
“The purpose of weeds is to correct soil problems.”
Our Regen Reads recommendation this month is When Weeds Talk by Jay L. McCaman.
Many of us see weeds as a problem – voraciously growing plants that steal space and resources from our crops and garden beds. Unfortunately, what we don’t always realize is that weeds aren’t actually the problem – they’re there to solve our soil problems for us, we just need to recognize what they’re telling us.
By looking at the groups of weeds that are challenging our cultivated spaces and examining their ecological function and preferred habitats, we can gain great insight into our soils and start to decipher how to address what may be ailing them – and by proxy, get rid of our “weed problem”.
Our absolute favourite part of this book is the extensive “Sheet 1” table that lists many of our most common weeds and their ecological associations, providing instant insight into why they’re in our fields and what they’re trying to tell us.
“Weeds volunteer to solve mineral imbalances in the soil and species of weeds change as soils degenerate and they change again when the soil environment improves. This book allows the reader to identify soil conditions based upon weed populations. Weed inventory is a very, very accurate method of identifying mineral requirements for all soil types and “When Weeds Talk” identifies 21 soil variables for over 800 weed species. Unique, informative and full of valuable information for farmers, gardeners, landscapers and turf managers.”
Regen Reads is COG’s monthly regenerative agriculture reading list