Nutritious wild purslane |Trisha Shirey |Central Texas Gardener

Many gardeners curse the abundant lush growth of purslane portulaca oleracea when it appears in their gardens. What they may not realize is that this weed that pops up everywhere actually maybe more nutritious than most of the vegetables they are struggling to produce. Purslane it's been cultivated in eating throughout the world. It probably originated in Asia and was used medicinally as well as for food. In Mexico they call the plant verta laga and it's sold in farmers markets and produce shops. The plants were hybridized to produce large showy flowers like these and we use them to provide bright color all summer long. But these plants are also edible just not as tasty as the wild purslane that has the tiny yellow flowers. It grows easily and hot temperatures and dry soils. It has fleshy succulent leaves and a slimy sap. The leaves are crisp and slightly lemony. I add the leaves to salads in the summer when I'm not growing lettuce and they're great addition to tabouli salad, smoothies, pesto, potato salads, and stir fries. I like to lightly sauté them and add them to eggs or include them in tacos. It can also be added to soups and stews where it's slimy cook texture acts as a thickener like okra does in gumbo. Purslane contains more of the beneficial omega-3 fatty acids than any other leafy vegetable. Five times more than spinach and 10 times the levels found in lettuce or mustard greens and it has seven times more beta carotene and carrots and I'd rather eat purslane and then fish oil any day. It also contains vitamins A, C, E, B and minerals like magnesium, calcium, potassium, and iron and many other nutrients. A cup of cooked purslane contains about 90 milligrams of calcium and 560 milligrams of potassium and more than two thousand international units of vitamin A. Purslane produces abundant seeds and it self sows freely all spring and summer. The flavor is best before the plant blooms so frequent harvesting not only yields the best flavor, it keeps the plant in check by delaying seed production. Purslane can act as a green ground cover under other vegetables keeping the soil moist and humid under beans, peppers, and other crops. It has a deep taproot which penetrates hard soils and brings up nutrients and water to assist plant companions. Adjacent plants will be more efficient at mining deeper soils by following Purslane's roots. Chickens consider a great treat and deer have never bothered it in my Gardens. The fleshy stems of purslane are also often pickled. The seeds are available from Baker Seeds and Seeds of Change and if you have a friend that's growing some you can certainly get some cuttings and transplant them to your own garden and you can collect your own seeds when you see that your plans to produce seed pods. Just shake them into a large paper envelope. The plants will die out and disappear when temperatures get cold but they will magically reappear each year. If you're concerned about the rampant growth of purslane grow it in a container to keep it confined. There are plants that look similar to purslane but have harry stems and milky sap Harry stem spurge is one and that one is poisonous so make sure you're eating the correct plant. Growing purslane is the best kind of weed and feed. For backyard basics I'm Trisha Shirey thanks for watching

Channel: CentralTexasGardener

Views: 23,973

Rating: 4.9699249 out of 5

Keywords: Gardening, Central Texas Gardener, KLRU PBS, Austin Texas, DIY, Gardens, organic, Gardenchat, sustainable, eco, Tom Spencer, Edible weeds, useful wild plants, edible wild plants, Lake Austin Spa, purslane, portulaca

Id: x6gAOmS2SGE

Length: 3min 26sec (206 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 20 2016