Wild greens are delicious

Weeds. Hardy, drought resistant, vigorous growers, they creep insidiously into every garden and flower bed. And if not closely controlled, usually by hoe or rototiller, they can quickly outstrip garden vegetables, steal their nutrients and sunlight, and choke them into non-existence. Is there an answer to garden weeds? Nothing that will eliminate them completely, but one possibility for many common weeds is to eat them! Because not only are they chockfull of vitamins and minerals, often more than what you’re growing, but they routinely taste better.

Dandelions are a classic example. These infest not only your garden each spring, but lawn and flower beds, and are hunted down and sprayed to temporarily eliminate them. But back when I was a kid in the 40’s and 50’s their coming was eagerly awaited. There were no supermarkets in those days, and few or no greens available out-of-season in the little grocery stores. So, each year my mother canned everything possible: green beans, turnip greens, kale, anything to turn back the possibility of scurvey. But by spring, we were voraciously hungry for anything green, and picked large pails of dandelions.

Mom would wash and clean the young leaves, add bacon and boiled egg crumbles along with a bit of onion, then mix vinegar and water, one part to two, bring the mix to boiling, and pour it over the leaves. The big bowl full never lasted more than one meal, and I still relish the slightly bitter taste of dandelions. And why not? The leaves are a richer source of Vitamin A than carrots, and have fair amounts of B, C, and D as well as potassium, sodium, calcium, phosphorus, and iron. Our bodies knew that, if we didn’t. Incidentally, dandelions, whose name is a corruption of the French “dents de lion” or teeth of the lion, aren’t a native plant, but were brought to North America by colonists who knew a good thing when they saw one.

Violets are another plant that can spread in a garden or flower beds, and they’re an unusually tasty weed. The leaf and flowers contain large amounts of vitamins C and A, the roots are rich in minerals, and the whole plant contains salicylic acid (aspirin). But most important, the raw leaves are tangy with a slightly astringent taste, and perk up any salad made of ho-hum lettuce and spinach. Some wild plant fanciers also make violet yogurt and candied violets. Yum.

Lambs quarters are another garden nuisance that requires continual attacks to keep them under control. But lambs quarters in those few homes who know them are the pick of wild greens. It’s often called wild spinach and might be better sown and grown than spinach because it definitely has more vitamins and minerals. Had Popeye filled his can with cooked lambs quarters, rather than the more famous garden herb, Bluto would have been in serious trouble. The plant is good from the ground up and Indians long ago used it as a potherb and the seeds ground into a fine meal. Young plants are best, but even in late summer leaves can be stripped from high rising stems and boiled or steamed.

You’ll look hard to find a garden (or lawn) that has no plantain, and it’s easy to spot. The leaves grow almost on the ground surrounding a spike or two that thrusts straight up. I once discovered that rabbits LOVE plantain and pulled it by handfulls to feed my tame rabbits. Now I know why. Because plantain makes excellent greens, almost as good as lambs quarters, and as usual, are loaded with vitamins A and C and minerals. In Alaska, Quebec, Nova Scotia the plant is known as goosetongue and Alaskan natives boil it fresh for immediate eating, or can it for winter. Boil the leaves briefly until just tender, eat with a little salt and save the boiling water to use in gravies and soups. Incidentally, the pioneers once mashed plantain leaves and applied them to cuts, scratches, and wounds as a poultice

There are lots more edible weeds. Like clover and purslane, wild mustard and shepherds purse, even chickory. and chickweed. It goes without saying that no gardener should simply gather every weed in and around his or her garden for dinner, because not all are palatable or even edible Get a library book or two that shows good photos and descriptions of weeds, make sure you know what you’re eating, and err, if necessary, in the direction of discretion. Then enjoy a whole new world of good wild foods that were once hoed down and tossed into the compost pile