light but is easily removed by hand.

As for its benefits from a permaculture perspective, there may be
many. Maybe it could be used for  weed control (might exude
allelopathic chemicals?) by outcompeting other plants for light
while it grows a canopy over them and around stems and branches.

There is a great website on morning glory:
http://www.exoticplants.org.uk/

Lawrence F. London, Jr. 
lflondon@mindspring.com    
london@metalab.unc.edu
http://www.ibiblio.org/london
http://www.ibiblio.org/permaculture