I just read an article in Acres U.S.A about what a good vegetable lamb's quarters is. The article said it could be used in the same way that spinach is used. It also has more vitamins than spinach. I was wondering if any of you eat it and have either raised it or collected it from the wild. It sounded intriguing. I'd also like to know how you fix it in dishes.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), December 15, 2000

Answers

We eat it quite often. The nice thing is that it is a weed so it doesn't need any care. I usually mix it with other wild greens.

-- kelly (kellytree@hotmail.com), December 15, 2000.

Kelly, what other wild greens to you forage? I haven't eaten lamb's quarter, but I hear it's tasty.

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), December 15, 2000.

My family prefers lamb's quarter over spinach, and it's free. Another free food in the spring (besides those wonderful morels)are cattails when they are still green, we just boil in water like corn on the cob, then add some butter. Just make sure you when you forage it's not some place that has been sprayed. I have a friend that finds aspargus in a ditch near her place, I don't trust ditches on public roads.

-- Lenore (archambo@winco.net), December 15, 2000.

I like lamb's quarter as a green. I use it like any other green. I use the younger most tender leaves and stems. Naturally the best part is that it is free. LQ is the only foraged green I eat, but I do have wild onions growing on my land that I use from. The bulbs get to about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. They are a lot more pungent than domestic onions. I wish I had positive ID on more plants.

-- Notforprint (Not@thekeyboard.com), December 15, 2000.

We eat lots of Lamb's Quarters in the spring but we sure don't raise them on purpose. They're one of the worst garden weeds we have. I have to be very careful to see that they don't go to seed. Cut them when they are young and tender, steam them and serve with butter and a little salt. I use only leaves and very small stems. They are milder than spinach (my opinion) and delicious. As the plants age they get stronger and bitter but you can pick for a long time, especially if you keep cutting. They will put out new growth like most plants. I put leftover steamed greens in omelets, and you can use them like spinach in quiche. My spinach always bolts so for years we have only used lamb's quarters. Enjoy!

-- Peg (wildwoodfarms@hushmail.com), December 15, 2000.

Anyone raise/eat lamb's quarters?

We occasionally eat wild ones and rather enjoy them. Every time I try to grow the domesticated type my father weeds them...

-- William in Wi (thetoebes@webtv.net), December 15, 2000.

We love lamb's quarters! Kepp piching off the tips and you can have them long after the spinach bolts, and they are a lot more nutritious, very high in protein. We don't plant them, but if I see an area that has a very thick stand of the seedlings, I don't plant anything else there, just thin the lamb's quarter's so thay'll grow well.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), December 15, 2000.

We eat it too. Mostly as an additional green in a salad. My family doesn't get into cooked greens all that much. At least my dh doesn't, I can make the kids eat just about anything. :-)

I don't try to raise it. If I did, it probably wouldn't do as well as it does when I just pick it where I find it.

We also eat daylily blossoms and I know we could eat pretty much the whole plant. I plan on trying out the purslane that volunteers itself so readily in the garden as well. Then there's the chamomile that volunteers too. Don't know why I bother to plant much of anything anymore . The tomatoes will even volunteer to grow without me. I've had little yellow pear tomatoes for the last 3 years and all I did was throw out the compost......this is getting into another subject....anyone care to discuss edible yards?

-- Heather (heathergorden@hotmail.com), December 15, 2000.

A few years ago I helped a lady put in her first small garden and showed her and her kids how grow mostly salad plants. One day I asked her two daughters to weed the leaf lettuce while I went to do something else. After I left the girls got into an argument. They couldn't remember what I said to pull and what I said to leave. When I came back there were two piles of plants and a bare garden.

Most of the weeds were lambsquarters, some clover and dandelion or chicory. I picked out a few things that aren't generally considered edible, mixed the two piles together and made them eat it for lunch. They both paid more attention to what I told them after that.

Anyhow, LQ will pass as a salad green when young, but it's better cooked. Steam and sprinkle with vinegar or wilt in hot bacon grease.

