Almost entirely edible weeds from my raised beds, with just a few kale leaves included.
I am seriously NOT uprooting weeds, just cutting them down to within an inch or two from the ground so that they can grow back. The idea is that if they do not block sunlight from my crop plants, and if the soil is so rich that it can feed plants even if they are close together, then the weeds will not hurt my crops. In fact, at a couple of inches tall, these weeds act like mulch, keeping the soil from drying out.
Depth of roots for dandelion, lady-slipper, and sorrel [my predominant edible weeds] are shallow, and depth for tomatoes and potatoes are deeper, so the roots have room underground not to tangle and strangle each other. When you look at uncultivated nature, a variety of healthy, vibrant plants can grow crowded together, yet we tend to plant a garden with spaces between individual plants, as though our garden should emulate a vegetable farm, where everything is planted in well-spaced rows for convenience of mass harvesting and use of machinery.
My thinking is why not plant a garden — especially a tiny one like mine — in a way which makes sense (not for a farm, but for what it is). I might end up living off of these powerful weeds all summer, with an occasional cabbage or other crop every so often 🙂
