This is one "weed" we have a lot of, and I'm glad for it. It's edible (the young tips are especially good eaten out of hand in the garden) and it's a nutrient accumulator.

I let them grow along the verges and when they get big enough (3 to 4 feet tall) I cut them down and throw them into the chicken yard, where the poultry relish them. We also use them as a free mulch in the vegetable garden.

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The Hopi name for this plant is "Sü'rswa".

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A delicious vegetable weed. Has a unique flavor, savory and kind of salty, probably most similar to Swiss Chards (Beta vulgaris var. cicla) or Spinaches (Spinacia oleracea).

I recommend eating young stems, leaves, and flower clusters. Very good gently stewed with caramelized onions. Old stems are stringy and tough, and not pleasant to eat because the tough parts remain even after they've been cooked. Once the plant starts going to seed, it tends to stop producing leaves even if you cut it back, so best to pluck off and eat the flowers and then cut down the plant for compost.

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Native throughout the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East, found in disturbed sites at low to mid elevations. Provides forage for field mice, slugs, beetles, sowbugs, millipedes, and crickets. May be used as a trap crop for leaf miners. It can help restore nutrients to poor soil. Emerges early in the spring, and if you have a lot of it you should pull it before it sets seed, or harvest the seed and use as birdfeed. Leaves and seed are also great to feed to poultry. Has many common names: fat hen or pigweed (used as feed), goosefoot (describing the leaf shape), wild spinach (may be substituted in any spinach recipe). I do not know why most folks call this plant lamb's quarters.

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