There are plenty of wild greens that are easy to recognize, or have other edibles that look nearly the same. Sometimes I can't tell chicory from dandelion, both are highly variable from plant to plant. Wild lettuce looks about the same too. All three of them are good raw when young, cooked when a bit older and boiled in a few changed of water later in the season.

Ox-eyed daisies leaves are edible when young. There are a large number of Brassicas (wild mustards and cresses and the like) that all look about the same when young, but are all edible. The more bitter they are, the more they need boiled in a couple of waters.

Wood sorrel and sheep sorrel aren't related botanically, but share the same tart taste. I ate plenty of both growing up, but they say it's not good to eat too much of either. They are one of the few wild greens that doesn't get bitter as it grows and is good all summer long.

Chickweed is good, raw or cooked. It's very mild but I like to use it to cut the taste of stronger greens. Plantain is another common weed that deserves to be put on the table rather than the compst pile. it gets tough and stringy as the leaves mature, but the flavor is OK even late in the season. Broadleaf plantain is better than the narrow fuzzy stuff, but both are worth picking. Even the flowers buds can be picked and boiled or pickled.

Grape leaves make a good green when they first appear. Later they make a good wrap for other foods. New growth on grape vines are edible and can be very delicious. The tendrils make a good tart snack on a hot summer day.

Young poke greens are edible when cooked, preferably in a few waters, but they are deadly if they are too old. Many people eat them every year, but I don't recommend them unless you are sure you know when they are too old. Never eat any other part of the plant or raw or older leaves.

==>paul

-- paul (p@ledgewood-consulting.com), December 15, 2000.

Paul, I eat poke leaves and have it in the freezer. My mother-in-law has eaten it close for 60 years so did my grandpa. We know a couple people that eat the stalk they harvest in the fall. The berries are extremely poisonous, but they make a pretty dye.

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), December 15, 2000.

I am lucky to have some great neighbors who have toaught me all about wild greens. How did y'all learn about which to eat? Another green we eat in spring is young poppy greens (mixed with dandelions, chicory, and nettles). There are some other ones but I haven't the slightest idea what they are called!!

-- kelly (kellytree@hotmail.com), December 16, 2000.

lambs quarter is known as belgum spinach in the fancy resterant trade.we use a lot of unusual or wild plants at home . polk can be dug up and the roots forced like the chichory then cook the blanched shoots when they grow mhhhhh better than asparugus.there are lots of wild food plants just know the difference between them and the few poison plants that are out there

-- george darby (windwillow@fuse.net), December 16, 2000.

We have always hunted greens in the spring & we eat them cooked & in salads!!!!! This vegetarain / has always eaten the good things that are available in my area all year round!!! There are several wonderful books on the subjects----also check in your area if there is an educational tour of learning what you can find & eat in YOUR area! Those are always fun!!! Sonda in Ks.

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), December 16, 2000.

We eat lamb's quarters just cooked like any other green, and being weeds, we always have plenty--usually in the garden. I was raised eating milk-weed greens too--my family prefers them to all other cooked greens and I even can them. People tell me they are poisonous, but there are directions for cooking and preserving them in "Putting Food By" and generations of folks around here have eaten them. I like to wait until the first cutting of hay has been made, it rains and then the milkweeds all come back up, tender, abundant and the same size in quantity enough to can. A bushel will yield about 7 quarts of canned greens for me. Pick over them and clean of insects or dirt and grass, wilt in boiling waters( I do this twice and find it eliminated any bitterness from the milky sap) pack in jars and process for the amount of time given for other greens. Good eating with some cooked brown beans, country ham and cornbread--as I tell my husband, Appalacian Cusine!

-- Denyelle Stroup (dedestroup@hotmail.com), December 20, 2000.

we enjoy LQ in season and find that they freeze very well, holding their texture and flavor as well as any other green and a lot better than most.....Ron

-- ron (ronmister@hotmail.com), December 21, 2000.

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Don't have much more to contribute than what's already here -- LQ is great, and is commonly found along side another nice edible called Lady's Thumb (elongated football-shaped green leaves with a darker "thumb print" located in the middle). It adds a nice peppery flavor to salads, and compliment dandelion greens quite nicely.

¥

-- Chris in Mich (chackbardt@industrialvac.com), January 25, 2002.