Blue Sailor
You can eat the weeds! Some are not safe, so be careful to consult a reliable source before you indulge (not just me!) For this list, I chose some flowering weeds that many will recognize. Do you know them? Have you tried to eat any of them?
Let me know in the comments!
#1 Chicory
#2 Dandelion
In the spring, you can gather young dandelion leaves to eat in salads. Or you can cook them as greens. Some people take the flowers to make wine but you can also make a kind of syrup with them or use the petals in baking. The roots are dried to make a healthy tea. They can also be roasted for "coffee" - the same as chicory!
#3 Queen Anne’s Lace
Queen Anne's Lace is a wild carrot plant. Be very careful in identifying this plant because there are lookalikes that are not safe to eat! The leaves of wild carrot can be eaten the same as leaves of cultivated carrots. Some people use them to make pesto. The root can be dug up and cooked but it isn't as nice as the carrots we eat today.
#4 Milkweed
This plant has fluffy seeds like the dandelion - but they grow in a fat pod instead of coming from the flowers. When the pods are still small, you can pick them and cook them. They taste a bit like asparagus crossed with green beans. Don't wait too long to pick them, though! Otherwise, you'll end up with a mouthful of fluff!
#5 Fiddleheads
OK, I'm cheating a bit with this one because it isn't a flower. It's a fern. In North America, the ostrich fern is the one used. But there are others that are safe to eat in other places. Please be sure to buy these in the market or to consult a reliable field guide before picking!
Fiddleheads should be washed in several changes of water to remove bitterness. Boil or steam to cook them thoroughly. If you like, you can finish by sauteing in butter. But it's probably not safe to skip the steaming step.
This is one that a lot of people grow purposely. I don’t need to since it grows in the vacant lot next door.
I love to watch for chicory along the roadsides and in vacant lots. It’s almost always there somewhere. And it blooms so long!