Weed and Feed
Yes my garden is still organic; I didn't cave and break out with the ORTHO. I did do a little weeding tonight with my 10 and 12 yr old sons however, after learning a little about what I had growing wild in the garden.I have to preface this by explaining that I was checking out a new blog yesterday, Red State Green where the author was talking about making soup for the local food challenge with chicken and purslane. I wasn't familiar with this ingredient so of course I googled it. Turns out that purslane is a very common vegetable plant that I just came in contact the other night while out in the garden, pulling it as a weed from my mulch path.
I'm a firm believer that we live in a wonderful world that is filled with opportunities to explore even in our own backyards, so of course I had to take this opportunity to try something new. (This isn't something new to our house as I have brought home wild asparagus and dandelion greens in the past. )My sons and I went out to the pumpkin patch, Which I may add has only one pumpkin in it, and weeded out a good bit of wild purslane. It's an odd plant, low growing and of very similar texture to a succulent. I washed it and tried a taste of the raw plant. It was very mild, slightly sweet and not bitter at all.
I decided to try the bulk of it as I might tend to have it with a meal in order to really get a feeling of how it might fit into a diet. I sauted it for a few minutes, maybe 5, with some butter and garlic and gave it a try. Very tasty. My 12 yr old C~ loved it. It was more substantial than a traditional greens dish like chard or spinich, but somewhat similar in taste. I encourage you to take a second look at what's in your yard that maybe you didn't put there. It's been said that there are in the neighborhood of 50,000 edible plants known to man, but that the average person only eats around 30. As always, be safe and research anything that you're going to try to consume. I have found Wildman Steve Brills web site to be one of the best that I have seen with very good pictures and information.
Bon Appetit!
Bon Appetit!
Labels:
foraging,
organic gardening,
wild food
5 comments:
I love purslane. The leaves are great in salad (taste just like lettuce to me) and the stems are yummy cooked. I'm making another chicken/ rice/ purslane stew for dinner tonight, as it turns out.
We love purslane, too. It's got a bit of a tart, lemony flavor with a touch of the mucilaginous nature of okra. Our CSA farmer gives it to us occasionally. (I won't eat what's in my backyard with the dog...)
I tried it last night in a salad with some salad green and arugula thinnings and dandelion greens. I don't have a dog and I haven't sprayed any chems on the yard this year a all. I do however plan to plant some in a pot for next year though from seeds that I will get from the wild plants; heirloom purslane?
Oh my god, that's our magic "grows in the parking despite the anti-ice crap the city sprays" plant.
Not that we can eat anything that doesn't grow in a raised bed. But, wow. I'm going to start watching for it now.
Did your kids eat any?
Rosa~
Yeah, my two oldest tried it. My twelve year old said he loved it. I agree with Chile that it did have a bit of the mucilaginous texture of okra, but I tried some more of it the next night in a salad with some lettuce, arugula and dandelion greens and I liked it a lot more that way. It added a crunchy sweet texture to the salad. If you do find some, you may want to do as I am, and collect some of the very small black seeds and plant some in a pot next year like RedStateGreen seems to have.
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