Weeds Objective: Students will identify and scout for common and edible weed pests in the garden

Weed definition and impacts Weed refers to any unwanted plant in your garden area. There are approximately 250,000 species of plants in the world. Around 200 species are considered to be major weeds.

Impacts of weeds 1. Lowers crop yields and quality. 2. Less efficient use of land. 3. Higher cost of insect and plant disease control. e.g. Onion thrips live on ragweed and mustard and later infest onions.

What is an ideal weed? Germination requirements fulfilled in many environments. Rapid growth from vegetative to flowering stage. Very high seed output in favorable environmental conditions e.g. the redroot pigweed produces 117,400 seeds/plant Common purslane produces 52,300 seeds/plant.

What is an ideal weed? Great longevity of seeds e.g. After 40 years, 38% of velvetleaf and 7% of lambsquarters germinated. Adaptations for short-distance and long- distance dispersal e.g. weeds may spread through wind, water, humans or machinery and may have many special adaptations that may help them spread. Many weed seeds have hooks or spines that cling to fur or fleece of animals or to people’s clothing.

Lambsquarter Emerges after mustard but before pigweed Harvest only the young shoots soon after they unfold Discard older leaves and tough stems Boil leaves and flavor with bacon drippings Can add washed leaves to salads Can substitute for spinach in recipe

Burdock Cooked leaf stalks look similar to celery but better taste Lignan compounds may have anticancer properties Pick tender stalks in spring to early summer Harvest one year old roots from late summer to winter

Pokeweed Use to be favorite wild pot herb among rural peoples Harvest tender young shoots in spring Boil for 10 minutes then throw water out and cook w/ butter, salt, and some water for 30 minutes Can make breaded and fried poke Older plants, roots, fruit & seed poisonous

Amaranth and pigweed Includes numerous species in genus Amaranthus Leaves and seeds are edible Harvest when plant is young= only a few inches high Mild flavor Boil and mix with bacon fat Seed can be roasted and ground Make pancakes, muffins, biscuits by mixing with wheat flour prostrate pigweed redroot pigweed

Wild mustard Many mustard species, all are safe to eat Lower leaves are edible while the leaves on flowerstalk are very bitter Mustard greens must be picked early in spring Mustard green should be boiled for 30 minutes Season with butter and vinegar and chopped onion Excellent source of vitamins

Jerusalem artichoke Looks similar to wild sunflowers but lighter yellow and lack edible seed Produces small tubers that are edible Can peel and slice the raw tubers in a salad Sliced raw tuber has a sweet, nutty flavor Can peel and roast tubers or can boil and mashed

Wild sunflower Relative of the cultivated sunflower Seeds are edible – similar to the cultivated sunflower Can parch the seed and grind into a flour Can use flour in cookies, pancakes, muffins, or as a thickener for soups

Purslane Succulent plant, common garden weed Stems, leaves, and flower buds are edible Has mild acidic taste Has mucilaginous characteristic, so good for thickening soup and stew Can grind up the seed to make a flour

Milkweed Young shoots up to 6 inches can be served like asparagus Newly opened leaves can be served like spinach Unopened flowers buds can be eaten like broccoli Yung pods can be cooked like okra Have bitter, milky sap Cover with boiling water, after 1 minute drain, cover with fresh boiling water and return to heat, repeat at least 3 times more