Harvesting and growing weeds is easy. Many people do so without any effort at all. Instead of getting frustrated in the never-ending battle against weeds in your garden, take advantage of them. Many weeds are tasty and full of age-fighting antioxidants as well as essential vitamins and minerals. Some fresh weeds are delicious in a garden salad.
Step One
Treat the weeds in your garden like you do all your plants. Water them, prune them and thin them out.
Step Two
Harvest the weeds at the right time. Cut them at their peak. Overgrown, dry and old weeds taste as bad as over-ripened vegetables, while premature weeds taste bitter.
Step Three
Add lamb's-quarter to a fresh salad. It is a very common weed that grows in almost every climate. Harvest the youngest shoots right after they have opened. Use the leaves only and discard the stems. Wash them and mix them up with lettuce leaves.
Step Four
Use all of the parts of chickweed in a salad. The leaves, stems and flowers of chickweed are all edible. Wash them, chop the stems and use fresh in a salad, or mix with olive oil for a pesto salad.
Step Five
Mix mallows into a fresh garden salad. Both the leaves and flowers are edible, and can be harvested at any age.
Step Six
Eat purslane in a salad. This is another very common weed found in many climates, and it comes early in the season. The leaves and stalks are both edible and good in salads.
Step Seven
Win the battle against dandelions by eating them. The entire dandelion from root to flower is edible, and is especially tasty in autumn.