Grow Your Own Magazine

Why would a farmer plant an entire field with borage?

This was then mowed into swathes in early august, then left with the missed or flattened stems now setting seed nicely. No harvesting of the plants as the swathes were left to dry/rot.

One borage plant on my allotment four years ago still has descendants claiming squatters rights.

__________________
Always thank people who have helped you immediately, as they may not be around to thank later.
Visit my blog at http://podsplot.blogspot.com/
I support http://www.hearingdogs.org.uk/

I was going to say that isn't borage a kind of green manure or fertilizer 'tea' until you said they left it to go to seed....

__________________
Shortie

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children; one of these is roots, the other wings" - Hodding Carter

and its used in cosmetics but why let it go to seed?

__________________
Yo an' Bob
Walk lightly on the earth
take only what you need
give all you can
and your produce will be bountifull

Hi Peter,

In the Netherland, farmers plant borage, sun flower, and several other flowering mix( I can't ID them ) during the fourth year of their planting schedule. They grow those mix plants to let the soil "rest" ( I don't know if that is a proper word ). I have no idea if those plant actually used like those green manure or not ( they said really to rest the soil ).
Hope I don't confuse you further.

Cheers,
Momol

__________________
I grow, I pick, I eat ...

Can't you ask the farmer?

To clarify the question.

The farmer mowed the crop in full flower leaving the cut matter to dry and rot on top of the stumps, what the mower missed is now seeding.

What is the point of growing it and not harvesting it as it is a prolific seeder?

I do not know who owns the field in question.

__________________
Always thank people who have helped you immediately, as they may not be around to thank later.
Visit my blog at http://podsplot.blogspot.com/
I support http://www.hearingdogs.org.uk/

Peter,
I'm definitey 'with you' on this one....
I fail to understand the farmer's logic. Unless he is wanting acres and acres of Borage next year, and the year after, and the year after, ad infinitum (sp?)
I've not yet personally delved into using Green Manures (although I'm really dead keen to now) and so am a total ignoramus, but I'm not remotely aware that Borage would be of any benefit to man or beast in such a role on the land?

__________________
With Love,
Wellie

Give it some....

http://hollycottagegarden.blogspot.com
New Blog update: Sunday 12th October

The question of why the farmer has planted borage bugged me ever since I've read this thread. Yesterday someone on the allotment extolled the fineness of borage honey bought at a farmers market. A google search brought up a Friends of the Article saying Borage is a high value crop grown to produce starflower oil for health food supplements and skincare products..
Full article at link.

The bumble bees loved the few borage plants i planted on the allotment this year. Noted that borage is a big plant and manage to harvest a few hundred seeds easily.

Are you sure it wasn't linseed (flax) - the flower is light blue like borage? Linseed is harvested for its seed/oil.

__________________

Dwell simply ~ love richly

It could be Flax. They grow a lot round here and the stems are lefe on the ground to rot (ret) a bit so that the fibers can be extracted for linen.

__________________
Gardening requires a lot of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. Lou Erickson, critic and poet

Another blue'ish plant is Lucern- used in hight quality horse feeds.

It was borage, I got a close look at some bits the mower had missed.

It had been mowed and was well-bleached, starting to rot.

Still puzzled, perhaps he wanted to make his set-aside look pretty, then got told how well it seeds.

__________________
Always thank people who have helped you immediately, as they may not be around to thank later.
Visit my blog at http://podsplot.blogspot.com/
I support http://www.hearingdogs.org.uk/