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Lamb’s quarter (fat hen)

Lamb's quarter (fat hen)

This Chenopodium is often considered to be a weed but it many regions it is cultivated as a grain or vegetable crop as well as animal feed.

Lamb’s quarter prefers nitrogen rich soils where it grows particularly fast. Lamb’s quarters is vulnerable to leaf miners, which makes it a useful trap crop for cash crop interseeding. It attracts leaf miners might otherwise attacked the cash crop.

Also known as fat hen, it is used as feed for chickens. Cattle and sheep may accumulate toxic levels of nitrate if their feed contains too much of lamb’s quarters.

Fat hen cover crop image
Lamb's quarters cover crop
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