Some years back, I spent the weekend with a friend's family. His mother -- a Greek immigrant -- was a phenomenal cook who had a seemingly effortless way of turning humble ingredients, such as eggs, potatoes, rice and other everyday foodstuffs into memorable meals.

But I'll never forget the moment that she went into the backyard, plucked a handful of dandelion greens from the grass, washed them, and mixed them into an incredible salad.

Turns out that where I saw weeds, she saw a healthy, slightly spicy green to throw into a salad. Along with organic gardeners and forager types, she knew exactly how to get rid of those pesky weeds in your yard: Eat them.

Fortunately for me, and others who wouldn't know a dandelion green from astroturf, there are lots of organic gardening websites to steer us towards the edible stuff.

The websites are loaded with advice on how to forage and eat the unwanted plants that may be thriving in your yard. Eating weeds, they argue, is free, healthy and better than trying to kill them off with pesticides.

Take You Grow Girl, which features an Edible Weeds Guide, complete with recipes and gardening suggestions. According to the guide, amaranth, purslane, chickweed and dandelion are salads in the making.

Veggie Gardening Tips offers a handy primer on the Do’s and Don’ts of foraging for your supper. Some simple Don’ts: Don't eat any plants that you can't ID, that are growing by the side of a road, that have been sprayed by pesticides, or that have grown in polluted areas.

Personally, I’m happy if I actually manage to eat five servings of fruits and veggies from produce bought at the grocery store, or I’m particularly organized that week, from the farmers' market. I'm not sure scavenging is for everyone.

Especially since I'm still clinging to the belief that foraging means eating off of friends’ plates if their food looks yummier than mine.