More Blands: Purslane, Sow Thistle, Asiatic Day Flower

July 19, 2019

When it comes to foraging, I'm lazy. There are many other wildcraft bloggers who take the job much more seriously (as will I, come the Zombie Apocalypse). I want to pick and eat, not process, pickle, preserve. . . . I'm working on becoming more ambitious (I'll post recipes for refrigerator pickles and dock flour crackers, soon), but for now, most of my foraging finds wind up in a salad.

Which is great! What better way to enjoy summer's bounty than picked straight from field to plate! Talk about local. Talk about saving money (about $5/week that I don't spend on grocery store greens). And let's not even mention the superior nutrition!

So here are three new contenders for the Battle of the Blands.

Purslane

You probably started pulling this wondrous little weed, with its pinkish stems and succulent leaves, out of your garden beginning in early July. Pull it out, sure! But don't discard it. Like Lamb's Quarters, it's a nutritional rock star. According to the Scientific World Journal,

This plant . . . is a rich source of potassium (494 mg/100 g) followed by magnesium (68 mg/100 g) and calcium (65 mg/100 g) and possesses the potential to be used as vegetable source of omega-3 fatty acid. Purslane has better nutritional quality than the major cultivated vegetables, with higher beta-carotene, ascorbic acid, and alpha-linolenic acid.

Purslane is a powerful antioxidant, and even better, is very pleasant to eat. Crunchy and mildly lemony, it's perfect in a salad or as an addition to dishes such as fresh spring rolls.

Sow Thistle

This is a newer discovery for me. As you can see in the photo above, Sow Thistle is very common in the city and other places where the soil has been disturbed. It's recognizable by it flowers and seed puffs, which look a lot like miniature dandelions (smaller than my thumbnail), though the stems branch into multiple flowers. The base of each leaf wraps around the stem.

What surprised me about this green was that, even after it flowered, the leaves were very palatable--a little more leathery than lettuce, but mild and tasty--rather like mature Romaine. Other authors find the older leaves bitter, and recommend harvesting only the flower stalks (peel and stir fry), but that was not my experience. This plant is in the Aster family--as are dandelions, daisies, wild lettuces, and Chicory.

I love the way Prickly Lettuce turns its leaves sideways as if showing them off

What distinguishes Sow Thistle from a wild lettuce such as Prickly Lettuce is that it doesn't have a row of hairs or bristles along the main rib on the underside of the leaf (as Prickly Lettuce does).

Prickly Lettuce--do you see the line of fine hairs on the back of the leaf to the right?

And while Chicory's leaves also clasp the flower stems, Chicory sports beautiful sky blue/periwinkle flower, rather than small yellow ones.

Chicory: Its periwinkle/sky blue flowers are a common sight along the roadsides in July

Asiatic Dayflower

Did you ever notice that there are few truly blue flowers in nature? Well, in addition to Chicory, there's Asiatic Dayflower. A weak-stemmed, sprawling plant, it will also climb (up to two feet) if given support such as a fence or a foundation.

Asiatic Dayflower

The flowers, leaves, and stems make a mild, lovely salad green (somewhat mucilaginous, like Purslane). But even more to love: its sweet face!

Asiatic Dayflowers, up close

As a child first discovering this plant in my mother's rose garden, climbing against the foundation on the shady side of the house, I thought it looked just like an elephant face. Do you see? The two blue petals are the ears; the long curving stamens, the tusks. Never mind that this "elephant" has three yellow "eyes"--that just adds to its magic.

Magic is fleeting--each of these flowers lasts only one day--and when it's hot, they're gone by noon. But the stems, leaves, seed pods, and seeds remain edible, even when the flowers are gone.