Purslane: nutritious and medicinal

I grow it in the garden most people pull it but there killing one of the worlds most nutritious greens

You are RIGHT! It is a HUGE source of omega 3 fatty acids.

They grow this, and lots of other of our "weeds" in Europe for salad greens. Mallow is another example of an EXTREMELY nutritious "weed" that we routinely kill off. Dandelion is another one.

I do like the taste. Purslane and lambs quarters

Purslane is welcome here on my farm! In fact, I intentionally grow it. People have thought me daft seeing me dig up plants along the roadside. I transplanted them into my garden. Now I have a huge row of it plus it reproduces readily. Ah-ha, more to transplant. Not only do we eat it, but it's great for the chickens. I can get more money for my eggs if the hens are being fed purslane and herbs.

Daniel McGinnis wrote:I grow it in the garden most people pull it but there killing one of the worlds most nutritious greens

It's amazing how big and full purslane gets if yer nice to it. Wonderful plant.
In addition to the nutritional content, it's good for mild bladder infections and bug bites and stings.

Doc

Isn't it funny how different perspectives think differently about things. I just orderd S. Lespedeza seed and will pick it up this Saturday. However, when I first was speaking with the seed dealer, I asked, "Do you carry Serecea Lespedeza in amounts less than 50 pounds?" There was a pause on the other end of the phone and then he spoke up, "uuummm, you want to cultivate lespedeza?" I chuckled hearing his confusion. Then he said, "All my customers are trying to get rid of the stuff ... cattle here won't touch it." I laughed again and told him we were going to grow it for goat forage for a naturla dewormer and that we would harvest it before it gets woody stems." He then had a better understanding and took my order for 25 pounds. But everytime I mentioned it here in Missouri, people look at me funny.

I hope I'm expanding their minds a bit here.

I know this is an old thread, but I just read this article about purslane and its high Omega 3 content... I'd say free is quite a bit cheaper than flaxseed or fish oil!

http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/power-packed-purslane-zmaz05amzsel.aspx

My other half found this growing as a weed near my naked-seed pumpkins and thought he'd pick me a bit.  But the whole plant came out of the ground by the roots, so I ended up with this!

It's quite big - not the euro coin for scale.



This is the view from the back.



I'm going to saute it with onions and garlic and serve it with the chicken and tomatoes I have in the solar cooker.  Might as well make use of the Portuguese sun!

A local friend of mine is given bunches of it by a friend who weeds it out of their garden.  She freezes some for use later and likes to make a soup with tomato, garlic, poached egg and goat cheese, then poured over bread