Kevin and Lynn - firstly I would only eat the sprout tops, not side leaves from further down the plant.You can cut out a centre piece about the size of a medium sized lettuce. They don't really taste like kale (I've never eaten collards), nor very much like Brussels sprouts. They have a flavour of their own which I like a lot. Secondly, I don't know what they'd be like in a salad. I steam them or sweat them in a little butter but my guess is that they'd be a bit coarse and strongly flavoured for a salad. But nothing lost by experimenting.

man this one is very stubborn. The root is like dandelion's but not that deep, If I hand pull them the root won't come up. I have the dandelion digger but there's lots and lots of these in my lawn. I notice that me and my other two neighbors also have this kind of weed, but not everyone in the neighborhood. This weed is not very common in my area... so any idea why that is? I hand pull them 2 weeks ago and now look at how fast they've grown back!!

i dont think touching is an issue.. it would be more an issue of getting falling down drunk.. falling with your mouth open.. into the pot.. and swallowing it .. lol ... like the shroom would be the worst of your problem at that point.. lol ... i didnt realize its in a pot.. if so.. just put on a glove if you wish [i wouldn't bother].. and tug it out .. it doesnt really have roots ... no need to keep it.. if you dont want ... in pots.. you would be better off with one of the potting media ... and when i used to grow seed.. i sterilize my media... before use.. to not only get rid of weed seed.. but also fungi spores..etc ... see link... ken Here is a link that might be useful: link

It's a Sonchus