On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 11:53:28 GMT, Jim Elbrecht
wrote:

"AJP" wrote:

An elderly lady was telling me she would make some good greens from
weeds that grew NEAR the garden.

They called them silvertops, and tasted sort of like spinach, but a
little more tender.

Does anybody know what this plant was??

If the other folks are correct -- and I think they probably are-
you're in for a treat with Lambs Quarters. I used to have them
as a pernicious weed in my garden, but I seem to have ammended my soil
& eaten them into oblivion. Now I have to look for them.

You could always plant some seed from a plant you like, start
selectively saving seed ;-)

I haven't seen much of those in my yard lately either, but I have an
unlimited supply of red root pigweed! I'd even seen seed for that for
sale along with the dandelions. No shortage of either in my yard! LOL

I wanted to grow some amaranth..of a more cultivated sort, but I
figured it would be diseased here because one year I had some red root
pig weed here where the backs of the leaves were covered with a very
cottony fungus..not just a few.. all of them! Wasn't an insect
infestation. I didn't spend time figuring out what it was as I was
busy pulling them all out of the driveway, just thought it very odd.
Never saw it after that, so I'm going to try some other amaranth this
year if I can get it planted. My garden help has deserted me!

I'm surprised they aren't cultivated - at least I've never seen seeds
for sale. They are good raw in salads or wilted in a steam bath for
a minute or so. I prefer mine with a dab of butter & what must be a
companion plant/weed as I find them together often-- Purslane.
http://landscaping.about.com/cs/weed...a/purslane.htm
[I just learned that Purslane has Omega 3 fatty acids as well as its
concentration of Vit. C]

Purslane like my driveway. I had them growing among the moss rose too
... since they both liked the same sort of growing conditions. There
are some purslane that have been developed as ornamentals now.. I
think I saw some 2 or 3 years ago in a seed catalog.

Janice

Purslane is more of an acquired taste-- it has a mucilaginous texture
and an almost citric flavor. [the above site calls it peppery. . .
I'll have to think about that next time I see some] But it goes well
with the very muted flavor of the lambs quarters.

Either are good by themselves.

Jim