Common Lamb's Quarters

Chenopodium album L.

 

Lamb's quarters weed prefers rich soil and can most often be found in vegetable gardens, along roads and in open fields. It needs bare, loose soil in order to become established, so it's commonly found in compost piles, newly established turfgrass, waste areas and fallow fields. Lamb's quarters weed, when young, can be controlled by cultivating plants with a sharp hoe or spraying them with an organic herbicide. Older plants can be pulled, but this should be done when the soil is moist. Regular mowing and maintenance helps to control and, within a month or two, eliminate lamb's quarters weed.

Applying a layer of mulch to your garden that's at least 2 inches thick helps to discourage the germination and growth of lamb's quarters weed by preventing light from seeping through. Alternately, vegetable and flower gardens benefit from an application of organic materials, such as wheat straw, grass clippings or mulched leaves.

 

Many people see lamb's quarters as nothing more than a common weed, never realizing that a tasty and nutritious green vegetable could be enjoyed, free for the picking. Lamb's quarter, sometimes referred to as goosefoot for the shape of its leaves, is easy to recognize once you become familiar with it.

As with any edible weed or wild plant don’t eat unless you are positive of its identification and that it has not been exposed to chemical sprays or pollution. You ought to be able to recognize lamb's-quarters by the jagged diamond-shaped leaves with powdery-feeling, white-dusted undersides. From a distance Lambs Quarters always looks dusty, a deceptive trick due to a white powdery coating on the leaves. On closer inspection this powdery stuff proves to be quite a remarkable repellent: try washing the herb and you will notice that water simply beads and runs off. Thus rinsing it under running water can be a bit of a futile exercise, you have to actually submerge the entire herb and swish it around in order to wash it thoroughly. Luckily it is not the kind of herb you will often find encrusted with dirt - dirt seems to be removed from the plant's surface in much the same way as the water. However, insidious dirt, such as soil pollutants and artificial fertilizers pose a far greater threat. Lambs Quarters is a 'purifier herb' and in its effort to cleanse the soil, it absorbs these pollutants and concentrates them in its leaves. Thus foragers should be weary of patches where this plant grows in abundance - it could be an indication of soil pollution.

The leaves and stems are edible and absolutely delicious, with a flavor that can be compared to spinach or chard with an earthy, mineral rich taste. It’s difficult to describe, but if you enjoy leafy greens such as kale, collards, and spinach you’ll love lamb's quarter and enjoy the change of pace provided by its distinct flavor.Not as sweet nor as juicy as common spinach, wild spinach, also know as lamb's quarter, offers an even greener, earthier flavor. Some describe the taste of young wild spinach reminiscent to asparagus. Lamb's quarters weed holds its texture when canned or frozen much better than does "real" spinach. Producing triangular velvety-textured leaves, the entire plant, including the stems, is deliciously edible. Small black edible seeds on the plants are most often not fully developed when wild spinach is harvested and are still encased in tiny green pollen-like balls, which are also edible.

 

When cooking lamb’s quarter the easiest preparation is to simply steam the leaves and stems in a small amount of water until tender. The greens will cook very quickly and turn a dark green color as they shrink down during cooking. The cooked greens are delicious just as they are with no additional seasoning or flavoring necessary. The young leaves and smaller stems can also be eaten raw in salads. Or you can experiment by substituting lambs quarter for spinach or chard in some of your favorite recipes.

To harvest lamb’s quarter just cut or snap off the youngest and best looking branches from the top and sides of the plant.

  

High in vitamin C and rich in riboflavin, one cup of cooked wild spinach provides an excellent source of vitamin A, folate, magnesium, potassium, vitamins E, B6, and thiamine. Wild spinach actually contains substantially more nutrients than cultivated spinach. It does contain oxalic acid and for this reason it is best not to overdo it, especially when eating the raw herb. People with kidney problems should avoid this herb since the crystals can irritate the kidneys.

 

Lamb's Quarters is also a caterpillar host plant for Common Sootywing.