There is a chance that it is a Queen Anne's Lace, which is the wild form of the edible carrot, but there are many lookalikes, most of them very poisonous. Until you can get it identified by a proper botanist, I would play it safe and compost it. It might be a good idea to let one go to flower, since it will be easier for the botanist to I.D. it by the changes in leaf shape, and the details of the flowers.

It does resemble carrot but I thought carrots have a finer cut to the leaves. Can you possibly show the root system?

I thought Poison Hemlock, Conium maculatum. But as Tugb says, I wouldn't be eating it.

I wouldn't even add it to my compost. Poison Hemlock?

Thank you all. I will dig it up to show the root system.

It looks like Anthriscus sylvestris to me (Cow Parsley in the UK). No idea if that grows in the States, though. Definitely one of the Apiaceae family. As others have said, don't eat it in any case.

The hemlock has purple patches on the stem so once it gets taller it is easy to sort out from the rest of this large and confusing family, which includes some useful culinary herbs. You could bruise a leaf and see what it smells like or contact the previous owner of your garden and ask what herbs they grew.
Even if it is a wild carrot its not really worth eating.As Tug says they are tricky to identify with any certainty, especially while they are only just emerging and many seed around like mad. I wage continual war with the cow parsley we have in parts of our garden. I'd get rid.

Loosestrife2 -What state are you in? or what grow zone?

Further to Landgirl100's comment, I was brought up to call Cow Parsley, ''Break your mother's heart''. Not a good plant to have near a veggie garden as carrot fly larvae overwinter in its roots ready to emerge in the spring.

Bath, I usually say 6 but to be a little more precise I'm a 7a. All of your comments are very interesting. Stera, I moved into this house about 25 years ago and the previous owner has passed on. It is only the last few years that this plant has made its appearance in my garden. Jimmy cow parsley or hemlock this plant doesn't seem to be a good thing to have around. Landgirl I checked it out and it is in the USA and is considered invasive. At the present time I am kinda hoping it is Hemlock as I am starting to feel a connection with Socrates by having this in my garden.

Don't copy him too closely then Loosetrife!

LOL!

Today I put on my gloves, took my pickaxe and pulled this plant and long taproot out. I noticed a noxious alkaloid smell coming from the pulled out heap. Poison Hemlock it is! When Socrates downed the extract to the last drop I don't know how he kept from vomiting it up immediately after drinking it unless they sweetened it with honey. Ah! Now I recollect a similar smell when I pulled out a plant in my garden which I had planted from seed but found it to be horrid when it matured it was Datura stramonium ...it was called Trumpet Flower on the seed packet. It was a plant from Hell!

Thanks for the conclusion. At least now I'll know it when I see it. Hemlock is a very potent poison and so is Datura Stramonium. It's on exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden.

Bath, I did a little investigating and found that the difference between parsnip and poison hemlock is the hemlock stems are smooth and the parsnip stems have hairs but really all one has to do is crack a stem and smell, not too much though. These alkaloids are volatile and just as bad when inhaled.