Surprising Lambs Quarters
Many people see Lambs Quarters as nothing more than a common weed, never realizing that a tasty and nutritious green vegetable could be enjoyed, free for the picking.
Lambs quarter, sometimes referred to as goosefoot for the shape of its leaves, is my favorite edible weed and is easy to recognize once you become familiar with it.
Discovering Edible Lambs Quarter Weeds
As with any edible weed or wild plant don’t eat unless you are positive of its identification and that it has not been exposed to chemical sprays or pollution. So if you’re not familiar with lambs quarter refer to a good edible weed field guide or consult with someone who is familiar with the plant before eating it.
Lambs quarter can frequently be found growing in vegetable gardens, on disturbed soil, and along the fringes of fields and banks. The plants can grow to about four feet in height with multiple branches forming off of a main squarish looking central stem. Lambs quarter leaves often have a white, pollen-like substance coating their undersides.
Cooking Delicious Lambs Quarter Greens
The leaves and stems are edible and absolutely delicious, with a flavor that can be compared to spinach or chard with an earthy, mineral rich taste. It’s difficult to describe, but if you enjoy leafy greens such as kale, collards, and spinach you’ll love lambs quarter and enjoy the change of pace provided by its distinct flavor.
When cooking lambs quarter the easiest preparation is to simply steam the leaves and stems in a small amount of water until tender. The greens will cook very quickly and turn a dark green color as they shrink down during cooking. The cooked greens are delicious just as they are with no additional seasoning or flavoring necessary.
The young leaves and smaller stems can also be eaten raw in salads. Or you can experiment by substituting lambs quarter for spinach or chard in some of your favorite recipes.
Locating and Harvesting Lambs Quarters
Forage for wild lambs quarters around your landscape or allow a few plants to grow in the garden amongst your vegetable and herb plants. A few seed suppliers sell a cultivated variety of lambs quarter or Giant Goosefoot called “Magentaspreen.” This variety has an attractive magenta hue on the young leaves and stems.
To harvest lambs quarter just cut or snap off the youngest and best looking branches from the top and sides of the plant.
Learn to identify lambs quarter and you may be surprised to find it growing up all around you. Once you steam a batch of the fresh leaves and stems the biggest surprise may be just how much you enjoy the taste of this plant that you previously yanked from the garden and discarded.
Other Related Vegetable Gardening Posts:
- Discovering Edible Weeds
- Friendly Stinging Nettles
- Edible Chickweed
- Garden Log 6-5-09: It’s a Rainy Season
- Unappreciated Dandelions
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March 16th, 2006 at 9:56 pm
A friend who had grown up in the south & came to live in the northeast took me into her vegetable garden one day to show me what she was growing. I was very surprised when she proudly pointed to her Lambs Quarter and told me she had cooked them the night before. Yes, I had been pulling them out as weeds & meanwhile she was eating them! I haven’t tried them yet, but after reading this maybe I finally will.
March 20th, 2006 at 12:41 am
Hi Kenny,
I got to poke my nose in here every once in a while to see what you are up to. This winter we have been eating lots of wild radish here. The bolts- including the flower buds and the top two or three leaves have been a big hit. I chop them up, stems and all, wilt them in olive oil, throw in some chopped onion and garlic while they wilt - and yum!
There are lots of lambs quarters in the neighbors field. Maybe I will give them a try too . . .
Harvest
March 29th, 2006 at 11:10 pm
We love lambs quarters here in Ky. It is one of my daughter’s favorite veggies. Every few years I allow one or two to go to seed in the corner of the garden to insure a constant supply.
April 22nd, 2006 at 11:02 pm
I am trying to identify lamb’s quarters. Have you a picture?
Thanx
April 24th, 2006 at 10:31 pm
Sundra, I haven’t seen any clear pictures of lambs quarters on the Internet and I always hesitate to post pictures of edible wild plants to avoid confusion and possible misidentifications. You’re better off taking a look at an edible plant field guide in a bookstore or locating someone that is familiar with the plant and can point it out to you. Be very careful when identifying wild plants that you’re not familiar with. They generally aren’t difficult to recognize, but it’s so much easier when you find someone that can mentor you regarding edible weeds.
