Leijpark013

@leijpark013 · 12 Feb 2022

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Leijpark 013 Ringelwikke

#leijpark013 #ringerlevetch

Published by Thierry P. Dinjens · 9 February at 5:46 PM ·
Small creatures can cause major problems. To understand this, we go sixty years back in time. Although there were machines at the time, much was done by hand on land. For example, rye was still mostly mowed with the sickle. At that time, rye was the most cultivated crop in our country, as many as two hundred thousand hectares of this grain was grown; now it is only about four thousand hectares, Germany and Poland are now the big rye producers.
That mowing is and was (already) complicated by the presence of another crop, which literally fused around the rye stems and where the sickle did not easily pass through: Ringelwikke.
Those who see Ringelwikke for the first time will think: “what a tangle of stems and even without flowers? Not interesting, go through.” Those who look better will find the little white flowers that sand bees love. Ringelwikke itself also loves sand and moderately nutrient-rich soil. The Rogge growers were able to expel Ringelwikke by making the field lands more food. Then Ringelwikke alras disappears. That was necessary because the seed of Ringelwikke has the same size and weight as the seed of the rye. This meant that between the rye seed that was sown in the next sowing season there was always seed from Ringelwikke and if that ends up in the flour, the bread will taste bitter; the seeds of Ringelwikke are slightly poisonous.
Ringelwikke loves not only sand, but also rocks. Now we have few rocks in the Netherlands, just because of the fact that we don't have mountains. Ringelwikke, however, has found a wonderful alternative where she can still crawl over the stones to her heart's content and, moving on to other plants, make her way to the light: Churchyards. Gravestones and capstones are for Ringelwikke rocks, large flat surfaces on which she finds all the freedom to grow. The tendency that lies with us to move more and more to cremation instead of buried will ultimately affect the survival of Ringelwikke, as well as crop control on the rye fields.
Fortunately, there is still a place to be found where we can enjoy Ringelwikke (Ringel surrounds the host plant, the stems of Ringelwikke literally revolve around it, with the result that the host plant can succumb underneath): the Leijpark.
Here we find the plant, with white sometimes slightly blue flowers. So lovely, that you can hardly imagine that she has caused such big headaches in the past. The Leijpark welcomes her with open arms. There is no rye here, there are no sickles and hungry sand bees are waiting for her. She merges into the big picture of which she is, as small as she is (she is the smallest kind of wrapper) an essential part of.