Lambsquarters - weed or feed?
- Aunt Plantsy
- Aug 19
- 2 min read
Chenopodium album, also known as lamb’s quarters, lambsquarter, wild spinach, pigweed, white goosefoot, frost blite, mutton tops, midden myles, dirtweed, fat hen, and baconweed is an annual weed that reproduces through seed and is a close relative of quinoa and amaranth.
It grows rapidly in hardiness zones 4 to 10 and loves well-drained, fertile and moist soil. It can be found in gardens, cultivated fields, manure piles, disturbed land and vacant lots.
It has alternate, triangle to diamond-shaped leaves that are coarsely toothed or shallowly lobed. Many people liken the shape to the webbed foot of a goose. The leaves bear a whitish-gray powdery coating, which is especially evident on the emerging young leaves. Lamb’s quarters can grow to 3-5 feet and is a branching annual with a grooved stem that is often tinged with red, especially at the node, or leaf joint. The seeds are shiny and black and about one-third the size of a lone quinoa seed.
Lamb’s quarters is a nutritious plant high in calcium, iron, beta carotene, and vitamin C. Chemical constituents also include saponins in the seeds and older plant parts, which may irritate your stomach; be sure to run cold water over the seeds for several minutes prior to cooking. It is also high in oxalates so if you are prone to kidney stones, you might check with your physician first before consuming large quantities. Be sure to also drink plenty of fluids while consuming greens high in oxalates, such as spinach, Swiss chard, beet leaves, purslane, etc.
This has been grown as food for pigs and sheep in Canada where it is called pigweed. The young and tender plants are collected by the Native Americans of New Mexico and Arizona, and boiled as herbs along or with other food; as are large quantities eaten in the raw state.
The seeds are gathered by many tribes, ground into flour after drying, and made into bread.
The taste and texture of lamb’s quarters are very similar to spinach. You can eat the seedlings and tender new leaves raw in salads, or cooked in soups, stews, omelets, and more. The larger leaves, tender stems, flower head, and immature seed head can also be cooked. I’m also drying a bundle of the leaves right now and will be powdering them for use in a high calcium recipe that I’ve made in the past.
Resources: Foraging & Feasting, A Field Guide and Wild Food Cookbook by Dina Falconi Southwest Foraging by John Slattery A Modern Herbal by Mrs. M. Grieve Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine: https://chestnutherbs.com/lambs-quarter/?epik=dj0yJnU9QVZzNDc3cVdqUlAwbWozUFNYdWJsd2xRdHg3ZnkxU2EmcD0wJm49Nzdpb0JyaFprQndkTVUwUDk5NU95dyZ0PUFBQUFBR0tmenFZ https://cals.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants/SpeciesDetailForb.php?genus=Chenopodium&species=album
Please visit me online at www.peasbeewithewe.com
You can also view the following:
Comments