But wait.......what's this other stuff:
I noticed the sprouts when I originally planted the spinach seeds so left the area alone. And as you can see, the lamb's quarters are doing very nicely, and I didn't even have to plant them! I also didn't water them as much as the section with my spinach, just to see how well they would do with minimal care.
I'm not sure why there were so many lamb's quarter seeds in that particular area of the raised bed. Maybe the compost top dressing I put on last year was full of the seeds, or maybe when I dug up everything in the fall, I brought a bunch of them up from the depths of the bed to where they would be able to germinate. Regardless of how they got there, I'm pretty happy to have them.
Lamb's Quarters can be eaten all year as they don't become bitter with age like dandelion or other wild greens. The younger they are though, the more tender. I've been "browsing" myself whenever I water the bed or take the plastic off the hoops. I'll pick a leaf of spinach then a leaf or two of the lamb's quarters. Yummy. The younger ones are best used in raw salads and as they get older and a bit tougher, you can sautee, steam them or use them in baked dishes. The older ones will get some dusty white stuff on the bottom of the leaves, but it's edible so don't worry.
I'm tempted to let a few of them go to seed and then save seeds for next spring just in case I'm not blessed with another surprise patch of them.
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