Learn how to forage for edible wild greens and identify edible plants in this Foraging for Purslane video. Edible plants like Purslane are sometimes considered weeds, but you can eat them, watch and learn here in this GardenFork foraging video.
Purslane grows all over the place, ( it grows well in compacted and dry soils ) so all you urban homesteaders rejoice, here's a free salad green that grows like a weed. Purslane is considered a succulent, it kinda looks like the leaves of a jade plant, that whole family of plants. We have purslane volunteering in our garden, so if I run across it, I usually just let it grow and harvest it before it takes over whatever plants are next to it.
From the Purslane Wikipedia entry, I learned a lot about purslane. Purslane is eaten all over the world, just not here in the states. The leaves and stem are edible, not sure about the taproot. It is eaten raw and cooked, and it has a 'mucilangious quality' it is also cooked into soups and stews and can thicken dishes.
Greeks fry the leaves with sage, in Turkey it is cooked like spinach, and again, here, we pull it out as a weed.
What I found cool is that it has high levels of Omega 3 fatty acids, which few plants have. One usually has to eat fish to get high omega 3 levels. This edible wild green also has antioxidant properties.
Do you eat purslane? what is your favorite wild edible green?
Leda Meredith
And the thicker purslane stems make terrific pickles and relish!
;;'Sharon Hemsath
I saw purslane seeds being sold in one of my seed catalogs and was intrigued because I was sure I'd seen the stuff growing amok (as a weed) in my garden.
After a little research, I decided to give it a try. I picked it last month, washed it and then sauteed it and put it in my omelet. I've also put it in the blender to mix in my smoothies.
I'm thrilled that something that grows so profusely in my garden no longer has to be thrown out. It lasted for a very long time in the fridge. I'm going to freeze it and pull it out when making soups this fall and winter.
Just as an aside, I also discovered you can eat the leaves of broccoli, cauliflower and kohlrabi too...anything from the brasica family. I was thrilled about this too and have some frozen and waiting for my soups.
Jane
I'm so glad you did a video on Purslane! I had no idea it was edible so I immediately ran out to the garden to taste it...yummy! I am wondering if the wild purslane tastes different than the cultivated variety? That's one less weed the chickens will get from my weekly weeding program!
ed
I recently started juicing and eating more raw vegetables. I have tried for a couple of years to kill purslane, it isn't easy, I guess I need to eat it. When I was a kid in OK, we used to pick poke in the spring and dandelion greens for salad.
I have been trolling your site for a few years now and really like the back to basics of eating and gardening as well.
We also have had many Labs in our life, and other dogs, 6 at present.
Keep up the good work.
Karen
Several years ago while weeding my very neglected garden my son-in-law asked me what I was making with the weeds for dinner. I thought he was joking, but consulted my plant-wise mother and she confirmed that I was throwing away food. Now that I live in Mexico, near my daughter's in-laws I have to pay to eat purslane. It is funny that we don't use it in the US more since it is not strong flavored (like dandelions, etc.) I love it and buy it as often as possible here. Wish I could find somewhere the vendors don't harvest but it is hard to find anything edible here except dandelions for forage.
It is great to green up almost any sauteed dish. We like it in just about anything. Try it by cutting it up into about 2" pieces and scrambling it with eggs or fry up a little onion, add purslane and boil it for a few minutes and serve it as your vegetable. It is a very mild vegetable. Because it is so high in water content you will need to cook about 2x what you want to end up with.
Cheri
Thank you for this video on purslane! My kids and I would pull these out and noted how a large plant looks like a big, round rug and comes out of the ground like that. This summer I look forward to pulling it and EATING it.
Emily S.
I was looking up purslane because I know it as verdolaga and was curious if about it. i usually have to pay for it in Hispanic grocery stores here in NJ but I've seen it growing in sidewalks and gardens all over! It really is a great green! Thank you for putting up a video!
Eric
Yes, purslane is sold in Latino grocery stores, and it also grows in your yard. thx! eric.