Wapsi Square Forum

In my days of agricultural biochemistry, I had to deal with burdock on occasion. Good fun.

The plants grow for two years, and chemical control doesn't work that well after about the first half of the first year. You can try 2,4-D or 2,4-DB or 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid, especially if you can mix them with a bit of 3,6-dichloro-2-methoxybenzoic acid (which might be a tad tricky to get your hands on, as it tends to be something of a controlled substance in many places). A mixture of monomethylhydrazine with nitrogen tetroxide might also have results.

After the plant has grown, you're limited more to physical means of control because the chemical ones don't have as much of an effect. You have to chop down the stems and dispose of them. Burdock only spreads by means of seeds (not by roots or runners), so if you can cut them down before they can seed then you can prevent future generations. The tricky part is if you already have seeds, because they can stay dormant for something like 14 years before sprouting. Which means that you may end up spending fifteen years or so having to hack away at burdock stalks until you're rid of the things. And then you have to keep any critters from bringing any new seeds into your yard.

Catawampus wrote: A mixture of monomethylhydrazine with nitrogen tetroxide might also have results.

Heh! That's in the "make plasma out of their breeding ground" territory, no?

I know we talk a lot about Titans in this forum, but I can't recall this particular area of discussion coming up before. And, I just finished reading Schlosser's "Command and Control", which was enough to make me acutely grateful that we survived the Cold War without any of the weapons accidents quite hitting the detonation point. 'Twer a very close call, several times. The burdock might have survived; our civilization might not have been so fortunate.

After the plant has grown, you're limited more to physical means of control because the chemical ones don't have as much of an effect. You have to chop down the stems and dispose of them. Burdock only spreads by means of seeds (not by roots or runners), so if you can cut them down before they can seed then you can prevent future generations.

The rhizomes of the younger plants are edible - they're a common and popular dish in Japan. "Peeled and boiled" seems to be a common approach; peeling, parboiling, and then pickling in vinegar seems to be the thing for burdock as a side with sushi. That might be one way to deal with them... harvest and cook 'em while they're still tender.

Second-year roots are too woody to bother with.

Been a while since I checked the FanArt Page. I of course always hit the like button everyday for Wapsi, but I've been pretty busy and haven't had a lot of time to art. Thankfully today I got some time to just browse and look at some things. Atomic, Shadow, and Dave like your stuff. AnotherFairportFan I liked you witch one, too.Monica Tina Idea I credit Jabberwonky for the idea. I planned to do more, but haven't had much time lately. Hope you enjoy and Wapsi is back soooon, but not soon enough.

shadowinthelight wrote:

jwhouk wrote:"Stay strong"?

It's been almost 24hrs so I guess I can give the answer. It's as close to a classic Wapsi line as I could get not actually speaking the language and the limited information I was able to find. Definitely didn't find find out if it is possible to verb nouns in Comanche like in English.
I couldn't find the word by itself but what I was able to get from some translations of whole phrases nii = I. And according to Urban Dictionary, at least in Oklahoma, bisu is Comanche slang for fart.

Yeah, it is. Local dialect makes sound like "bpi'suun". (really hard to find a good way to hit that kinda b/p sound at the beginning in writing)

Wdot wrote:Been a while since I checked the FanArt Page. I of course always hit the like button everyday for Wapsi, but I've been pretty busy and haven't had a lot of time to art. Thankfully today I got some time to just browse and look at some things. Atomic, Shadow, and Dave like your stuff. AnotherFairportFan I liked you witch one, too.Monica Tina Idea I credit Jabberwonky for the idea. I planned to do more, but haven't had much time lately. Hope you enjoy and Wapsi is back soooon, but not soon enough.

those are pretty good, though Tina's eyes should be silver not red... as per: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/silvereyes/

Great stuff Wdot! Love OOTS too. Applause, applause!

I agree with the others, Wdot, great interpretations of the girls. Good use of your limited arts time.

Dave wrote:

DinkyInky wrote:Know how to kill Wild rhubarb that somehow managed to be in my bag of Bluegrass seed? It's only growing in the area that has been seeded with that bag o' crap.

Oh, dear... you're burdened by burdock now? Bummer.

I was looking up something else in "The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" and passing page 133 'Burdock' caught my eye.

"burdock. Burdock (of the genus Arctium), or gobo, as it is also
called, has been recommended as a marvelous aphrodisiac by
several ancient writers, but it is generally considered a garden
weed today, one of the 50 worst weeds of all time. It’s that little
plant whose prickly burrs commonly stick to clothing. Th ere’s
obviously nothing stimulating about eating the burrs or about
rolling around in a field of burdock."

Sooo, maybe you could turn this into an economic opportunity...

Jabberwonky wrote:"burdock. Burdock (of the genus Arctium), or gobo, as it is also
called, has been recommended as a marvelous aphrodisiac by
several ancient writers..."

If you pick practically anything in the natural world at random... anything animal, vegetable, or mineral, or a part or extract thereof... there's nearly a statistical certainty that someone, somewhere, at present or at some point in history, does or has believed or testified that it's a marvelous aphrodisiac.

In the case of burdock, it would't surprise me if the ancient Doctrine of Signatures was involved in this belief. The Doctrine is the belief that the natural world was created in a way in which the outer appearance of a plant (its shape or color or growth habit - its "signature") was a message from the creator about the plant's virtues or uses.

In the case of burdock root, the Doctrine of Signatures would suggest that its root is intended to create a two-year-long woody.

Rule 34 of the botanical world?

I'm a bad person....



I'll have you know that I woke up at 3am with this in mind, and, after a severe giggle fit, managed to sketch it out so I could work on it after some more sleep. Finished it after work this evening, and added some Pom-poms to make it - ah - polite.

Just don't ask me to color it -- I'm still months behind on that Other project... hehehe.....

Those are some pretty big smiles...

shadowinthelight wrote:Those are some pretty big smiles...

OK, who gave those kids access to the burdock?

Stay Puft Marshmallow Hell?

JG: A̔̃R̓ͬ̀̒Eͬ̆͗ͯ̇͑̇ ͣͩ̏Y̓̔ͫ̏̽͒Oͪ̍ͭ͗ͯ̒Ù͋̍ͩ ͯ̀Aͬ ͮ̾ͭG͋ͧͨ̆ͦͩO͆͒D̔̈́̍̌̏?̿̓͗̍̾͐̔̀ͫ

c: N-no...

JG: Tͥ̏ͭ̂H͊̀̈E̍ͦ̂̉̑ͩNͥ͌ͤͨ̀̉̈́̉̚ D̿I̎̌̉͌͐ͯ̚Ẻͫ̚!̽̓̆!̀ͥ͑

Are you the Gatekeeper?, I am the Key-master...

I love that movie.

TazManiac wrote:

Are you the Gatekeeper?, I am the Key-master...

I love that movie.

Every Halloween that it is showing in the IMAX, we goto the special limited screening of it. My son actually got to help the manager carry the film canisters up to the booth. One of these days I will actually make more than my son's jumpsuit.

DinkyInky wrote: Every Halloween that it is showing in the IMAX, we goto the special limited screening of it. My son actually got to help the manager carry the film canisters up to the booth. One of these days I will actually make more than my son's jumpsuit.

If you ever get chance to make friends with people from MIT and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission you may get a chance to get him a working Positron Glider (Proton Pack I just like the sound of the first one)

shadowinthelight wrote:EDITED: Monica Zuul!
Stay Puft Marshmallow Hell?

BAHAHAHAHA!! Well played!