April 27th, 2006 at 11:03 pm
Hi Kenny,
We are organic herb farmers in Tennessee.
I have been receiving your newsletter for awhile and just wanted to say how very much I enjoy it.
Always learning something new from it’s contents.
This month is the Lambs Quarters, I will certainly be educating myself on those and having them on my table very soon.
Your garden looks lovely and delicious!
Blessings and happy gardening!
Bea Kunz/Sage Hill Farms
May 10th, 2006 at 7:09 pm
Please i really need a picture of this. I have recently been identifed as having a severe allergy to it. I can’t find a picture anywhere any help you have would be great. Also is Pigweed included in this group? If so could you send pics if you have it?
Thank you very much
Becky
May 10th, 2006 at 10:54 pm
Hi Becky, I just happened to take some pictures this weekend of Lambs Quarters that were growing in a greenhouse. I attached the photos to the entry above. I believe that pigweed is related to Lambs Quarter, but it is a different plant and I don’t have any photos of it.
May 24th, 2006 at 10:50 am
I looked up lambs quarters on your website because our incredible and wonderful Park Slope Food Co-op in Brooklyn New York, sells them very fresh and inexpensive. I am so excited to try it. I got a big bunch for around a dollar, and they’re very fresh!
May 29th, 2006 at 8:22 pm
what does the lambs quarter root look like?
August 13th, 2006 at 1:23 am
Hi i have found lambs quarters growing in my yard and i learned to soak in water and rinse in a very fine collander after picking just the top stems and leaves. The rest of the plant grows again. I steam for about 3-5 minutes= the secret is to not have so many big stems then you dont have to cook very long just 3 minutes will do. They are as green as when you put them in is how i like them.Seed tops with the small leaves and stems are delicous too and plant some too. Rick
July 13th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
I love to eat wild greens. I have an asthma problem and just today I ate some new sprouts from the red clover plant. It was hot like horse radish. I commented no wonder horses run the way they do after eating the stuff. It made me higher than a kite!, all swimmy headed and giddy. The best thing is that it completely opened my nasel passages and bronchial tubes. Now instead of using a bronchial inhaler I am going outside and try red clover sprouts. Have a good day and if you would like to respond or correspond with me please feel free to do so. Also i do not mind this email address given out to people who are of like mind as myself. You can contact me at kekuatangold@yahoo.com thank you Ram Das Singh
September 1st, 2007 at 10:35 pm
According to this article Lamb’s Quarters is classified as a poisonous weed, containing both nitrates and soluble oxalates that can cause death in livestock. Humans who eat large quantities of Lamb’s Quarters and are subsequently exposed to sunlight suffer photosensitization (Whitehead and Moxon 1952, Cooper and Johnson 1984). Beware!
September 1st, 2007 at 11:06 pm
Debunkifier, I’d like to know their definition of “large quantities” and what amounts would be classified as a hazard. I wouldn’t make any edible weed or wild plant a staple in my diet, but I personally have no reservations with eating lamb’s quarters. You could probably conduct research and issue the same types of reports about other popular and commonly consummed plants and vegetables including spinach greens.
September 7th, 2007 at 5:08 am
Under certain adverse environmental conditions (drought) many weed and crop plants accumulate nitrate to potentially toxic concentrations. Nitrate-accumulating weeds include pigweed (Amaranthus spp.), lambsquarter (Chenopodium spp.), dock (Rumex spp.) and nightshades (Solanum spp.). Potentially troublesome crop plants include corn, sorghum, oats, barley, beet tops and wheat.
Nitrate is also found in fertilizers and is a common contaminant of water. Thus, exposure to these sources can cause intoxication if exposure is of sufficient
Toxic principle: nitrate. Nitrate is reduced in the rumen to nitrite which is the ultimate toxin.
