Below are only a few selections out of the abundance of weeds on this earth. Find your own around you, and remember to think twice before you kill them and throw them away.
CHICKWEED: Stellaria media is originally from Europe and Asia and is now found throughout North America as a typical garden weed; look for it in between farm rows and other disturbed ground. A small low-sprawling herb, with opposite leaves with pointed tips, chickweed has a mild flavor and can be eaten both cooked and raw.
DANDELION: Taraxacum officinale is an herbaceous plant that is one of the most commonly recognized weeds found in Asia, Europe, and North America. Leaves, flowers, and roots are all edible; the leaves contain seven times the amount of phytonutrients as spinach. Younger leaves, before the plant has flowered, are less bitter.
LAMBSQUARTERS: Also known as fat hen and goosefoot, Chenopodium album originated in Europe and has now become a common weed in farm fields and gardens and other disturbed ground. It grows upright as an herb with leaves most often shaped like a goose’s foot, with a powdery white film that disappears when cooked. A delicious leafy vegetable.
MUSTARDS AND MUSTARD FLOWERS: The young leaves of different Brassica species can be peppery when young. The yellow mustard flowers and seeds are juicy, sweet, and have a kick. Both bolted cultivated mustards (such as Asian mizuna, bok choy) as well as wild mustards (dame’s rocket or field mustard) have flowers that are sweet and delicious.
PASSIONFLOWERS: A weedy vinelike perennial, Passiflora incarnata is also known as maypop in the South. All parts of the plant are edible and make a soothing tea.
PEPPER SMARTWEED: Polygonum punctatum is an upright indigenous herb found in moist or wet open sites. The seed is peppery tasting and was used by some Native Americans as seasoning.
PHLOX FLOWERS: Native to the United States, Phlox paniculata can be planted as a garden perennial, attracting hummingbirds and pollinators in the summer. The flowers are sweet and bloom through the summer. Please only purchase nursery-propagated stock and do not harvest from the wild, because phlox is a declining native species.
PURSLANE TIPS: Portulaca oleracea is a low-growing sprawling weed of disturbed grounds, gardens, and farm fields. The leaves are fleshy and succulent like a cactus, and about ½ inch to 1 inch in size.
SHISO (PERILLA): Perilla frutescens is an herb of Asian origin, invasive in gardens and fields in eastern United States and noted for its frilly leaf and aromatic flavor.
SORREL, WILD YELLOW WOODSORREL: This small herb, Oxalis stricta, grows to 6 to 8 inches, with three-part leaves that look like a clover but are heart shaped. The plant is indigenous but commonly weedy with a tart, lemony flavor.