Crazy Weed Lady

Just after it rains is the best time to pull out weeds. So when I awoke this morning, I rushed outside in my bare feet to take advantage of the wet ground. Out there pulling weeds, got me wondering if the neighbors ever think, "There goes that crazy weed lady with the disheveled hair."

Earth mother that I am, I like to go barefoot to feel the ground under my feet. So I pick all of the sticker weeds - like the dreaded goat heads - before they go to seed.  (Especially seeking out those that disguise themselves with pretty yellow or purple flowers. They don't fool me!)

sticker weed on neighbor's side

Sometimes, I'll be weeding along the property line, and I see some sticker weeds in my neighbor's yard. I'll just grab those too while I'm out there.  And that little one over there... Soon I'll end up picking all the weeds on that side of their house. I practice what I would say if the neighbor caught me pulling their weeds... "Just bein' neighborly, ma'am! You know...random acts of kindness...pay it forward...and all that." At least their stickers won't get tracked into my yard! And maybe, just maybe I won't get woken up at the break of dawn by a noisy weed-whacker!

I'll admit I drive Dan crazy by stopping to pull out a weed in a neighbor's right of way on our walk to the store. There are two benefits for me: to catch the sticker plants before they take over their whole yard and get tracked into mine while (hopefully) discouraging them from using weed killer in our neighborhood.

You might recall I had some run-ins with a certain landscaper who insists on spraying Roundup in our neighborhood. Remember this photo on facebook?

 Poisoning by T.D.T. 

This guy said, "If the city can use it, so can we."  Then a member of the "landscape advisory committee" stood up at a city council meeting and asking them to spray pre-emergent on all of the city property before monsoon rains brought out more weeds.  That was the last straw! Even the Pima Department of Environmental Quality's G.I. manual states that herbicides seep into our ground water.  I wrote the mayor and my city council member urging them to stop spraying the ineffectual weed killer. The mayor forwarded my e-mail to an expert who agreed with my assessment. I've been placed on the landscape advisory e-mail list.

Found on Aug. 7, 2018

I wasn't always obsessed with weeds. Dan started it!  In an early blog, I expressed my shock when Dan weeded our overgrown garden only to turn around and cover it with Bermuda grass clippings!

chard we grew in Bermuda weed mulch

Since then, we have successfully used Bermuda grass as mulch in our garden and around baby trees. No new Bermuda grass came up. I'll repeat that... No new Bermuda grass came up. Now I harvest Bermuda grass for mulch and compost! Bermuda grass is so abundant in our desert. Why shouldn't we put it to good use?  You just have to be sure to gather it before it goes to seed.

Speaking of crazy... I wonder what the neighbors thought of Dan out there in the heat of the day digging up Bermuda grass (a foot deep) to make a right of way catchment basin - and then purposely transplanting native grass into that basin! (This is actually a thing. The native grass works with the wood chip mulch as a sponge to keep the ground moist. Native plants also prevent erosion on the sides of the basin.)

Last year, Dan looked on in dismay as I picked the Bermuda grass in the easement behind our house... and the neighbors' house. But there was method to my madness! I was making room for the edible weeds to come up. And it worked! We had an alleyway buffet of amaranth and purslane!

Remember this sign?

our alleyway buffet

This year I posted a bigger sign, but so far there aren't as many edible weeds. Was it because of the slow, erratic monsoon season? Maybe the lizards are getting all the amaranth? Usually, purslane comes up after the second or third rain. Maybe it can't take the record heat either.

So... I've had to resort to finding my purslane elsewhere. I've been known to pull out weeds in front of the neighborhood steakhouse, so they won't start spraying poison on them. There were three huge patches of purslane under the downspout from their giant roof. One day I grabbed a big bunch on the way to the bus stop and put it into my reusable grocery bag. (Caution: stinging ants under the weeds.) Of course, it's always a good idea to ask the owner if they use weed killer. If you're not sure, you can still liberate that purslane and replant the roots in your own yard. That's how I got a nice row of purslane in my garden last summer.

I have two pitchers full of purslane that I nibble on throughout the day.  During purslane season, I like to throw it into everything: soups, salads, scrambles, and sauces. (Well, everything starting with "s.")

The other night, I used a big bunch to make one of my favorite purslane dishes: verdologas stew! YUM!

Scroll down the blogs on this link for more of my favorite purslane recipes.



So there are good weeds and bad weeds. I leave the good weeds where I want them and pull the bad.

I spent the better part of one summer trying to eradicate the Russian thistle from the alleyway and our garden.

Russian thistle right next to our fenced in food garden...

