Purslane vegetable - an edible weed in your garden beds
Lovers of green crops have long appreciated the vegetable purslane - one of the most unpretentious and high-yielding plants. Purslane itself is not a rarity for gardeners, but for the most part it is notorious. Most often it can be found as weed, the fight against which takes a lot of time and effort. Possessing persistent vitality and rapid growth, it is literally indestructible and extremely reluctant to leave the beds. However, there is such a purslane among the species of this plant, which these qualities are just "at hand".
Vegetable or garden purslane is an edible variety cultures with high palatability. From early spring to the very frost, it will provide you with delicious vitamin greens for salads and more. How to distinguish it from a weed and what is needed to grow it?
Vegetable purslane is also known as dandur.
What does it look like plant
Garden purslane grows in the form of lush bushes. His fleshy stems are either straight, up to 10 cm high, or spread and reach length up to 40 cm. Small yellow inflorescences bloom at the tops of the branches. By external in appearance, the edible purslane is very reminiscent of its "brother" weed. He has such the same juicy rounded leaves, but only larger. Nutritional value represent both leaves and shoots of purslane. They have a pleasant, slightly sour, taste, and can be successfully substituted for sorrel and salad.
Vegetable purslane - cultivation features
The advantage of this green culture is its self-seeding ability. Once having acquired seeds and sowing a couple of beds, you already no need to plant annually. Purslane seeds are generously sprinkled in autumn land and the next year they go down again.
So that the bushes are lush and give a lot of juicy greenery, for purslane, a sunny place should be taken. The soil should be light and nutritious. It is better to plant directly on the garden bed, rarely sprinkling small seeds and lightly sealed with soil. Like other varieties, vegetable purslane is bad transfers a transplant. But it sprouts well even with winter sowing.
Maintaining edible weed beds is easy and includes:
- Thinning of young seedlings as they grow up until 10 cm remains between them.
- Watering once a week in dry weather.
- Weed removal.
Bushes grow quickly, and the first harvest can be collect as early as 3 weeks after germination. Vegetable purslane is used as follows the same as most green crops. Young juicy leaves can be added in salad and soup, stew and fry. In addition, lovers of this weed with marinate with pleasure and canned it for the winter.