Nutgrass Poem by Sidi Mahtrow

Nutgrass



Looking across the verdant green
Grass growing everywhere it seems
Just emerging from winter's sleep
Soon to be ankles and knees deep.

But something's wrong with the picture
For Nature's certainly a trickster
Fooling the eye and the environment
With a disaster not Heaven sent.

It's nutgrass or by scientific name called,
Cyperus esculentus, which means "edible"
To those so gustatory enthralled
For snacks, drinks and medicinal tea.

But to the farmer, rancher
Or those others who grow grass
Nutgrass, nutsedge, Cyperus esculentus, etc.,
It's a Royal pain in the ass.

For it is an invasive species known world wide
That soon replaces other grasses in sun and shade. (Doesn't rhyme?)
For with seeds, rhizomes, tubers and such
It over competes, much.

How to answer Nature's spawn
And keep a decent lawn?
Pigs and chickens have been suggestions
But would never pass neighborhood ordinances.

Herbicides are possible but consider
Nut grass is there for several years pestilence
With its reproductive habits
No simple solution, there by chance.

The answer lies just before your eyes
It's an edible ground nut in disguise
Harvest them and sell to the natural health food market
And retire to a place where your profits can be kept.

s

Friday, August 8, 2014
Topic(s) of this poem: nature
POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
This year has been exceptionally wet in Florida and plants that do well in low lands dominate and spread. Such it is with the Tigernut that is common through out the South. Is there a future crop based on nutgrass? There is certainly a market for the 'nut' that grows in quantity and with commercial equipment easily harvested. In fact most of the Tigernut sold in the U.S. is grown in Spain. See wiki for a discussion on nut grass or nut sedge.
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