You’ve plucked them and chucked them into your trash or compost pile. You’ve cursed their very existence. You’ve racked your brain trying to think of better ways to deal with the weeds in your yard—but have you ever considered eating them?

To dig a little deeper—pardon the pun—into ways to turn the drudgery of weeding into the joy of foraging, we spoke with Mary Ellen Camire, PhD, a nutrition professor at the University of Maine and president of the Institute of Food Technologists, and ethnobotanist Chris Kilham, founder of Medicine Hunter, Inc., who travels the world in search of beneficial botanicals.