Purslane
I was reading this article on MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20380188 and decided to google purslane. Among other sites I found this one: http://landscaping.about.com/cs/weedsdiseases/a/purslane.htm and the picture I've attached. To make sure that what I thought is purslane really is, I took a few sprigs to the place where I buy herbs and vegetable plants. The owner confirmed that it is purslane. At our old house in Lubbock this stuff was threatening to take over the front yard! We don't have any growing in the yard here though; the sprigs I found were growing in a crack in the sidewalk at work. I've planted them in a pot to see if they will sprout roots and grow. So far they look like they will; they haven't dried up and died like a lot of plants would under those circumstances. I haven't tried to see what it will taste like (I don't think it would be good to eat something that's been exposed to God knows what on that sidewalk.) But when they've been growing a while, I will. I think a good source of plant Omega 3's is worth the trouble! And the idea of wild edible plants has always appealed to me for some reason but I haven't been brave enough to trust the pictures in books and on the net for identification purposes. :D
My mother sent me that first link just yesterday and purslane and swiss chard were the only 2 items on the list that I don't eat. I think I shall have to dig up my Seeds of Change catalog and see if I can't find some purslane seeds. :)
Awesome, I know my grandparents have some growing in the brick on their patio.
omg....someone a few months ago told me about the purslane-omega 3 connection and i had no idea!! the stuff is a weed around here, and we used to eat it all the time....who knew??!! :o
so ive started foraging between the patio stones for it again! :D
ive been thinking of growing it in some pots too, let us know if it works out ok.
im getting all excited about how to use it. i like it just plain, but ive read that it is used in soups as well.
storm....
i found the seeds in "the cook's garden" catalog, under "specialty greens"
www.cooksgarden.com
If you can find one piece of a plant with seeds, just toss it in some fertile soil and it will reseed itself like crazy. I love love love this stuff. I got one plant from my mom, but I picked up some other plants from a nearby park, growing in the sidewalk in my neighborhood, and now everywhere I go I see TONS of it.
Purslane is so hearty that if you rip it out by the roots, it will use all its residual water (it's a succulent, after all) to make seeds to propagate the plant.
I don't know if I have it or not, but how do you eat it? just eat the leaves raw, or the leaves & stems, seeds?
I don't know if I have it or not, but how do you eat it? just eat the leaves raw, or the leaves & stems, seeds?
The info I've found is that you can eat the leaves and stems raw in salads. There's a link to a recipe on the Cook's Garden site that Lucidanne mentioned. I haven't seen anything about eating the seeds.
I don't know if I have it or not, but how do you eat it? just eat the leaves raw, or the leaves & stems, seeds?
So that's what it's called. My Mexican neighbor made me food with that in it. She made this enormous salad with a lot of the purslane in it, and she also used it as a taco filling (like how people use lettuce). I like it. :-)
mabye i'll get some started somewhere where dogs don't wizz all the time ;D thanks!
oh, baypuppy...thats just a lil salad dressing! ;D