Saturday, August 8, 2009

Meet The Clovers

I enjoy the Clovers, looking for a four leafed one is the best, finding one is even better. I used to keep them pressed in between pages of an old book. I also used to enjoy Red Clover, I would pick out the individual inflorescences of the flower bud and chew off the sweet ends..it was like an instant sweet treat for a farm kid.

Red Clover or Trifolium pratense, this one was along our driveway. I was tempted to stop and have a taste from my childhood..but I left the sweet nectar for the bees.

White Clover or Trifolium repens can have plain green leaves or the stripe with the classic clover marking. These were at the Dentists office.

Aslike Clover or Trifolium hybridum, this one I found at a cemetery. It is also called Swedish Clover..I wonder if it is found in Sweden? Maybe Lady Fi can tell us? This is one of my favorite clovers simply for its color.

Now for some weird clovers. I have always liked the out of the ordinary plants.

White Prairie Clover, the experts are fighting over the scientific name of this one. The purple form is supposed to be more commonly found than this white form. I am still looking for the purple. I did find lots of white along our road. This plant is tiny, less than a foot tall and easily blends in with other white blooms. These white flowers bloom from the bottom up.

Rabbits Foot Clover, ground hugging and tiny..you probably can't see it from a car. I found this one last Monday when Chance and I were taking foggy photos about a half a mile from our house.

One great thing about the Clovers, they are in the Pea Family or Fabaceae. They fix nitrogen in the soil, enriching it naturally. Instead of robbing it from the soil, these plants make it and put it back in the soil. This is why beans are part of the crop rotation by the big farmers in our area.. they attempt to replenish..with a rotation of potato, beans (usually pinto), small grain, and corn. The field across from us is Potatoes this year. Last year it was beans. The potatoes grown here are for French Fries at McDonalds, large russet potatoes cut into french fries so they will stand up in the box perfectly. They have no taste, they are grown so huge and so fast that they have no taste left...but they make great french fries that stand tall in the box and taste like grease :)

14 comments:

lisa said...

I learned alot about clover varieties, Thank you!

That Janie Girl said...

Pretty, pretty, pretty!

Rae said...

Well I certainly have a greater appreciation for clover now. Maybe I won't be so annoyed with it as it keeps popping up all over my lawn. Well I take that back. I will like it better if it is in the neighbor's lawn along with all the dandelions. It looks much better over there in their yard.

Anonymous said...

I also learned a lot about clover from your post. I had no idea there are so many varieties.

L. D. said...

I bought a book today at Borders for four bucks of all the wildflowers. I bet you had to memorize it to be a master gardener. It has all of the stems and leaf shapes in it besides the identity and locations of the wildflowers in the US.
The red clover is one of the reasons I didn't become a farmer. I had to make hay for my dad and when we put up red clover, the dried plant was the dustiest and itchiest hay to be made. It smelled good green and maybe even when it was dried but the stuff that came floating out of the baler was miserable. The trifolium was mispronounced by me as Tree Foil and my dad like to have it in the pasture for cattle to graze on for good nutrients. Sorry about yesterday, I will try to behave from here on out....
I learned a lot from you blog.

Jewel said...

Do they make the french fries at the Simplot Co. in Grand Forks? I work for the
Simplot Co in Caldwell.

Anonymous said...

It's always an education when I come here.

L. D. said...

Ok, I am wrong about the trifolium above. I looked it up and my Dad did sow a plant called treefoil. It was a yellow plant and I should have been paying attenion. I just thought it interesting that the names are so similar in the way they are derived.

Far Side of Fifty said...

Thanks everyone for your comments!
Larry, Your comments are always appreciated. I don't perceive your comments Yesterday as anything to apologise for..your opinion is your opinion! I hope you enjoy your wildflower book!
Jewel, They make the French Fries at RDO/Lamb Weston Plant in Park Rapids MN. Better known as the Potato Plant to the locals.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed meeting the clovers. We have a lot too and the bees are going mad about them.

RURAL said...

I love clover also. And we sucked the sweetness out of the flower petals also when we were young. My Grandma had the best clover, but along with clover, came the bees. OUCH.

It is still a struggle to get customers to allow a little clover to grow in their perfectly manicured and sprayed lawns. "No it is not a bad thing to have a bit, blah blah blah, and NO you don't need to spray the heck out of it."

At least something stays mostly green all summer. I would love to have a small patch of lawn that was a very well behaved bed of clover. Ah dream Jen, dream.

Jen

Emma Rose said...

We never knew there were so many kinds of clover! Our neighbors actually planted (or maybe just left undisturbed) a large patch next to their vegetable garden this year to encourage the bees.

Kisses for Chance!
Emma Rose and The Duchess

Girl Tornado said...

Well, by golly, I learned new things today. :) Thanks for all the great info about clover. And I just had to laugh out loud at your parting comment about the potatoes grown for McD's!

DayPhoto said...

We used to raise red clover, just for the seed. The bees would be thick in the field. So thick they sounded LOUD when you changed the water.

This was a great post!

Thanks
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com