Monday, July 13, 2020

He'll Eat Purslane, but not the Sidewalk Purslane

Longtime readers will know that I have a longtime obsession with purslane. This ubiquitous weed is both delicious and nutritious, and it thrives in the heat of summer. Purslane is famous for the ability of its tiny seeds to infiltrate the merest cracks, allowing this tough-yet-tender plant to thrive everywhere. In a walkabout in the neighborhood, I found this lovely plant growing out of a tiny gap between a sidewalk paver and a mailbox:




It's a nice specimen, with big, succulent leaves, but it's location suggests exposure to car exhaust and dog pee. I was almost tempted to pick it just to transplant it to seed another area, but the plant is so ubiquitous that it doesn't need to be propagated. Most people want to get rid of the stuff. July is a big purslane month for me, the plant thrives in the sun and weathers dry conditions well. I prefer to eat it uncooked, in order to preserve its juicy crunch (cooked, it gets mucilagenous, like okra), so it's a perfect summer green.

Title somewhat inspired by the bridge of this gloriously demented number.

4 comments:

bowtiejack said...

Thanks

Anonymous said...

My initial thought; "Ghislaine had a sister?".

Anathema Device said...

I thought I recognised this under a different name - it's called Pigweed in Australia:

https://www.une.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/255100/une-weeds-pigweed.pdf

Unfortunately it's a serious invasive crop pest here.

Maybe we should invite you over and let you munch away! ;)

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

Thanks

I live to serve, and being a purslane proselytizer is a role I relish.

My initial thought; "Ghislaine had a sister?"

OUCH! Poor purslane, it's only a joke...

Maybe we should invite you over and let you munch away! ;)

Eat the invaders! You should try it, but harvest it in the morning. During the heat of midday, it tends to get sour due to its CAM photosynthetic pathway.