Weeds

1
Weeds

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

2
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.

3
Impacts of weeds

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

4
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.

5
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 peoples
  clothing.

6
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

7
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

8
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

9
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

10
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

11
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

12
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

13
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

14
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