NO3 ® NO2
Toxicity: as a salt, nitrate is toxic for ruminants at 0.5 g/kg (single oral dose). Forages containing > 0.2% nitrate and water containing > 1000 ppm are potentially toxic. Plants can accumulate 3 to 4% nitrate under appropriate conditions. Nitrate is not very toxic for monogastrics since it is not efficiently reduced to nitrite. However, nitrite is toxic for monogastrics. Unlike cyanide, nitrate does not volatilize and therefore dried forages are toxic.
MOTA: the iron in hemoglobin is oxidized from ferrous to ferric iron. This results in the formation of methemoglobin. Methemoglobin has significantly reduced oxygen carrying capacity.
Diagnosis
Clinical signs: dyspnea, sudden death, “muddy” mucous membranes, “brownish” appearance to blood.
Laboratory diagnosis: significant methemoglobin, high serum, ocular fluid or other body fluid nitrate concentration (> 20 ppm in serum or body fluids, > 50 ppm in ocular fluid). Measurement of high levels of nitrate in plants or water.
Lesions: “brownish” discoloration to blood, muscles
Treatment: directed at reducing methemoglobin to hemoglobin
ü Remove from source
ü A 1% solution of methylene blue is generally given at a dose of 4 to 15 mg/kg at 4 to 6 hour intervals. Methylene blue is reduced to leukomethylene blue, which in turn reduces methemoglobin.
Prevention
Test forage prior to feeding. Ensiling high nitrate forage may lower nitrate concentrations to acceptable levels.
November 11th, 2007 at 4:26 am
My family and I have been eating lambsquarter for since the 1800’s. My family is from New Mexico and lambsquarter is called quelites in spanish. We harvest them from the wild and sometimes my cousins will insist they have them as part of their birthday dinner. We saute them with a little bacon, onion and garlic and sometimes combine them with fresh cooked pinto beans, Yummy!
When we moved to California our neighbors always thought we were crazy picking weeds (lambsquarter and purslane [verdolagas]) to eat for dinner. The other day my neighbor was sharing information she had read about certain greens that restore cells and can help reverse the aging process (living longer). These greens she was talking about are the ones we have been eating all along. Many of my family are over 100 years or have lived past a 100 (grandparents, aunts and uncles).
December 28th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
Can Lamb’s Quarters be bought at health food stores or on the internet?
March 10th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Thank you, all you wonderful people who love Lamb’s Quarter(s)! Years ago when my sons were qyite young, a lady (no longer a resourse) took me into her horse pasture and introduced me to a tall plant, the young leaves of which she picked and cooked for me. It was Lamb’s Quarter! What a DELICACY! The sweet taste is it’s own - not at all like the taste of spinach - and I want to grow some in my garden. Could one of you harvest a few of your seeds and send to me?? P L E A S E ?? Thank you!! Please send to Betsy at P.O. Box 1265, Athens, TX 75751, and may your garden grow with great abundance because of your generosity!!!
March 14th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Hi I have some Lambs Quarter seeds I would be willing to send to you Betsy… Please email me at smwon1@gmail and I will see what I can do.
June 12th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
[...] in pain. Interestingly, all the edible “weeds” I planted and rarely water, like the row of Lamb’s Quarters, are doing great. Which is just one more reason I need to start building my soil and creating a [...]
July 10th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
I have been pulling these plants from my garden, corn and pumpkin patch for the past 18 years. I have asked my mother-in-law to help me identify the Lambs Qtrs, but she never remembered what they looked like.
I recognize them from the picture provided above and realize we have them growing all over our corral and mixed in with our crested wheat grass. Guess I will have to try some tonight with some onion and bacon bits.
Thank you for helping me identify this plant.
“A weed is only something growing where you didn’t plant it or don’t want it. All plant-life is God’s creation.”
July 29th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
[...] and knowing where your food is from and how its impacting the world. We got a bunch of lamb’s quarter and some beautiful garlic and some fragrant [...]
