Weed will you! The Portulaca, "Weed" beautiful and good.

Justin Catalano

It seems strange that the man classifies certain weeds. A leg vedere, in fact, nature in every form of life has its exact place, presupponendo che in un ecosistema perfetto anche piante apparentemente inutili abbiano una loro precisa collocazione e scopo. Perhaps the only weed, as we understand human, is just the man!

Weeds such as are seen in our common human sense are in fact cure or light imbalances that occur in the soil.

L’incuria umana, his lack of respect for places, bad workmanship or, why not, imbalances created by excessive fertilization mean that mother nature is compelled to give us a signal or put themselves a remedy.

The weed is an indication of fallow land where they are spilled or landfills. Chamomile with its small and beautiful flowers is the healing of the land too compact and minimally processed.

• But then why call them weeds?

The point is just that. We define these just for their elimination difficult, for their invasive behavior, and for our poor ability to eliminate having forgotten how to live in harmony with nature.

Today we speak of Portulaca (Portulaca oleracea), widespread in our fields and known by many names in dialect (Erba PORCELLANA, sportellacchia, purchiacca, grass pucchiacchella, etc..). Annual plant to spread and prostrate (we would say meandering), we often find ourselves especially in the months from June to August, appearing in our gardens. It looks very similar to a cactus plant with its fleshy leaves and its brown branches. His little yellow flowers do make it first appreciate and, then, curse when trying to get rid.

• But why is there, and above all it is really unusable?

Surely on the basis of a few lines before the Portulaca appears for a reason. Bad soil drainage, namely, simply put water stagnates in the basement because it was too compact.

• But let's get to the more interesting question ... is useless?

And here the amazing response. Absolutely not!

Its tender leaves are delicious in salads, either alone or as an addition.

Pari its twigs, once dried in the sun and stored, they are very tasty if used as a condiment for pasta aglio e olio in which they were soaked. You will get a sauce where these "sticks "for their aromatic, vaguely reminiscent of the flavors of the porcini mushroom.

But, and this is the most interesting news, also does well as a plant rich in Omega-3, fat can increase our immune system, and vitamins.

So eat! But not only.

• The infusion of its leaves has purifying effects on the body. It 'a good diuretic.

• When used for external use is fine to treat hives, pimples and eczema.

• The farmers used, if a bee sting or a wasp, take leaves more fleshy,  break them in half,  and rub on the bite.

In short, the Portulaca missing only the word. And if talking would say "weed will you!