For many of us, spring means the opportunity to get outside and begin work in our gardens. Whether you are a novice or an expert, a vegetable or a flower gardener, there is one task that we all have to do many times over the growing season - weeding!

No matter how much mulch we put down, there are always a few hardy weeds that compete with our tender young veggies or flowers. As much as we might grumble about them, these plants can often be useful, providing food or medicinal remedies. As a herbalist, I am just as likely to protect a patch of dandelions as I am to nurture tomatoes or peonies.

My philosophy is that if you have done the work of weeding, you might as well make use of those plants instead of tossing them on the compost pile. And so, I’d like to share with you a few wild edible or medicinal plants you may find in your garden in early summer.

Before you pick them, here are a few things to consider.

1. Make sure you have correctly identified a plant before you pick it. You can refer to the photos in this article, and to make doubly sure, there are several plant identification apps you can download that are very helpful. When identifying an unknown plant for the first time, I always like to use three separate sources.

2. Before you ingest any plant, please make sure it has not been sprayed with pesticides, fertilizers, or any other harmful substances. If in doubt, don’t pick it.

3. The plants in this article are all very safe to eat or use, even in large quantities, but if you are prone to allergies, please exercise caution. Try a small amount and wait to make sure you are not going to react before taking more.

Lamb’s Quarters (Chenopodium album)

Part used: Young leaves and stems

This is a member of the spinach family and often grows in disturbed soil. Look for it in garden beds where you have dug or turned the soil. It can grow up to 3 or 4 feet tall.

When I first moved out to the country, I had an elderly neighbour who was a wealth of gardening know-how. He would often visit, sitting on a rock by my veggie garden while I planted and weeded. One late spring day, he came by as I was pulling weeds out of a patch of earth in preparation for planting spinach. Turns out I was pulling up Lamb’s Quarters, which my neighbour kindly explained – once he had stopped laughing.

The tender young leaves and stems are edible and taste remarkably like spinach. The plant tends to become more fibrous as it grows older, so it is not as palatable. I like to pinch off the tender tops and leave the plant to grow new shoots which can then be harvested in a few weeks.

Lamb’s Quarters often has a dusty white coating on new leaves; this is perfectly normal for the plant and safe to eat but does give it a slightly grainy texture if eaten raw. However, it is not noticeable when cooked. It can be used in much the same way as spinach – in soups, pasta sauces, stir-fries, etc. It can also be blanched and frozen for later use. I also like to add a handful of raw leaves to a fruit smoothie, which is a great way to get greens into picky eaters.

The plant is high in vitamin A, many of the B vitamins, and vitamin C, as well as calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc. It also has a very high protein content for a plant.

Like all members of the spinach family, Lamb’s Quarters is high in oxalic acid, which can be problematic if you are prone to kidney stones. Much of the oxalic acid is destroyed with cooking, though, so it is safer to eat cooked if this is a concern for you.

Broadleaf and Ribwort Plantain

Part used: Leaves

These plants are probably familiar to everyone. Broadleaf plantain likes to grow on pathways and on lawns. It will grow in compacted soil where little else does.

This unassuming little plant has a history of use that goes back at least a thousand years in Europe. Anglo-Saxon herbals written in the 10th century tell us that plantain, or ‘waybread’ as it was then called, was used to cure wounds, soothe coughs and protect against ‘the arrows of elves and evil fairies’!

Ribwort plantain is its slightly less hardy cousin and can also be found on your lawn.

This has longer, less broad leaves, shaped like a spear tip, hence its botanical name “lanceolata.” Both plants have ‘ribs’ or fibrous veins that run from the base of each leaf to the tip.

Both species are excellent remedies for insect bites and minor cuts and scrapes, being soothing and cooling and also helping to stop bleeding.

Pick a leaf and twist it in your fingers to soften it, then rub it gently over a bug bite or cut.

Chickweed (Stellaria media)

Part used: Above ground parts: leaves, stems, flowers.

Chickweed loves the rich soil of well-fertilized garden beds and can often be found growing alongside your veggies.

It is a low-growing plant that forms a mat of tangled stems along the ground, with leaves about the size of a fingernail and tiny white flowers with eight petals. A good way to tell it apart from other plants is that it has a single line of tiny hairs growing along the stems.

Many gardeners grumble at how ubiquitous this weed is and how often it seems to grow back. But it is actually just as tasty and nutritious as the vegetables it grows beside.

It is a mild-tasting plant, excellent in soups, salads, stir-fries, and smoothies. It contains calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, iron, phosphorus, and potassium, and vitamins C, A, and B factors such as folic acid, riboflavin, niacin, and thiamine.

If you eat large amounts of chickweed, you may notice it has a mild laxative and diuretic effect, especially if eaten raw. In fact, our great-grandmothers knew this well and would often include this herb in their cooking as soon as they could find it in the spring. It was a gentle way to alleviate the effects of a winter diet heavy on salted or preserved foods.

If you take a handful of the leaves and stems and crush them in your hands, you will feel a slightly sticky juice reminiscent of okra. This is wonderfully soothing and cooling for sunburns and bug bites, as well as skin conditions such as eczema. It can be rubbed on the skin or a handful of the plant gently crushed and added to bathwater.

Sometimes the most useful plants are the ones we overlook. We tend to focus our time and energy on our carefully nurtured seedlings or garden center purchases, but the humble garden weed has much to offer. So, as you work in your garden this summer, keep an eye out for Lamb’s Quarters, Chickweed and Plantain, you are sure to find at least one of them.

The difference between weeding and harvesting is knowing what to do with weeds!

Rebecca