September 10th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Lambs quarters has always been a favorite of mine to munch while I work in the garden. I do pull some of these as weeds, but always leave enough to eat and make seed to reproduce. When I do pull the excess as weeds, I always chew off (graze) the tops first. It’s good to find others into this garden delight.
One of the best books I’ve read lately, IN DEFENCE OF FOOD, by Michael Pollan, states on page 170: “Two of the most nutritious plants in the world are weeds-lamb’s quarters and purslane-…”
As I had already been promoting lamb’s quarters, I was elated to find support in this wonderful book.
October 18th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Thanks for the great information. I’ve been so excited about edible wild plants since I learned that acorns are edible. There is good food all around us!
May 3rd, 2009 at 11:57 am
I have Lambs Quarter coming up all over my vegetable garden. I have known for years from my herb books that it was supposed to be edible and I also read more recently that it is way more nutritious than spinach. I have had no luck in getting spinach to produce much in my current garden and in a passing thought, I wished lambs quarter would come up in quantity for me to use and there it is! I have nibbled the leaves raw many times and found them so mild and kind of sweet. I used to feed them to a neighbor’s rabbits and they loved them. I wondered if there is any problem with eating too much? I would use them anywhere I would use lettuce or spinach if there is nothing in them that would be a problem. They are yummy even when they get bigger and they will get as big as you let them, like 3 or 4 feet tall! Thanks for the information. I just wanted reassurance that it is ok to eat lots of these delicious vegies. You can buy them from various seed catalogs and dealers online also. Here in Kansas, they seem to grow anywhere the soil is disturbed.
June 2nd, 2009 at 11:24 pm
[...] clover. But I could propagate it.) dandelions (the Official Remedy for Disorders) creeping Charlie lamb’s quarters (Unfortunately, I didn’t know what they look like, and pulled some young ones out of the [...]
June 3rd, 2009 at 5:30 pm
I agree, it is difficult to describe the flavor of lambs quarters. I just picked off a leaf today and I think it very much tastes like asparagus. Yum!
June 3rd, 2009 at 9:39 pm
I am definitely into the lambs quarters this spring. The last month I have had 2 edible varieties of bamboo putting up new shoots. I have been using the bamboo shoots and onion in an olive oil sauteed stir fry, to which earlier in the season I was adding fresh asparagus and now snow peas. I also grow shiitake mushrooms, so of course those are part of this dish, but most deliciously, I have been picking a good handfull of about eight inches off the top of the lambs quarters, and cutting it up , stem and all, to cook with this dish. I find it difficult to remove these plants that come up so readily and provide such great free food! I intend to live over 100 and wonder what the source of Jerome Brito, #16’s, information was about restoring cells and reversing the aging process?
June 5th, 2009 at 10:20 am
[...] bunch lamb’s quarter, rinsed and chopped (I got this at the farmer’s market, but spinach would work [...]
June 8th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
[...] Lambs Quarters- Lovely leafy green, often referred to as wild Spinach. Packed with Vitamins C and A, it’s great in everything from salad to soup. [...]
June 9th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Wow, this lamb’s quarter is good for being a weed. I’m eating some young plants with mustard greens right now :). I left the state for a couple weeks, and when I came back this stuff was all over my garden. I recently got some plant identification books for hiking, so I looked through them and found out that this weed that was taking over half my garden was edible. My grandparent’s eat a lot of greens and other weird stuff like pokeweed, so I think I’m going to pull a lot more of this and give some to them.
June 19th, 2009 at 8:46 am
I use Lambsquarter raw in fruit smoothies for my family. Imparts a lovely green color and it is so mild and delishious! I heard someone call “GREENS” Solidified Sunshine and isnt that just about right??
June 19th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Susan, I wouldn’t argue with that definition of greens and I love to add lambs quarters to smoothies also!
June 28th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
[...] This wonderful page has a lot more information. [...]