Weeds?

We know that little details are the most important, and we can apply this to the world of plants where adventitious ones (incorrectly called weeds) have been demonised for years through disinterest or misunderstanding, until some people nowadays are beginning to give them their rightful place, which they should never have lost.

As with so many things on our allotment, we had no idea of their importance. There were only a few adventitious plants and grasses, all of them biomarkers of the land. Such as mallow, which grows on land where the soil is much degraded and whose roots loosen it up, preparing it for other adventitious plants to grow, or the well-known couch grass, public enemy for many on the allotment, which loosens up the superficial soil with its horizontal roots and creates a little compost, a surface layer rich in nutrients.

Around 2019, a new colleague appeared on the allotment with an idea: to create a pollination garden, a small oasis for local species, imitating nature as much as possible so that all the insects in the surrounding area could add this new space to their territory, while establishing new colonies in the allotment with all the inherent advantages. And so adventitious species came to the allotment and followed by a few workshops and lectures, our community gradually gained awareness although there is still a long way to go.