This weed would climb up the fence and throw it's pink seeds into our garden.  Everyday I had to pull the tiny weeds out of the garden, making sure to get the whole root so it wouldn't come back. These were so invasive that I would pull them out in the easement behind other people's houses too - so they wouldn't spread back to my garden.

I was successful at getting rid of the Russian thistle. Here's a picture of that same spot last November. The ground was so rich from the decomposing weeds and leaves that we grew a 3 Sisters garden without any fertilizer - just a thin layer of wood chip mulch.

This patch was overgrown with Russian thistle.
Here I'm watering some cowpeas that survived the hot summer.

That's odviously amaranth! 

Remember my blog, "Are you a good weed or a bad weed?" Immediately after posting it, there was a rush of views. But viewership slowed way down once people realized that I wasn't talking about another infamous weed. Come on, guys! I'm not that kind of weed lady!

I'll bestow the virtues of edible weeds on anyone who will listen and even some who won't (much to the horror of my teenage son). Hey, they'll be glad to have that food security if we ever have an emergency where Mexico and California stop delivering us produce.

On the way home from the store yesterday, I noticed some amaranth growing in a neighbor's yard. I knocked on the door and asked if they were going to eat the edible weeds growing there. Because if they weren't, I could save them the effort of picking it by foraging it myself.

Yep, I'm the crazy weed lady. I own it. But - seriously - Dan started it!

More Information:

What common weeds have to offer the organic gardener and how to keep them from taking over

Picking purslane in the park

When I first moved to Tucson, Fall was my favorite season. After the long, hot summer, I couldn't wait to feel those first cool breezes of autumn brush my cheeks. But right now I gotta say my favorite is Monsoon season. Perhaps it's the awe-inspiring sunsets or our new catchment basins working brilliantly or everything greening up. Perhaps it's watching the monsoon showers and the accompanying light show with purslane stew on mesquite tortillas and a glass of sangria. Mmmm...  

If you've been following my blog for a while, you might recall how obsessed I can get about purslane. I have been spotted carrying a handful home on the bus - muddy roots and all! If anything, I'm probably more obsessed with that yummy "weed" now! Could be all the anticipation of waiting through the long, dry summer...

I started to worry when July rolled around and I still didn't see any purslane in the easement behind our house. At this same time last year, it had become a virtual alleyway buffet. But this summer, my faded "No  poison. Edible weeds" sign guarded nothing but some sun dried bermuda grass. There wasn't even a hint of the purslane I planted in our garden coming back. 

Then one day I spotted a sad little purslane plant growing in a crack of the sidewalk down the street from us. 

Suddenly, stunningly, the monsoon arrived! I continued to check the alleyway for my beloved purslane. Nothing! Last year we had a carpet of native horse purslane after just two storms. 

Imagine my delight when I finally found several patches of common purslane growing in our neighborhood park!* I couldn't help sharing the good news with a curious grandma there watching her grandkid. I told her how the Tohono O'odham referred to purslane and amaranth as summer greens. I showed her the difference between the purslane and the weed next to it - how the purslane was a succulent with thicker reddish or light green stems and tear-shaped leaves. I even picked her a handful to take home for her salad. Hopefully she won't come back with her whole family and snatch them all up! Doh! Gotta stop telling everyone about my favorite purslane spot.

The last two nights we celebrated with one of our favorite purslane dishes, Mexican verdolagas stew. (Verdolagas is the Spanish word for purslane.)  I'll share it with you, if you promise not to go picking all the purslane in the park. You can follow the link to the original recipe, or use my quickie version here.

First, pick a fairly large bowl full of purslane. Cut off the roots and set aside to plant in your garden later. Wash the stems and leaves thoroughly to get out crunchy rocks, grass or other unwanted surprises. I found a cute little beetle in mine! (Dan's typical response, "Protein!") Coarsely chop the stems and leaves. Saute in olive oil until tender. Stir in 3-4 tablespoons of tomatillo sauce. Serve on thick corn or mesquite tortillas. Top with queso fresco.

We had the added treat of using the mesquite flour from the pods we picked in our own neighborhood. We had them milled at Desert Harvesters annual milling. We used the Native Seeds/SEARCH recipe for tasty (the mesquite makes them slightly sweet) mesquite flour tortillas. Yummy!

With all the fresh purslane and mesquite we picked ourselves, it was a very reasonably priced dinner. I only paid $5.99 for the queso fresco and $2.99 for tomatillo sauce for dinner two different days and we still have some of those left!

Verdolagas stew on mesquite tortillas while the monsoon storm crashes around us. Yep. Definitely my favorite season in Tucson!

