ST. CLOUD TIMES — Behind every beautiful garden is a gardener struggling to keep up with the weeds. But before you throw away your dandelions, crabgrass and other unwanted garden bed residents, local horticulturists encourage you to take advantage of the plants’ benefits.
Ann Finan, assistant professor of sociology at St. Cloud State University, and Andrea Lawrence, the mayor of Clearwater, both volunteer at the university’s community garden.
As they walk through rows of zucchini and peas, they pause every few feet to kneel down and yank the weeds out of the ground. Before adding the lamb’s quarters to the pile of plants they’ve already collected, Lawrence takes a bite.
“It’s a little like spinach,” she says. “It works well for a salad.”
Many of the common weeds in Central Minnesota are edible. Some are tangy like lemon or mild-flavored like spinach, and some are packed with valuable vitamins that even outmatch the plants we typically eat.
