24/05/2024
The plant you need to learn to love
If you have Horsetail (actual name: Equisetum arvense) in your garden you need to learn to love it, or at least use it, because you will never get rid of it. If you’re lucky you have it not too close, but close enough to forage - start collecting. With as much rain as we are having in Belgium and many other countries, you will need this.
For years I was a weekend gardener (that’s when gardening was “labour” and not a labour of love). I only saw this persistent, irritating, frustrating plant as a w**d … the bane of my garden. I tried everything to get rid of it. When I started gardening for the joy of it, I started looking things up and discovered this prehistoric plant sets roots meters underground and it is going to be with me forever. They say you can pull it up and exhaust it,but all that did was exhaust me. To be honest it is still a pain, but I’ve found another way to get rid of it.
It is a great foliar spray and more. A natural fungicide it can help PREVENT powdery mildew, rust, blight, black spot. Spray on leaves once a week when dry or more often when you have a lot of rain, especially if the rain is accompanied by warmth. You can also use it to wash down your green house anytime of the year.
You can make a quick “tea” overnight or “purine”, which takes weeks and is really stinky but less work.
