Getting Started Organically
start with the basics

Environmental Issues
the law & the practice

Edible Garden
for food, drink & medicine

Trees & Shrubs
Mother Nature's way

Traute Klein, biogardener
Webmaster's background & work

Related Articles

Variety Salads Free for the Picking
A list of the most useful edible weeds which are found in my corner of the world.

Naturally Healthy Salad Dressing
Salads can be healthy and delicious and cost very little in time and money.

Don't fight the dandelions, eat them.
They taste great once you know what to pick, and they will curb your craving for chocolate.

Don't fight the dandelions, drink them.
Make the best coffee substitute. And how about some dandelion wine? It will knock the stuffing out of you.

Herb Teas from My Garden
Herb teas all around us are free for the picking.

Turning Wine into Vinegar
Turn your wine-making disasters into the best wine vinegars, better than any commercially available.

I don't drink water.
Might as well get some herb goodness into your system while consuming your mandatory 8 glasses of water. And how about making your own Snapple?

Medicinal Value

Weeds are richer in nutrients than almost any cultivated garden plant. They are a valuable resource for the compost bin, the kitchen, and the medicine chest. Using them on a regular basis is good preventive medicine, even if we do not remember their medicinal properties.

I will be publishing articles on the medicinal uses of weeds and herbs on my Allergy Lifeline website. In the meantime, you can search for them, preferably by their Latin names, in the "Plants for a Future" database.

Amazon Books & CD

Handbook of Edible Plants and Weeds, Vol. 2, Incredible Edibles Series, by Fern J. Ritchie

Handbook of Edible wild Plants and Weeds CD, by Fern J. Ritchie

A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants Eastern and Central North America, Peterson Field Guide

More Edible & Medicinal
Weed & Herb Books at Amazon

Delicious Weeds

by Traute Klein, biogardener

Weeds are survivors. They are loaded with beneficial nutrients. Learn to take advantage of their benefits.

Native Weeds

Do you hate weeds with a vengeance? I do, but only a few. The weeds native to my part of the world are not causing me any problems at all. It is the introduced species which are problematic, but even among those, I have found one which is beneficial, and that is the much maligned dandelion. I have written about it in an article linked below.

When I look at the functions of the weeds native to an area, I can see how they enrich the soil, and some of them are excellent sources of nourishment. When my family lived under Russian occupation in Danzig, we survived the summer of 1945 mainly on one weed which grows wild in every part of the world I have ever visited, and that is lamb's quarters. It tastes exactly like spinach. The Germans so much appreciate this weed that they have developed a giant size which I call my "giant German spinach."

In season, I harvest a gallon of salad every day even though I have not grown lettuce in many years. Lettuce does not appreciate our hot, dry prairie summers. Instead of trying to make my gardening environment conform to expected standards, I adjust my practices to whatever climate I live in and take advantage of the plants which grow well here. They are certainly more flavorful than lettuce at any time of the year. Many of them happen to be called weeds by most gardeners, because they appear uninvited almost anywhere. The most remarkable characteristic of weeds, surely, is their tenacity. They are survivors, because they have learned to adapt to their environment.

Early Harvest

Weeds are self-seeded and come up earlier than other salad ingredients. Early in the season they are so tender that they are hard to resist. They certainly taste a lot better than store bought lettuce.

Let's Be Practical

When I pick my salads, I roam right through my garden, picking a varied selection of flowers, herbs, and edible weeds. Where plants are threatening to crowd each other, I pull them out by the root. Thus I accomplish weeding and harvesting at the same time.

My Favorite Salad Weeds

Here is my list. Yours may be different, depending on your climate and soil conditions:
• Lamb's quarters (Chenopodium album) has to be my first choice, and I have already mentioned the reason. My mother used to just dip the leaves in hot water, just like spinach. I like it just as much raw, and I will cut it into soups after the soup has finished cooking. Unlike spinach, lamb's quarters as well as the German spinach stay tender all summer long, even in drought, and it does not go to seed until late in the season.

• Redrooted pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus) can be recognized by its dark red stems. Its tender leaves make a good substitute for lettuce. In its mature state, it can be steamed or stir-fried like spinach. It is more palatable in damp conditions than in our dry prairie summers.

• Chickweed (Stellaria media) is more delicate in taste and texture than most weeds and can be used raw at any stage of maturity. If the tiny stems become stringy, they can by cut with scissors. In herbalism, this plant is used as a diuretic, but then lettuce has the same medicinal property.

• To add something spicy to a salad instead of radish or cress, the mustard family weeds come in handy. Wild mustards (brassicas) tend to be too coarse and bitter except for small quantities of the flowers and the very young leaves, but the seeds and tender tops of shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris or Thlaspi bursa-pastoris) and pennygrass (Thlaspi arvense) have been eaten by most children if only because of the interesting shapes of their seedpods.

• The mucilaginous weeds are my favorite and the most common one is mallow (Malva neglecta or parviflora). The tender leaves are edible early in the season. Later on, the flowers and immature seedpods are most delicious. The seedpods are tiny replicas of those of hollyhocks and both are delicacies when eaten raw.

• Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) makes a rather juicy salad ingredient, but it completely disappeared from my garden within a couple of years of cultivation. Apparently it does not like to be disturbed in its natural environment.

• The new shoots of dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) are popular in European spring salads, but in our prairie climate, the leaves tend to be too dry for my liking. I much prefer to eat the flowers. Besides being juicier, they are sweet with nectar. I do not mix dandelion with other salad ingredients, but prefer to eat them alone. They taste exactly the same as cocoa beans. Many people, especially women, have a craving for chocolate. Eating dandelion or other bitter herbs satisfies that craving.

• Wild lettuce (Lactuca serriola or scariola) and sow thistle (Sonchus oleraceus) are taller and more slender than dandelion but the taste is similar. The flowers are also yellow except for those of the blue sow thistle (Sonchus alpinus). Wild lettuce can be used exactly the same as dandelion. Here, too, I prefer the flowers.

• Wood sorrel (Oxalis corniculata) is not a sorrel (Rumex). Its flavor is more delicate, sweet and slightly sour. Its light green clover-shaped leaves are enhanced by showy yellow flowers. It is one of the most attractive weeds at the edge of many gardens. Warmer climates grow wood sorrel with white of purple flowers(Oxalis acetosella).

• Dock (Rumex crispus), however, is a true sorrel (Rumex). This perennial weed pest grows profusely in swampy sections of fields, but seeds often find their way into gardens. In small quantities, the young leaves can enhance a salad. No one, however, has ever been able to talk me into enjoying any kind of cooked sorrel. The brown color alone is sufficient to turn me off.

• If your property has swampy spots, you may be lucky enough to have access to cattails (Typha latifolia or angustifolia). Try to catch the young shoots early in the season. They pull out easily and you can bite off the tender bottom end, one of the favorite delicacies of my childhood.

• In early summer, you might want to be more adventurous and experiment with the tender new shoots of needle trees just as they lose their brown wrapping. They have a delicate, slightly sour taste.

Hairy Weeds, too? Of Course!

Almost any green weed which can be found early in the season might end up in one of my salads. If it is too hairy, you can steam or stir-fry it for 4 or 5 minutes to eliminate the discomfort without minimizing the nutrient content.

© Traute Klein, biogardener