What is a weed?

Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them.  ~A.A. Milne

My neighbor asked me the other day what two plants were down by our mailboxes.  Cassia and Cosmos I told him.  'You planted them?', he asked.   Yes, yes I did.  They are both growing gangbusters.  Really a bit much.  Don't know where they found the good stuff.  But they did.  They are very healthy and happy.  And the butterfly larvae found the cassia earlier.


Apparently a bit too much of something, as they have not yet bloomed.  Cosmos sulphureus - we like them.  Fun and cherry.  And the young leaves and tops are edible raw or cooked!


Neighbor tells me he considers them both weeds and pulls when they come up around his greenhouse.


A weed is a plant out of place.


"Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) is a bothersome weed in warm climates, although it is widely cultivated for food and has been for more than 2000 years. In fact, purslane, which is used raw in salads and cooked like spinach as a potherb, is very high in vitamins A, B1 and C. It is available commercially in both ornamental and culinary cultivars"  source Floridata.

Golden is an improved variety for eating.  And, recipes anybody?  Purslane can be substituted for one of the beans in 3 bean salad.   And, Purslane is one of the best vegetable sources for Omega-3's. 

A weed is but an unloved flower.  ~Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Shortly after moving to Florida, a vine with a lovely flower started growing along the back fence.  It turned out to be the vine from hell.  Seems it was a variety of bitter melon, with cute yellow flowers and pretty fruit.  Or maybe it was Florida Ground Cherry.  Fruit and seeds toxic.  Low and behold, the darn stuff comes up in our backyard here.  Grrr.  Been pulling the darn sticky stuff for years, every summer about this time.

Now I am growing Molly's Yellow Ground Cherry.  On purpose.  To eat.  The fruit is not ripe when it falls off the plant.  Must wait until the paper shell dries up.

What is a weed?  A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, Fortune of the Republic, 1878

Poke Sallat Greens  have been cooked and consumed for years.  Still now in parts of Europe.  Pokeweed greens are very nutrient rich food.  Also very toxic.  Poke greens should only be picked young, and need boiling water treatment.  Done correctly, they are suppose to be very tasty.  Pokeweed can be quite controversial in Florida I've found.  Folks with livestock hate it.  So does my neighbor I guess.  He pulled mine out of my garden.  Hrrrmmmpp.

For even more interesting bits of pieces of edible Florida take a gander over to Eat The Greens