Poisonous plants are a major cause of economic loss to the livestock industry. Two poisonous plants common to Oregon are poison hemlock and Western water hemlock. Ingestion of either by humans or livestock typically results in death.
Silage-making has been used to reduce the concentrations of toxins in a variety of crops. But in the case of poison hemlock, the opposite is true — making silage out of it actually increases one of its toxic alkaloids.
Companion planting can attract beneficial insects, serve as a trap crop for pests, improve soil health, and much more. This list was created by a retail nursery employee and offers some suggestions of herbs and flowers that can be used as companions to vegetable crops.
Bee gardens involve matching plants that bloom at different times, to bees that emerge at different times. And not all bee species go to all flowers. In this episode we hear about how all these factors come together in Portland gardens.