April 2013 20
tumbleweeds. If not for us, there would be less disturbed ground and the tumbleweeds would be controlled. Tumbleweeds can only tumble if there are no obstructions. So first of all we have created vast expanses of flat, open cropland for them to roll across, whereas previously the tall grasses of the prairies would have kept them from tumbling very far. Secondly, we have fenced in sections of our vast expanses, creating the only obstacle that stops them. Then we complain that the tumbleweeds prevent access to the fence for repairs and short out electric fences during ice storms and provide habitat for rattlesnakes. Tumbleweeds, like all woody plants, can catch and spread fire, but since we are often the source of the fire and we have made it easy for burning tumbleweeds to roll around spreading the fire, we need to take some of the responsibility. Tumbleweeds are also blamed for causing traffic accidents and scraping the paint off of cars, but how is a plant to blame for us using cars in the first place and getting in their way?
Every plant is useful for something, and the tumbleweed is no different. In the spring and early summer when the first tender leaves come out they are edible to humans, livestock, and wildlife. If livestock eat too much of the plant, they can be affected by oxalic acid concentrations. In general, though, the tender shoots can be eaten in moderation if not grown in high nitrate environments like fertilized fields. has been reported that tumbleweed shoots, which need very little water, helped the Canadian cattle industry during the Dust Bowl by providing fodder when every other plant was dead. Of the hundreds of thousands of seeds produced, many are eaten by birds, including the Scaled Quail and Gambel’s Quail. Shoots are eaten by bighorn sheep and pronghorns with no reported problems. The same shoots of S. kali are also edible to humans when less than about five inches tall, while the tips of the longer ones can also be eaten, steamed or sauteed. The book Edible and Useful Plants of Texas and the Southwest by Delena Tull even contains a recipe for leaves sauteed with onions and bacon—
And it has been reported that tumbleweed shoots, which need very little water, helped the Canadian cattle industry during the Dust Bowl by providing fodder when every other plant was dead. Of the hundreds of thousands of seeds produced, many are eaten by birds, including the Scaled Quail and Gambel’s Quail. Shoots are eaten by bighorn sheep and pronghorns with no reported problems. The same shoots of S. kali are also edible to humans when less than about five inches tall, while the tips of the longer ones can also be eaten, steamed or sauteed. The book Edible and Useful Plants of Texas and the Southwest by Delena Tull even contains a recipe for leaves sauteed with onions and bacon—now that’s a cowboy recipe. And think of this—if they are eaten in the spring then they are not around to dry up and blow around in the Fall. While I wouldn’t purposely grow more tumbleweeds, those that are out there can be controlled if we would only use them. Tumbleweeds actually help disturbed soils become restored areas by holding in the soil during the growing season and providing microshade for other plants to germinate in. When the other plants take over in following years, the tumbleweeds are crowded out. When an area is burned by fire, the tumbleweeds may be the only plants that can come back the first year, since their seeds are fire-resistant. So they can actually speed up the process of restoration.