Utah man grows, eats weeds


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EAGLE MOUNTAIN — There are weeds in Mike Wood's small backyard garden that he planted on purpose.

"A friend of mine across the golf course here called me one day and asked if I'd help out with (a presentation on wild edibles for) an Iowa City re-creation for the kids that were going on trek," he said. "I didn't know about that stuff at that time and I said, sure, I'd love to and so I started researching. I was stunned. I was astounded at what was here in the desert that was edible."

Now, what other people call weeds, Wood calls lunch.

A brief stroll through an empty lot in his Eagle Mountain subdivision yields a spice called "poor man's pepper," edible flower salsify and a crunchy snack of wild grass seeds.

Wood spies dried sego lily flowers and starts digging for something that helped sustain the Utah pioneers.

"In 1848, 1849, they came here and it was winter and they were starving and some of the Native Americans took pity on them and showed them how to find these sego lily bulbs," he said.

Wood, who at his day job helps people set up websites, created wildutahedibles.com to catalog the local wild edible and medicinal plants.

"I really got hooked," he said.

He warns anyone interesting in wild edibles to be absolutely sure what they've got before snacking on it.

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Now, so he doesn't have to forage far from home, he grows weeds in his garden. Beside tomatoes and herbs, he grows yellow dock, mallow and broadleaf plantain. On route from church one Sunday, he spotted a small wild spinach plant and transplanted it in his backyard. It's now a thriving wall of wild spinach and a source of greens for salads, sandwiches and egg dishes.

Wood points out a small succulent, purslane, growing in a planter box. Here in Utah, it invades lawns and sprouts along sidewalk cracks and is often the target of herbicide. In Mexico, it's served with pork. In Turkey, it's sprinkled in salads.


The definition of a weed is a plant where we don't want it. Most of these plants, once you get to know them and you understand their nutritional value, the value for your body, you don't see them as a weed.

–Mike Wood


"This one almost has a fruity taste to it," Wood said munching on a sprig.

Wood, weeding his weeds, pulled small volunteer tomato and carrot plants. The irony — extracting vegetable plants to save the weeds — is not lost on Wood and he laughs.

"I've actually looked up the definition of weeds," he said. "The definition of a weed is a plant where we don't want it. Most of these plants, once you get to know them and you understand their nutritional value, the value for your body, you don't see them as a weed."

Guidelines for eating wild plants
  • Only eat something you can 100% positively identify
  • If trying something for the first time, proceed with a tolerance test: Take a small piece of the raw edible part of the plant, take a small nibble, spit it out, and wait 30-60 minutes before eating more
  • You can also test a plant by placing the juice of it on the skin of your forearm. If you don't experience burning, itching, swelling or redness it may be safe to eat.
  • Avoid eating wild mushrooms if you're a foraging novice: most species are poisonous
  • The majority of white and yellow berries are poisonous while most black and blue berries are safe to eat
  • Single fruits on a stem are usually safe to eat
  • Avoid eating pants that have umbrella-shaped flowers — they're often poisonous

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