Purslane sprouting in our garden!  Finally!

For more purslane recipes scroll down past this blog after clicking this link.

*I asked maintenance workers if they used herbicide in our neighborhood park and they said that they didn't. It's always a good idea to ask! 

Obsessed with Purslane

If you've been following my blog awhile, you might recall how I weeded the garden just to have Dan come along and plant weeds in it. One of those weeds was purslane, (also known as pigweed or verdolagas in Spanish.) We heard that they could grow in harsh conditions, so Dan tried transplanting some in the gravelly dirt to the right of our garden. They immediately wilted and died.

To be honest, I have been kind of obsessed with this delicious, healthy (rich in Omega 3) weed since I found it growing abundantly on the service road behind our next door neighbors' fence. Free food! One day, I saw Dave weeding his yard so I asked him if he ever sprayed Roundup outside his fence. I was delighted when he said he hadn't. I took him on a little tour of the alleyway and showed him the purslane and asked if it was alright if we picked it. He said sure. I started weeding the burmuda grass to keep the city or another "helpful" neighbor from poisoning the area. A while back I had found a pile of dead bees by our gas meter. Since then I have been diligently weeding the area to keep the city from spraying it with poison. (Good news, the bees are back!)

Soon after our failed attempt to transplant the purslane, the purslane in the alleyway got bitter. (I think it went to seed...) Recently, I've noticed purslane popping up between the road and the side walk. It was often by some sort of water source - run off from the roof or an irrigation system. About  two weeks ago, I found a nice patch by the bus stop where there was a drip system watering the median strip. I picked a huge handful, carried it home (muddy roots and all) on the bus, and picked up some tomatillos and cilantro for Mexican verdolagas stew. As I washed the dirt off, I could almost taste the craveable stew. That's when Dan informed me that he wouldn't be eating that because it could be poisoned with Roundup. Determined that my effort not go to waste, I grabbed up my purslane and planted it (burying each plant a few inches away from each other) in the garden along side of some browning turnips. I figured it might come up next year or at least nourish the soil. Dan sporadically watered the few veggies left in our garden.

After a light rain, I was surprised to find the purslane growing where I planted it in the garden! I still had the tomatillos and cilantro, so I grabbed up a handful to make a small batch of the stew! It was as tangy and delicious as I remembered it. 

Here is my version of verdolagas stew slightly adapted from the traditional Mexican version. I love this just the way it is, but meat lovers can add pork. 

along with the purslane, we had fresh chard from our garden

MEXICAN VERDOLAGAS STEW FOR TWO

4 tomatillos 

A large bunch of purslane (verdolagas) 

2-3 cloves of garlic 

1/4 of a medium onion

1/2 bunch of cilantro (optional) 

1 small chile serrano (optional)

2 slices of lime (optional)

queso fresco (optional) 

serve with tortillas 

Grab as much purslane as you can from your garden or backyard. (Leave some of the plant in the ground if you want it to continue to grow.) Wash it well. You might as well wash the cilantro now too. Chop up the purslane and the top of the cilantro separately. Set aside.

Peal the garlic, cut a quarter of an onion, simply remove the tough covering off of the tomatillos and cut into easily blend-able wedges. Throw all but purslane into the blender or food processor until it is liquidy (is that a word?) Cook in small pot or skillet for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, chop the cilantro in blender. Add the purslane to stew. Cook until tender. Add cilantro just before serving. You can also melt a little queso fresco in the stew if you like. It's good either way. 

Serve with tortillas, add a squeeze of lime, crumble on some queso fresco. Yum! 

What we ended up having for dinner: fish rubbed with chili powder and topped with mango salsa, roasted corn with chili power, butter and lime, steamed chard from our garden and verdolagas stew on a flour tortilla.

Find a quicker version of this recipe on this blog. 

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IDENTIFICATION AND PREPARATION HINTS: Purslane is considered a succulent. The tear shaped leaves are smooth and thicker than a tree leaf. The stems are pinkish or light green. The stems have a nice tangy, crisp bite when raw. They are best eaten soon after picked. You probably don't want to eat it when it's gone to seed or has flowers because it gets bitter.  You can add it raw to salads, sauteed (good in an omelet), stir-fried, in soups, hidden in tomato based sauces, or in most recipes where you would use leafy greens. It has a milder taste than most leafy vegetables.  

If picking purslane in the wild, don't confuse it with spurge. You can tell the difference because spurge is woodier, branches spread out from the middle along the ground. It is sticky to the touch and has a white sap if you break the stem.

More PURSLANE RECIPES.