Photo courtesy of nod_432 at Flickr.com.

There’s a saying that any plant’s a weed until you figure out what it’s good for, and certainly most of the plants we now think of as vegetables were considered weeds before their value was recognized.

Indeed, we’re just now starting to recognize the value of some plants still classified as weeds. Dandelion leaves, for example, are edible. Mallows, wild mustard, and sow thistle can improve the soil by drawing nutrients up to the surface and releasing them there. Wild radish is an excellent catch crop, because many bugs prefer to eat them instead of domesticated vegetables. Wild fennel attracts beneficial insects. If you get to know your weeds by sight, you can leave these helpful species in place when you find them, and accrue some gardening benefits without even trying.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 17th, 2008 at 5:05 am and is filed under Gardening Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.