Wood Sorrel

We know it as oxalis. It's damnable in that once you have it any quantity it's almost impossible to get rid of it. The problem with it is that it has a root corm that divies up into many little corms that all become a vigorous new plant. It grows in the warmer weather and is then quite visible if the ground has been cultivated. It proliferates with cultivation and I suggest that the infestation I have at the farm in the vegie garden got a good hold in the days when we used a rotary hoe.

Every cloud has silver lining, that's why I love clouds. Today Meredith picked 15 bunches of wood sorrel (oxalis) for the restaurants. It is an edible herb so at this time of year it also is an income source for us. Not that I'd advise eating it in any quantity. I asked Meredith if she knew how they used it and she said she saw in the 'Epicure' section of the paper where the used a leaf to decorate a dish of salmon mornay.

The restaurant trade as well as the florists keep us very busy in the last few weeks before christmas. I felt some pride today as I looked over the 'Herb and Spice Garden' order waiting for pickup. As well as the woodsorrel there was a bag of dandelion leaves, nasturtium leaves and many punnets of pansies and mixed edible flowers. It's an interesting business we have, rewarding when you can give the customer what they want, and frustrating when we don't have it or so little that it's hardly worth the trouble picking.

 Demand for many things goes up and down frequently so to grow too much is a mistake, just as is not growing enough. It's always the struggle, deciding what to grow and how much.

Speaking of weeds I'll be picking green holly bunches tomorrow for Christmas orders. Not like the old days when I'd pick hundreds of bunches a week in the weeks before Christmas.