Purslane Experiment

[Rick]

As I've indicated in the past, I have volunteer purslane that sprouts in my garden every year. I think it makes a much better salad than lettuce. It has a clean crunchy texture that never turns bitter in the heat of summer like leaf lettuce does. Unfortunately, it only grew in my garden and seldom anywhere else.

I left one purslane plant alone unmolested and nurtured the little guy and he (she?) blessed me with seeds this morning, which I dutifully scattered throughout the flower beds around the house. Hopefully, I'll see some of the fruits of that effort yet this year in the form of new purslane plants.

I would like to gather additional seeds this fall and over winter the seeds so I can plant in containers next year. That would be really cool!

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[Chris]

You can eat that? It grows all over my lawn. Weed.

[wareagle69]

i have been looking for it this summer had lots of it at my old house meaning i had sandy soil now i have clay so i am conditiong a large patch out back for next year, but yes rick an excellent addition to your salad. any wood sorrel around?

[Rick]

Chris - You bet. Make certains it's Purslane. Break a stem and if it is milky then it is NOT Purslane but possibly Spurge, which is poisonous. It the sap is clear then it's Purslane. Great stuff!!

WE - You bet. Wood sorrel abounds. My problem with wood sorrel is it has to be blooming for me to be able to identify it. Just not that cozy with it yet.

[wareagle69]

why blooming? look closley it is heart shaped with a fold down the middle and if in doubt taste real quick that will let you know if its clover or sorrel

[Chris]

do you eat the whole thing (stems) or just the leaves?

[wareagle69]

both ... try this
8 cups potatoes cut into 1 to 2 inch chuncks
1 and a half cup water
3 cups chopped purslane stems and leaves
3 cups sauteed mushrooms
1 cup finely chopped commercial or wild onion
5 to 6 eggs
2 teaspoons rosemary
1 teaspoon black pepper
cook the potatoes in the water until soft, mash and add the rest of the ingerdiants,mix and form patties. bake on an oiled cookie sheet for 15 to 20 minutes in a pre heated oven. cool on racks.
from wild man steve brill identifyining and harevesting wild and medicinal plants pg288

[Rick]

Nice recipe! Thanks.

Chris - I pick both and just wash them like I would leaf lettuce. They have a nice crunchy pleasant flavor. Nothing fancy but it makes a great salad. Toss in some peppers, cucumbers and carrots from the garden and a few nasturtium flowers. Good stuff!

[wareagle69]

hey rick, noticed a guest veiwing this and wondered how the expeiment went, as i siad eariler to you i have done this also, brought some inside then the last couple of weeks it has been on the back deck, it is all red right now, when can i expect seed?

[Rick]

I had tons of purslane this year. I let a couple of the plants grow without picking them. I was amazed at how large they grew. Larger than I've ever seen before. Probably a couple of feet wide with stems the size of your little finger. I even planted some seed in a container and had it growing on the patio. So it does very well as a container plant.

You don't have to have seed to spread it either. You can break a piece off and stick it in the ground and it will develop roots and start growing. It might be the hardiest plant we have. Very drought tolerant, too.

[Chris]

I planted a bunch too.

I bought some seeds of an upright variety on ebay, but then it goes to seed so quickly I bring whole bunches in for eating, stems, leaves, seed pods, all. Give it a coarse chop, then put it in a fine mesh collander and shake it over a bowl, hundreds of seeds fall out. I put the seeds in a jar, and add the top growth to whatever it was I was cooking (it is so versatile, salads, stews, stirfrys).

I'll probably dedicate a whole section to it next year, it is rare to find something so healthy, versatile, and easy to grow.

[Rick]

Amazing that it isn't domesticated isn't it? Amazing that so few know about it.

[crashdive123]

I've probably seen it and didn't even realize it. This is one that I definitely want to try. If I can't find any, I'll order some seeds and plant it - may do that anyway.

[Rick]

I don't know about Florida but I'll bet you have it. Disturbed soil around here. Gardens, flower beds, just about any place that isn't grasslands or forest. It looks like little rubber tree plants. Make certain the sap is clear!!

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[Rick]

Yep. Looks like it grows there, too.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MV118

[crashdive123]

While I'm out on my walks I'll start looking for it.

[Rick]

Now that you said that, you'll start seeing it everywhere. We block so much out of our vision unless we need it.

All I have to say is, "I saw a red Ford F-150 today." Now everyone will start seeing them. People are funny animals.

[your_comforting_company]

Call it a weed if you want, but this stuff is delicious to eat and is an excellent ground cover in flower beds. We have a bed specifically for purslane which gets very pretty yellow blooms. I regularly snack on it when outside, though I only eat the leaves as the stem can sometimes be a bit fibrous on the bigger plants.
down here we call it porch-a-liker (portulaca said with a very redneck dialect) and everyone I know considers it a weed.
The easiest difference to tell is that portulaca gets a red tinge around the outside edges of the leaves, but spurge gets a red spot in the middle of the leaf. the sap is another good indicator, and if all else fails, if you taste it and its bad, its not portulaca. To me it tastes exactly like lettuce (maybe a tiny bit sweeter) and is super good when chilled. Add it to baked potatoes with butter and you've got something!

[Rick]

Yellow blooms. Thank you. I left that out.

[pocomoonskyeyes]

Call it a weed if you want, ... and everyone I know considers it a weed.

"A weed is a plant that man has not found a use for yet". I believe that was Thoreau who said that but I may be wrong. That saying pops in my head every time I see the word weed. Sorry folks I just had to throw that in.

Following the guidelines of Thoreau(?) I guess we can stop calling this a weed. So how do we get the word out? No more name calling on purslane!!!