Preparedness # 13

Aunt Clara didn’t come to see us very often but when she did, we were, as children, not all that excited to see her. She had a certain aura about her. Kids today would call her weird. I remember one day we were working in the garden and she walked out into the rows to see what we were doing. I was weeding the carrots, I think, and she bent down and picked up one of the fleshier leafed weeds with reddish stems that I had just pulled and said, you shouldn’t kill this weed, it is good to eat and ‘good for you.’ I could just see in her the wicked witch trying to feed me a poison apple since I had already made my associations with this being a weed and weeds were bad. But, she persisted and pulled a couple of leaves off of it an offered it to me as I retreated with a wrinkled nose and tight lips. She was too old to chase me and probably thought better of it anyway.

Well, it turns out that Aunt Clara was right, Purslane, even though a ‘weed,’ is one of the most nutritious plants alive. Popeye, too bad you didn’t know about it…. In some nutrients, it is ten times better than spinach. Dr. Artemis P. Simopoulos wrote in The New England Journal of Medicine in 1986 that it has remarkably high levels of alpha-linolenic acid (an omega-3 essential fatty acid) for something that's not a fish. Since then, purslane has been found to have high amounts of melatonin and other beneficial nutrients.

If we get in trouble, and even if we didn’t, it might be wise to know Purslane as well as Dandelion, Wild Mustard, Nasturtium and, add to that, some forms of Agave, Yucca, Prickly Pear and even the dreaded Stinging Nettle (which was considered a delicacy by the higher class English households). There are many more ‘wild’ plants that we may discuss in further articles, but knowledge of these could add very important elements to our diet if we were unable to get fresh produce from the store. And,even now,might be useful and maybe more nutritious.

If one of you are interested in edible plants growing ‘wild’ in this area, and would like to do some research and share the information with everyone, let me know and I will pass along what I have found.
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I realize it may be early to discuss fall gardening but what I am going to say may influence what you plant now. Root crops like carrots, beats, onions, turnips, potatoes and some other root crops can be planted in the late summer (as directed for fall gardens,) then left in the ground until needed. They may need a covering of mulch to prevent freezing but otherwise do very well this way. When you need some carrots for Christmas dinner, just go out and dig them!
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I purchased a tomato called ‘Heat Wave’ that is supposed to be able to set fruit until 100 degrees instead of 87 like other tomatoes. Has anyone had experience with it?
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