Good to eat

... at the Siyazama Community Garden, Khayelitsha.

I saw a lot of very plump and tender purslane, too, between rows and row of vegetables (below). 

Vince, Selina and I are going back on Tuesday, for Abalimi's regular Tuesday tour, and at least two of us will be begging for umtyutyu and igwanitsha (Xhosa for pigweed and puslane) to make morog - which is a stew of any green edible thing that most people today consider weeds. It is typically cooked up before being added to pap (white maize porridge), but I like the greens on their own.

Selina doesn't like the purslane too much as it turns mucilagenous when cooked, but I do - raw, especially, just the leaves. It is one of the healthiest things you can eat. It is now included  in the Harvest of Hope's CSA boxes, after I jumped up and down about it being thrown out as a weed last year. 

While we were talking about edible weeds at the micro farms the other day I was told by Bridget Impey, Abalimi's Project Coordinator, that one subscriber canceled her CSA entirely after receiving a bunch of nettles in her weekly share. So education must continue at all levels. Nettles are nice.

Read my purslane post if you are in doubt, and if that does not convince you, this might.  Here's some more about pigweed and other good-to-eat 'weeds.'