Learning which weeds have edible qualities can give you free foodstuffs.  Just because someone calls it a weed does not necessarily make it a bad plant.  A weed can merely be a plant in a place where you do not want it.

There are plants that can be very aggressive in their growth habits.  These you will not want to incorporate into your landscape.  I recommend reading the page  “Native Wildflower or Invasive Pest?”.

I’m always exited when an unexpected plant arrives in my yard via birds, rodents, wind or however.  It could end up being edible or just a beautiful wildflower.  Either way it came to me and it was free.  Once I have identified the plant I can decide what to do with it.  If  it’s not a noxious  invasive or illegal plant I decide if it stays.  Do I leave it where it landed or does it get transplanted somewhere in my landscape design? All part of the adventure.

My first experience, many years ago, with a plant that arrived on it’s own turned out to be a Coneflower (Echinacea species).  A beautiful wildflower. It is a highly touted  medicinal plant so it remained in the landscape. There was a reference from the annual publication of the Natural Food Institute, Wonder Crops. 1987 that leaves can be eaten,  but the rating from Plants for a Future indicates probably only used as a famine food.

Last year I received a poke plant (Phytolacca americana) roots are used medicinally, fruits useful as a dye, young shoots edible after changes of water. You can read about it at the following link:                                                        http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Phytolacca+americana

http://www.herbshealing.com/herbal_ezine/September05/healingwise.htmAnother article about Poke

I just love it when a plant springs up that I am not familiar with so I have the challenge of identifying it as it grows.

I have a  plant that came up last year which I was not familiar with. It has a beautiful rosette of wavy edged leaves. Interesting I thought. I’m continuing my search to identify it.

We have the very hardy dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) which is a wonderful weed! It is entirely edible.  Leaves  raw or cooked. Flowers raw or cooked, use for tea or wine making.  Roots raw or cooked- second year roots can be dried, roasted and ground for a coffee substitute.  (Leaves and roots can be used for tea also)  It’s a very nutritious “weed”.  I wish I had more in my yard. I eat the leaves so often they can’t regrow fast enough for me (Remember my yard is SMALL).

It is a good kids project to send your young ones out to gather flowers (if you are concerned about being taken over by dandelions). This will keep the numbers down because the picked flowers won’t go to seed and spread.

Use unopened flower buds in fritters or preserve in vinegar and use like capers. As always make sure any plants you eat have not been sprayed with any chemicals or pesticides.

The next time you have a “weed” (an unidentified plant) arrive in your yard why not leave it until you can identify it.  It might prove to an edible “weed”.