Foraging Wild Edible Purslane

There is a reasonably good chance that Purslane, (Portulaca oleracea), is already growing somewhere in your yard. It is a plant that started in India and Persia, but is now found almost everywhere in the world. It prefers rich soil, but will grow just fine in almost any soil. In fact, it is often seen coming up through the cracks in driveways, so you know it is fairly hardy.

It is now grown in most parts of the world. More often as a food crop, but in some places, it is considered an invasive species because it can expand it’s domain through its vines taking root or through its seeds.

Important Note

There are several different plants within the same Portulaca family. This article is dealing ONLY with Portulaca oleracea. If you search to buy seeds, you will be presented with choices that have much brighter flowers than Portulaca oleracea, but they look completely different. They may or may not be edibles, so do your homework before assuming just because it is a bright beautiful purple or pink flower, that it is just as edible as Portulaca oleracea’s rather plain looking yellow flowers.

What does it look like

image source

Portulaca oleracea looks much like the plant commonly known as Jade Plant. The leaves are similar in shape and both have leaves that are thicker than leaves of plants we would normally eat as greens. Jade plant has the thickest leaves of the two.

image source

The stems can help identify

The stems of Purslane tend to branch off from the center of the plant. They grow close to the ground and can take root at each place they physically touch the ground. This creates a carpet of plants when allowed to grow unimpeded. But the leaves tend to be raise up above the ground.

image source

Little Yellow Flowers

The edible purslane from this article has small yellow flowers. Other plants from the same family have more brightly colored flowers, but the leaves look completely different than this edible variety. DO NOT ASSUME that because the name Purslane is in the name of a plant that it is edible. It may or may not be. But this article is ONLY about this one variety.

image source

Purslane Seed Pods

The seed pods for purslane is very noticeable. If you want them to self-sow for next year’s crop simply leave them alone and they will re-seed themselves without any help from you. If you want to collect some seeds to grow in a different area or to give/sell to others, this is what you look for.

image source

How to eat Purslane

All parts of the plant are edible. The leaves and stalks can be eaten raw, or you can cook them much like any greens or saute them an include in casseroles. I have never done it, but I would also try fermenting them and see what the flavor is like.

The seeds can be dried and ground to create a type of flour or just eat them raw like you would sunflower seeds.
There is a fairly big difference in the taste of Purslane depending on when you harvest them. Plants harvested in the morning tend to have a tarter tanginess to them. Plants harvested in the afternoon are more mellow.

Nutritional Info

According to wildernessarena.com, “Purslane contains more omega-3 fatty acids than any other leafy vegetable plant (including spinach). The extraordinary level of EPA is higher than fish, algae, and flax seeds. It contains vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, as well as magnesium, calcium, potassium, and iron.”

WARNING! There is a poisonous Look a Like

There is a poisonous plant that to the untrained eye could be mistake for purslane. It is called Spurge.

This image from foragedfooie.blogspot.com Is by far the best image I found that shows the difference.

When you see only a small portion of the plant, they look very similar. But purslane has thicker stems and the leaves are a little thicker too. The growth pattern of leaves is different also. Spurge leaves are opposites but they are poisonous. Remember my article on how to spot possible poisonous plants. This one goes against the rules. In the above photo, purslane is at the top and Spurge is at the bottom.

If you need seeds

I found a supplier in France where I can get 5000 seeds for less than $1 more than 100 seeds cost at other places. I have ordered the 5000 seeds. I will not need anywhere near that many seeds (unless I make seed bombs), so if you would like some, let me know. Depending on how many want seeds, I might have to ask for maybe 50 cents to help with postage, but I am not interested in making money off anyone. Just trying to help people get food sources established in case of a zombie invasion.

Sources:

illinois.edu
Wikipedia.com