Every day, many people walk by a goldmine of new food. With grocery shopping getting more expensive and 'organic' food prices going through the roof, you have been getting better quality veggies than any grocery store offers straight from Mother Nature.
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Check PriceLook at all the super weeds we have! They may appear as ordinary weeds, but these self-seeding, weather resistant, and year-on-year stronger super weeds will do even more work than a farmer. Super weeds allow you to spend your time harvesting dinner from the lawn.
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1. Good King Henry: The Spinach That Never Gives Up
European kings admired and cherished this medieval green so much they named it after themselves! Good King Henry is different from modern spinach that bolts (flowers and sets seed) at the first hint of heat. Instead, it produces leaves from spring through to fall. The young shoots taste like asparagus and the mature leaves are rich in iron – 3 times more than store-bought spinach. And the best part, it is perennial! Once you plant it you can harvest for decades!
2. Sunchokes: Gold Rush from Below
These tall cousins of sunflowers have secret treasures buried in the ground! Each plant produces crunchy and tasty tubers. These tubers have some huge advantages over potatoes. First, they store better than potatoes, Second, they contain inulin fiber which feeds your good gut bacteria. Even better, they self-propagate, meaning you do not need to replant, and you will get to dig even more every year. Just a warning, you might become the unofficial sunchoke dealer of the neighborhood!
3. Sorrel: Nature’s Salad Garnish
Unlike most other lettuces, which will wilt in the summer heat, sorrel will continue to produce its bright green, lemony-tasting leaves that add a truly refreshing flavor to any salad. Sorrel is considered a true summer crop, as it self-seeds every year and will come back even stronger. French chefs and other culinary professionals purchase sorrel at a high price because of its unique flavor that adds a nice touch to a variety of soups and sauces. Your backyard version of sorrel will be even more potent than what they buy!
4. Miner's Lettuce: California Gold
During the Gold Rush, miners ate this vegetable while other common vegetables were not available. This plant adds vitamin C and crisp lettuce-like flavor to your dish with its round leaves and crunchy stems. It is an aggressive self-seeder, and in cool weather, it carpeted the garden with free salad greens during the bare garden times.
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5. Lamb's Quarters – Eine überlegenere Alternative zu Spinat
Affordable E. coli with a side of pesticides 'weed' Lamb's quarters is a superior leafy green to every single one you can get in the grocery store for protein, calcium, and vitamains. Lamb's Quarters grows pretty well even in today's droughts and will die as well as your sad little pampered dahlia garden cuttings. Lamb's Quarters grows and produces tender leaves in poor soil and poor growing conditions!
6. Purslane: The Champion Superfood for Omega 3
Purslane is even better than the recommended fish oil supplements because it has a higher Omega 3 content. Instead of paying high prices for salmon, which is heart-healthy, \you can get the same benefits by growing purslane in your own garden. It withstands the extreme heat and drought conditions that would other vegetables. Purslane sheds thick, lemony leaves that are great for salads and cooking.
7. Dandelion Greens: Detox Your Liver Naturally
Unlike most common vegetables, this plant is far more valuable and useful. There are many great advantages of this plant. Young leaves can help support the liver and can be added to salads. They can also be used to add bitterness to other salads. To make a coffee substitute that is free of caffeine, you can roast the roots. You can make wine with the flowers and the closed flower buds can be used as substitutes for capers. You have a complete pharmacy in your yard!
8. Nasturtium: The Benefits of Edible Flowers
Throughout the entire season, these climbing beauties generate spicy blossoms, peppery foliage, and caper-like seed pods. The whole plant is loaded with natural antibiotics and an unprecedented quantity of Vitamin C, even greater than found in citrus. They self-seed easily. Living salad gardens are formed by self-seeding, and are active until frost ends their flowering.
9. Sour Candy from Nature: Wood Sorrel
The heart-shaped leaves are super popular with kids because they are extremely sour. Wood sorrel is different from sour candy because wood sorrel is also good for you! Wood sorrel contains vitamin C, but also oxalic acid, which is good for your kidneys when eaten in moderation. Wood sorrel also spreads through underground stems. This means it creates long-lasting colonies of these sour greens.
10. Chickweed: The Overlooked Superfood
This green has more vitamins and minerals per ounce than almost any other cultivated vegetable. It can grow all year round even in snowy conditions. Chickweed tastes a bit like a mix of corn silk and salt. This makes it great for soups and salads.
11. The Band-aid Plant: Magic of Nature
Native Americans referred to this plant as the 'white man's footprint' due to the fact that European settlements influenced the land all the way to their settlements. The ribs of the leaves can be used as a dressing by chewing one and placing it on the cut and the young leaves can be used to give a stir fry a nutty taste. It is present in every place where people have been, and provides a lasting food supply in the disturbed earth.
12. Wild Garlic: The Spice That Grows Itself
These shoots and stalks are garlicky, and they offer no maintenance worries. As the stalks grow out horizontally above the ground, the flowering stalks produce new garlic colonies via seeds. Everything is edible: the leaves, stalks, and bulbs can all be used for cooking and seasoning, and the flowers make great garnishes.
To begin with, it is important to assess the situation in your immediate surroundings. Numerous organisms thrive in conditions where the soil is fragmented, and there is some exposure to sunlight. This is the precise environment found on the unattended sides of gardens. As soon as you learn to recognize these organisms, your perspective on the area will shift. With self-sustaining organisms, your grocery expenses will decrease and the nutritional quality of your food will increase.
