Weed ID

This grows like a little tree especially in compacted soils and has a big taproot. Just wondering what it is. In north Texas.

Thinking milkweed but corrected if I'm wrong

Definitely a pigweed....Amaranth. The greens are edible cooked (in moderate amounts especially in rich soils as it can accumulate nitrate), and so are the tiny seeds if you can manage to gather enough of them. It's an indicator of, yes, compacted, but also relatively fertile soils....

Thanks alder. It kind of looked edible. I hoped this soil would be somewhat fertile. But I don't know if it is because of all the industrial fertilizer used around this area or if it is fertile naturally.

Amaranth or calaloo in Jamaica. Same family as spinach so dont fertilize because it stores nitrates. Its really delicious.

it is growing with my cucumbers and the cucumber beetles are eating the pigweed instead of cucumbers. awesome stuff

That is great to know. I am learning so much from this forum. Thank you so much.