Can particular weeds be used for good purposes?

Question

I always remember family and friends saying that weeds are bad for the garden,...but recently I came across the book, "carrots love tomatos." It mentioned that Redroot Pigweed(Amaranthus retroflexus) can be used to loosen up soil and be benifical to Radishes. It went on to say that even the leaves of this weed can be eaten and taste much like spinage.

This whole Idea about some weeds accually benifical sparks my interest alot. Would anyone know anyother weeds that are benifical to gardens, vegetables, or as natural insecticides?

Answer 1

There's a quote I remember that I think was by Euell Gibbons.  In one of his books, he says that he'd heard a weed defined as something we haven't found a use for yet.  But then he pointed out that many of out "weeds" were plants brought from Europe for specific purposes, and said the definition should be rewritten as "A weed is a plant which has a use which we've forgotten."  I'm only paraphrasing here, since I don't have the book in front of me, but you get the idea.  Another quote I've heard is that the biggest weed in a cornfield is the corn (many othe the weeds have more nutrition value).

For an example - all parts of dandelions are edible.  The roots can be used as a cooked vegetable or roasted as a coffee substitute.  Young leaves can be eaten in salads or cooked as spinach.  The unopened flower buds about the size of a pea can be cooked through a few changes of water (to remove bitterness) and eaten - they tase like asparagus.  And the opened flowers can be made into fritters or used to make dandelion wine.  And that's all just from one plant.

Daisy fleabane was used to repel fleas.

The flower stalks of plantain (look up genus Plantago, or you'll get the type that resembles bananas) are high in vitamin B.

Purslane is edible (the stalks can be pickled) and the leaves make a mucus that can be used as glue.

That's some of what I can think of off the top of my head.  If you're really interested and like reading about this, some books (and series of books) that I'd point you toward are ones by Euell Gibbons (great info, but the books aren't great for plant identification, just facts about the plants), the Peterson's field guide series "Edible Wild Plants" and "Medicinal Plants", books by Tom Brown (a wilderness survival instructor) and Laura C. Martin (Wildflower Folklore, Garden Flower Folklore, and The Folklore of Trees and Shrubs).  There's also one I've read called The Magic and Medicine of Plants from Reader's Digest that's very good.  Maybe you can find these in a local library or online at Amazon.

Answer 2

Both my Biology teacher and Mother (herbalist) defined a weed as "a plant found where people don't want it to be." A lot of things are defined by most people as weeds, but have a variety of uses, as mentioned above. There are places that lists the plants that have been found to have helpful characteristics, but unproven as accepted treatment. (See sources). There are many people who know of more of these plants, but have not published this information.

Another vegetable grouping that help each-other, like tomatoes and carrots, are corn, squash, and beans grown together. Corn supports beans, which provides shade for squash, which provides nutrients for corn. The list of plants that help each other goes on, but I'm no professional.