Our namesake…

…and a stubborn little plant!  The Canadian Thistle dominated our pastures 20 years ago…along with Rosa multiflora.  It’s taken a long time (and many grandchildren serving hard labor) to get both weeds to manageable proportions.

We simply keep cutting them to ground level and eventually the plant gets the message and quits trying.

The multiflora was an earlier brainchild of someone who wanted to duplicate European hedgerows on this property.

While neither is considered edible, we’ve heard of people successfully training their cows to consume thistles.  They simply spray the plants with fish oil,  the cattle love it and eventually the fish oil isn’t necessary.

David