I picked a pkt up in Cyprus last year that said,GLISTIRIDA,but the piccy reminded me of watercress.
However it turns out to be PURSLANE,a thriving floor based herb much used in south american cookery
it also appears to be a medicine given to bipolar dissorder sufferers and ive already asked me mate if he wants to grow some as an assist to his long suffering wife who has that particular prob.
anyway,I looked in our forum archive and found...............
When we arrived in SW France, I discovered two weeds on our veg patch that I'd never come across in UK. They grew amazingly quickly, and I had to tackle them as soon as I saw them, otherwise they would take the place over.
Several years later, I've just found that one of them is very beneficial, and I never knew it! It's called purslane, or pig weed. Apparently it has e.g. more Omega 3 fatty acids than any other leafy plant, and many other positives.
Does anyone else use it? apparently the weed version is better than a cultivated version. But I've been so successful in removing it that i'm going to have to search hard to find it and enable it to grow in one little corner.
Peanuts
has anybody else grown it and is it easy enough to control or is it a tad to spreading and evasive on following seasons and become troublesome.
cheers
Gazza
This may not be very helpful, but I came across it being grown in Portugal, flourishing and juicy plants and a good addition to mixed salads. I didn't ask if it was invasive.
I first came across it in Oman, where I was commissioned to illustrate useful wild plants. The only purslane plants I could find were small, as expected in a near desert area, and surprisingly difficult to illustrate as I could never find any flowers. I eventually discovered it flowered very early in the morning, and they were dead and fallen by the time I was looking for them around mid-morning..... The leaves were prized as juicy morsels in the usually hot and dry climate.
I keep meaning to grow it myself - thanks for the reminder.
I find the green self seeds well, the golden less so... :)
Hi Gazza,
I used it a lot in Portugal as a salad ingredient dressed with Vinagrette. It will self seed freely in warmer climates, not sure about here, but I wouldn't call it invasive, as it is purely an annual in UK.
I'd definitely go for it; a tasty and unusual salad.
yes it is eaten in France, called Pourpier, it is a "saponific" dunno if that is the right word, plant which means it is slippery inside. A very tasty slightly acidic leaf, you can eat the whole thing, it grows easily but I would not say invasive as it is shallow rooting and dead easy to get out. Often seeds by itself out of cow manure.... that's how I got mine! In any case even if I use it all it seems to come back the next year. I don't cultivate, we just eat whatever comes up naturally.
Ok ,thanks all,interesting and varied replies,and nothing too negative so I guess we,ll just have to seed some and see how it performs in our climate.
Cheers
Gazza
Feel quite honoured to be quoted from the archive - thanks Gazza! I'm sure it isn't a 'nasty' weed, it just seeds easily here if allowed to, because of the extra warmth, and once above ground spreads alarmingly quickly, keeping flat on the earth. I find everything grows much more strongly here compared to UK eg mint and blackberries, both of which grow feet above or under the ground if you haven't kept an eye on them for a week. So purslane was a real nuisance to begin with, until I hoed it into non-existance. Wish we'd know we could benefit by eating it instead. now you've reminded me, I'll probably keep an eye out for it in a corner of the garden and take to cultivating it a little.
No worries Peanuts,if you wish I can send you a few seeds from our pkt to get you going again.
Gazza
Are you talking about winter purslane (Montia perfoliata) or summer purslane (Portulaca oleracea)? I've grown the former for several years now. It's very hardy and I've been eating it since a few weeks and it will keep going through the hungry gap and then flower, self seed if you let it, and die. I haven't tried to get rid of it, but it sounds like winter purslane is what the others might be talking about, because it is shallow rooted and shouldn't be difficult to control, though I don't know how long seeds would survive in the soil.
I only got summer purslane seeds last autumn, so I don't know what it's like, but as the name indicates it's not hardy. No doubt "lovely as the flowers in May, but there are so many flowers in May".
Glistirida in latin equates to "Portulaca" which is summer Purslane.
The one eaten here grows in summer, usually I see it at the time of planting the squash so we are talking early May. It spreads along the ground but is very easy to pull up or just snap off a few strands to eat. It is an annual and usually disappears during the autumn.