Meadow Salsify, Oyster Plant, Yellow Goat's Beard, Jack-Go-To-Bed-At-Noon

I didn't realize this plant was considered a vegetable. To me it's still a weed that is as hard to get rid of as dandelions. It grows i...Read Moren pastures here, but since there's pastures close by, the seeds travel with the wind and get transplanted in my yard, where I water alot and they take root easily.

I can never wait 'til spring when this geat vegetable begins to pop up! I wander my usual haunts, looking for the tell-tale leaves and f...Read Moreluffy white stuff. Before the flower bud opens and the stems still freshy, I remove the stem, remove most leaves, rinse, and steam them. Add butter and salt. They taste Exactly like Asperagus- but without the estranging after-effects of the latter. Sometimes I can harvest into mid summer- there's always the occasional plant hiding in the shade under a sumac.
Transplanting is a bit of trouble, as it's hard to remove the entire taproot without damaging it. With any luck I'll have a few plants in my garden next year. Sadly, my garden plants won't be re-seeding, as they won't get to that stage- with me picking the flowers before they open. Oh, well. At least the wild ones are pretty hardy! :)

My step-grandmother told me they used to grow this stuff in their garden when she was a little girl during the depression.Now it grows li...Read Moreke a weed (like dandelions, as noted above) and is extremely hard to remove from dry ground because of its large tap-root. If you break the root, it just re-sprouts. I have seen yellow and more rarely purple flowered forms. The purple is some-what striking, but due to its rangy,weedy look I would never consider growing it on purpose.P.S. The seed heads are just like giant versions of dandelion and spread the same way.

Unfortunately, this wildflower has become quite an invasive weed here in our area, coming up from seed like dandelions, and just as hard to remove.

Native to Northern Europe, Goat's-beard is a familiar roadside plant, not for the pale yellow flowers, but for the fruiting heads which l...Read Moreook like enormous dandelion-clocks. The greyish parachutes have feathery bristles, the fine hairs distinctly interwoven. The common name derives from these conspicuous fruits. Unlike the Dandelion, Goat's-beard has narrow, almost grass-like leaves, without lobes. Its long tap-roots were formerly used as a vegetable.