Start an Edible Weeds Patch!

The purslane and lamb’s quarters are very much past their prime, being quite bitter at this stage, so I’m declaring this project done! Next year, I want to steam and freeze a lot more lamb’s quarters for the winter.

We had a stretch of rainy weather that lasted about a week and the lamb’s quarters just took off! I need to go pick some leaves to see if they are bitter yet. If not, I should harvest as much as I can to steam and freeze. If they are bitter, maybe I’ll cut them back a bit as they are getting very tall.

The lamb’s quarters are taking over the weed patch, with the purslane not doing much at all. I suspect the purslane needs more sun. Went out weeding today and harvested 3/4 of a dishpan of lamb’s quarters, and noticed that the larger leaves are starting to get a little tougher. The stems would definitely be inedible! Maybe my pinching off some of the plants today will stimulate them to put out more tender, small leaves.

I’m going to cook one of the recipes for lamb’s quarters tomorrow. It’s basically bean soup with added LQ, onion, garlic, and chile seeds.

Next Day*
Photo of the very delicious lamb’s quarters.

I picked about 5 cups of lambs quarters this week, and DH wants to put them in a salad.

Went to the library yesterday, and while looking through the local historical collection found a cookbook with recipes for both lambs quarters and purslane.

The sorrel is looking really pretty with all of our faithful watering!

I see that the purslane has just broken through the dirt, so that’s a start.

Today, I found wood sorrel growing along the shady side of my fence. You would not believe the taste! It’s very lemony, and has great potential for perking up fish, herb spread, and other things. It’s a pretty plant, too. I believe it (or a close relative) is sold as potted “shamrocks” on St. Patrick’s Day. I think I’ll let it stay right where it is, as it seems to be thriving…and I used up my official edible weed patch with lambs quarters and purslane.

Godde alone knows what I’ll find to eat out there next!

I tried two edible weeds from my backyard, mallow and lambs quarters. The mallow was not to my liking, but the lambs quarters was delicious steamed. It tastes better than spinach, which I love!

I started my edible weeds patch where I saw the most lambs quarters already growing. I pulled out all the useless weeds, and transplanted a few lambs quarters into that area. Yes, you got that right—I weeded the weeds.

People on one of my Yahoo groups have been singing the praises of purslane, so I located some seeds at Whole Foods and just planted a whole bunch amongst the LQ. I guess if they really take off I’ll have to let the two weeds duke it out!