Farmer buys 'deadliest field in the UK' after discovering poisonous plant which can be mistaken for household vegetable

Daily Mail​

11 hours ago

A farmer has claimed to have purchased the deadliest field in the UK, after finding it filled with a harmful plant which can be mistaken for a common vegetable.
Speaking on his Facebook page, the account Field to Farm shared a video of his field which was covered in Hemlock.
The poisonous plant produces clusters of white flowers in summer, which makes it look strikingly similar to wild carrot flowers.
Hemlock is often found in damp areas, such as ditches, river beds and waste ground.
The plant can be distinguished by the distinctive and unpleasant smell of its foliage and its purple-spotted stems. Its smell means accidental poisonings are uncommon and even most livestock stay away from it.
Just a tiny amount of hemlock, if consumed can be enough to kill a human or an animal.
The farmer noticed the plants in a field which he had purchased and took to social media to warn his followers about the dangers.
He said: 'I have bought a field to live in and I've realised it is full of poison.
'Commonly mistaken for wild carrot, this is hemlock, and, just eating any single part of this plant is enough to kill me.
'And on this part of my land it is absolutely everywhere.
'The amount of this you have to eat to die is realistically quite small. Four or five leaves, done. Game over. A couple of hours later, you're having seizures and you are dying.
'If you are going to mow this stuff down, you are mostly ok, but don't get the sap on your skin because it is going to blister your skin in a similar fashion to giant hogweed.
'You can maybe make out this one is absolutely covered in aphids and it is already going to seed.
'It provides a lot of flowers and sap and stuff for the invertebrates around the farm, but bit of a poison and if you get the sap on you, it is not the best, bit of an irritation, potentially blisters.
'So all in all, if you've got this stuff growing, be careful.'
Both hemlock and its equally toxic cousin hemlock water-dropwort are members of the carrot family and so both cause a risk to anyone who attempts to eat them.
All parts of Hemlock are acutely toxic and can harm people if they are eaten, breathed in or just touched.
Symptoms include dilation of the pupils, dizziness, and trembling followed by slowing of the heartbeat, paralysis of the central nervous system, muscle paralysis, and death due to respiratory failure.
They are so poisonous that dead canes remain toxic for up to three years, and people removing the plant have to wear gloves and take frequent breaks.
Its' poisonous notoriety can be traced back through history - it was the plant that was given to the famous Greek philosopher Socrates at his execution.
Last year, two pensioners in Milton Keynes were furious after the plant was left to grow nearly eight feet.
Jean Crussell said she was forced to keep windows and doors closed and her dog shut inside.
She added: 'They ignored our concerns for many months. The plant is known to be lethal and could have killed my dog and affected my health.'
The tenant, 79, who lives alone with her Labradoodle called Taxi, explained: 'All the residents are naturally very worried as hemlock can be highly poisonous. There's pets and young kids living in the close of 20 homes.
'No one knows how the hemlock got here, it just self seeded and grew, and grew and grew!
'In the spring it was already six feet high.'
Ms Crussell, who has lived on the close for 10 years, said the plant first started growing in the close of council homes two years ago after two new houses were added to the road.
The authority was finally spurred into action eight months later and removed the deadly plants.
Ms Crussell added: 'Two new properties were built two years ago on a former grassy area. It's a nice little close.
'But the hemlock took over! It was just inches from my front door and lounge window and towering up to the roof.
'It shouldn't be residents' responsibility to clear it. These are council homes, many of us are retired and we pay rent and for communal maintenance which went up this year.
'I was so cross I called my local paper, the MK Citizen and they ran an article on Monday. The next day the council finally came around to remove it.
'They whipped it out quite quickly while I was out. They came suited and booted and masked on Tuesday and thankfully got rid of it.