You all have this growing in your garden:

Purslane

It’s called Purslane. It is native in India and Perisia, and has marked its territory as an invasive (edible) weed all over the United States – and all over most of the world.

The great thing about purslane is that it can be grown in any soil condition. It can even be grown in the cracks in your driveway! Oh wait…that’s a great thing? Well, I did say that it was edible – so if this is the one thing you would like to grow in your garden, then by all means its hardiness is second to none!

Unfortunately, most of us don’t plant gardens with the intention of growing a purslane forest.

Side step. Have I mentioned recently that we have a seven-month-old child? Given this, I am impressed with how well the garden is doing this year. I have spent maybe seven hours total this entire summer weeding the garden. Weeding was a cathartic task that I found quite peaceful last year. And last year, the purslane was ridden from the garden quite quickly. This year…

Purslane Garden Bed

Purslane Garden Bed

Please don’t judge me too much by the shape this bed is in. I intended to grow onions, chard, and carrots here. The onions are okay… the chard meager, and the carrots – well, it’s hard to grow anything when purslane is crowding out the sunshine.

Oh, but I mentioned earlier – purslane is edible! And it is, indeed! (I ate some the other day and I am still here writing this post). The University of Illinois Extension website has a great article: Purslane – Weed It or Eat It? I read this three times. Here’s a great quote from the article:

“Running a tiller through purslane is called purslane multiplication.”

And then I asked the husband. And after a resounding “I don’t care.” (there was a baby sleeping on him…) I weeded it.

I tried to weed around the chard and the carrots, but ended up with a transplanted section of chard and no carrots. I planted zucchini in the rest of the space – that should fill in quickly and shade out the purslane for this season, at least.

 

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