I LOVE educating folks on what a weed is:
That's it, folks. There is no other type of weed. If I don't want it growing in my patch of dirt, it's a weed. Now, we as humans have done some real mix-ups in nature with this attitude. "Invasive" species are usually a variety that some human moved into an ecosystem where it wasn't ever living before, and then it thrives to the detriment of many other vegetation in the area (often native species).
At this point the vegetation is all mixed up in most of the world, so it makes a hell of a learning curve when you are like me and want to know what every single growing thing is! It also makes it so that with a little knowledge, you can forage much more in any given area than our ancestors could!
I am going to state now I, wish I could eternally flog the persons responsible for kudzu and privet making it to the United States.
Thankfully some of the plants brought to the "new world" I can see the benefit to, such as dandelions.
@naturalmedicine is holding this fun challenge asking participants to write about wild edibles. Many of the 'weeds' in your yard fall under this category! There is a 100 hive prize pool and it sounded like a lot of fun considering my plant obsessions. It also seems like a good idea to know what is around you every day that is edible, because arming yourself with a little bit of knowledge goes a long way to helping humans understand how to thrive and eat well on the Earth without the pitfalls of money and supply/demand!
You can learn more about how to enter the challenge here:
https://peakd.com/hive-120078/@naturalmedicine/win-up-to-100-hive-write-about-wild-edibles-plus-an-alternative
Now that we have established the definition of a weed and why I am writing this post, I would like to tell you about a 'weed' that I believe to be a native to my continent and also delicious. I discovered it several years ago through an amazing organic farm called A Place of the Heart that is located here in east Tennessee. They are some amazing folks!
Lamb's quarters (Chenopodium album) can be found throughout the North American continent. When cooked like spinach, it tastes like spinach, and is a superfood. When my dear friends on the farm indroduced me to this 'weed' as a culinary delight, I immediately fell in love! Growing spinach more than a few months a year can be challenging because of temperature, and finding something I can forage that tastes that good was a jewel in my foraging basket!
Here's what project food forest (a great site, by the way) has to say about lamb's quarters:
https://projectfoodforest.org/2016/08/16/lambs-quarters-chenopodium-album/
Check out their website to learn more!
Foraging in general is a lot of fun and what I consider a "lazy' way to eat because you don't have to do any of the work to grow the food, but it's a whole different type of puzzle when it is your homestead and garden beds. What I have discovered about lamb's quarters here on our little homestead is that they only like to try and grow in my garden beds, which makes it a bit difficult to let them grow to the point of foraging them.
Being a "problem-solver" most days, I decided I really wanted a permanent patch of lamb's quarters to eat, on my own terms. A little poking around and I discovered a great variety that is sold by one of my seed stores called Magenta Spreen (Chenopodium giganteum). Since lamb's quarters are annuals that happily re-seed themselves, I have found a way to have lamb's quarters in my garden to eat, but still feel like I am foraging.
Please note that gorgeous magenta color. It is present on the plants from very tiny, so it makes it SUPER easy for even the kids to weed the beds. Later after I finish harvesting these, I can use the space for growing other things, confident that as long as I let some go to seed there will be PLENTY more next year.
Here's a little reference I found specifically about magenta spreen:
You can read more and access several recipes here:
https://www.juliasedibleweeds.com/recipes/magenta-spreen/
Three years ago I purchased one tiny package of seeds. I sprinkled them all on top of one of my garden beds. Only a few plants grew that year, so I just let them be. That was all it took for me to have a permanent, self-sowing patch of lamb's quarters in my garden!
Last year, much of the bed was covered in these magenta beauties. I didn't garden much last year so they got the bed to themselves, other than some other volunteers (onion, potato, etc).
This year, I am doing a LOT of gardening, so we now have a happy medium. I am planting quite a bit of plants (both variety and amount) in this particular bed (it's about 50+ square feet), but I am leaving patches of the magenta spreen for us to 'forage'. Since we put a large amount of soil on the bed in the early spring, it cut down on how much of the lamb's quarters came up. I expect next year it will be another bumper crop, if I let it.
Did I mention I am a lazy gardener? Volunteers are my favorite type of plant ~ all I do is notice them growing, don't kill them, and voila! they are food!
I am also a lazy forager, so the more I learn about what I can forage the less distance I have to cover to get an easy and delicious meal!
I have truly found the best of both worlds with lamb's quarters, both 'wild' and 'planted'!
@naturalmedicine here is my lotus burn proof. I did it yesterday.
We have this growing a LOT here in Thailand and Thai people call it Indian spinach, LOL. IT IS YUM and I have eaten it often, usually just tossed in a hot wok with a handful of thinly sliced garlic. Volunteers in the garden always welcome at my house too. 😆