Verdolaga Portulaca oleracea
Verdolaga for sale at market in Morelia Mexico in 2007(Photo by Frank Mangan)
Verdolaga is a vegetable green used in many Latin American countries. It is also popular as a salad green in France and other European countries. It is similar in taste and consistency to watercress. In Mexico it is often used as a thickener in stews. Verdolaga is also valued in Latin America for its medicinal properties.
It is believed to be native to Iran or India, although it was present in the New World at the time of European colonization.
Many farmers in the Northeast know it as the herbaceous weed common purslane (also Portulaca oleracea). There are cultivated varieties that grow in a more upright fashion than the weed.
The weed common purslane (Portulaca oleracea) at a farm in Massachusetts (Photo by Frank Mangan) |
Production
There are farmers in Massachusetts that promote the growth of the weed common purslane and harvest them for ethnic markets. There are horticultural varieties which are larger and grow more upright than the wild species.
Verdolaga can be direct seeded or as a transplant. Trials at UMass used transplants with three – four plants in each plug. For production of the wild type, one farmer disks a field that is infected with common purslane to encourage uniform growth.
Horticultural variety verdolaga, "Goldberg Golden Purslane” at the UMass Research Farm in 2011. (Photo by Zoraia Barros) |
Seed Sources
Two horticultural varieties, "Goldberg Golden Purslane" and “Gruner Red Purslane” are available from Johnny's Selected Seeds
Processed vedolaga for sale at a Latino market in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (Photo by Frank Mangan) |
