Edible Yards

OK, I promised more detailed descriptions and recipes for the edible weeds in my last post so here goes:

Purslane

This low-growing, octopus-looking annual succulent is deliciously tart when eaten raw. You can eat the leaves, stems and flowers in salads, on sandwiches or as a tasty snack while working in the garden. It does contain oxalic acid – about the same amount as spinach – so I don’t recommend eating entire meals of purslane but you can certainly make this a regular part of your diet and get all the great nutritional benefits (loads of Vitamin A, for instance, and iron and Vitamin C) too. You can also steam, boil, saute, fry and even pickle the entire plant. Yum! A friend who frequents the farmstand at Boggy Creek Farm in East Austin said that they sell purslane, amaranth and lamb’s quarter at their market this time of year so if you can’t find these prolific weeds growing in your own garden, you can purchase them locally at the farm!