We’re in the very early days of “Thistle Season,” which sadly lasts from November into August. That’s right, those of us who struggle against thistle get something like 2-3 months off a year. And knowing how relentless invasive species can be, that actually seems generous to this obsessed lunatic. Italian thistle starts coming in as early as the rain does while Yellow starthistle doesn’t come in until much later in the season, like around May and extending into August.

Right now most of the Italian thistle looks totally tiny. Thankfully, I’ve come to recognize Italian thistle as soon as the third leaf comes in. This is because the third (and then later, the fourth) leaf comes in with spikes (see picture). It’s completely unique among the plants found on the Sonoma Overlook Trail and the Montini Open Space Preserve, so you know you have it dead to rights.

And the great thing about pulling Italian thistle now is that all you need to do is to pull it and toss it. Later, when it goes to flower, we will need to bag it up and carry it out. We dump our bags beside the dumpster in Mountain Cemetery next to the City Public Works Yard. Most years the pile gets to be about ten feet in circumference and about five feet high.

But before we even begin to create that pile we’ve pulled thousands of plants and tossed them aside. Starting with the plants that show that tell-tale third leaf.