Garden Pic Wednesday: Purslane

Looks like no mowing today!  Rain chances tripled since yesterday. Rain percentages are now 90% over the next several days (though  not a down pour; just intermittent periods of steady drizzle so far).

That certainly could put a twist in the public fireworks schedule!

(Not that we're going---too crowded. Here, they launch them over the bay and everyone packs out the public parks!)

If there's a suitable break, though, I will try and spread some weed & feed on the other side of the front lawn anyway, so the rain will water it in. 

Today's Garden Pic is Purslane: 

A member of the Portulacaceae family, it's basically a giant sized Moss Rose.

This one is in a pot on my back patio, which might be a good thing, since it can spread rather easily.

I didn't know anything about it, except it's got pretty blooms and is obviously a succulent, so I looked it up on-line.

Guess what? It's edible!

I said, "Shut the door!" ran outside, snipped off a new sprout and popped it in my mouth.

It was juicy delicious!

Purslane, both decorative and edible!

Since I was making a salad for lunch anyway, I snipped a few more new leafy sprouts and put them in my salad!
Apparently, Purslane has more Omega-3 in it then fish oil!
It's widely grown in Asian and European regions as a staple leafy vegetable, because it's chock full of minerals, fiber and vitamins, most notably more vitamin A then any other leafy plant.

Ways to Eat It:
* Fresh, raw leaves can be added to salads or turned into juice.
* Stems & leaves can be gently sautéed and steamed and served with fish or poultry.

*Stir-fried and combined with spinach or other vegetables. 

{There is only one caution: Purslane contains oxalic acid, which may form oxalic crystals (urinary tract stones) in certain people prone to them.}

Though I only have one single plant in a pot. That's good for a few salad snips now and then. Perhaps next year, I'll grow a large pot full of it! (It likes full sun.)

Also, here's a view of my roma tomato plants.

The leafy stuff in the foreground is bush green beans.

 I found several low-hanging ripe tomatoes had been pulled down and eaten by something and I had my suspicions--a box turtle.
Then I caught the little perp checking out the popcorn I throw out for the birds--and here he is.

When I came out with the camera to take a pic, he didn't hide--he took off at a dead run for cover under a nearby Azalea!

Really, I don't mind sharing, though I did collect remaining low-hangers that were turning ripe and took them inside.
Fully ripe now, they're presently on the stove in a pot becoming my favorite seasonal soup: Basil Tomato!