Day 220, Year 9: The Weed Eaters
Date: Thursday, May 29, 2014
Weather: Sunny and Warmer
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, Massachusetts
Mark and I are big time weed eaters. And I don’t mean that we use a handheld tool to cut weeds. I mean that literally we love to eat certain weeds and have for years. There are two weeds that we really enjoy at this time of year—lamb’s quarter and poke weed. And the wonderful thing is that these weeds are incredibly prolific and will take over your garden if you don’t religiously pull it up . . . and then cook and eat it. Heather intentionally lets the lamb’s quarter grow in her garden and when she needs to plant an area, she simply eats the weeds she takes out of the garden. So today Ollie and I worked in the garden and I pulled up the lamb’s quarter that was just the right size. Then I walked around the outside of the garden and picked poke greens. I then cooked these greens just as you would spinach and enjoyed the free food that is jam-packed with nutrition. Lamb’s quarter has more calcium and Vitamin A than most other greens like spinach and Swiss chard and it also has a high concentration of B vitamins. So the next time you pull up one of these pesky weeds, pull up some more and head to the kitchen. The Latin name for lamb’s quarter is Chenopodium album. ‘Cheno’ translates as goose and ‘pod’ as foot, so this weed is often called goosefoot. I really enjoyed the following story I found on the web. Hope you enjoy it, too.
Lamb’s Quarters–Chenopodium album
A Story by Susun Weed, 2009
I told the new apprentice we were having lamb’s quarters for dinner.
“I won’t have any. I’m a vegetarian,” she replied.
With a smile, I corrected myself. “Some people call it fat hen.”
“I don’t eat chicken either,” she responded with a frown.
“It’s also called goosefoot,” I countered, suppressing a grin.
“Not goose, not even the feet, do I eat,” she said with force.
And I agreed, “Pigweed is a more common name for it.”
“No matter what kind of animal it is, I am NOT going to eat it,” she stated firmly, her eyes shining with fervor and unshed tears.
I confessed, now openly laughing. “It’s a weed. A plant. A cooked green!”
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| 140529 Day 220 Cape Cod, USA–Lamb's Quarter and Poke Greens |
