Summer Purslane

Portulaca oleracea

Story: A beautiful, juicy salad/cooking green that is high in Omega 3 and vitamins A and C. Summer purslane is easy to grow, being more resistant to slug attack than lettuce, especially when plants are bigger. It is succulent, producing gorgeous and tasty leaves for salads throughout the summer. We highly recommend giving it a go. 

Seed saved by: Omved Gardens

When to sow: March - July direct

Requirements: nutrient-rich soil, regular watering, and a lot of sun.

When to harvest for eating: June – October

When to harvest for seed saving: July - October

Need to isolate: No 

Seed saving: Summer purslane is a wild vegetable that is quite stable and does not need isolating. Simply allow it to grow, flower and set seed - the seeds can be tricky to catch at the right time as they drop readily (meaning they also self seed in seasons to come) - keep an eye on the plants once the seed heads start to ripen and harvest just before the pods open, seeds are tiny, shiny - a black colour indicates ripeness. Dry the seed thoroughly inside and then package up. 

Number of plants to save seeds from: 5-10 minimum, more is ideal

Pollination: Mostly self pollinated 

How to send back seed: Please label all seed with variety, type, date and your name and contact. If you didn't get a chance to fill out our online data collection form, you can also send us a few lines about how it grew for you/flavour etc. Please aim to send back 1/2 cup of dried seed or more so that we can continue to share with network members. Send to: The Seed Saving Network, Omved Gardens, 1 Townsend Yard, N6 5JF.

Please remember, if you’re an individual grower you can order up to 4 packets of seeds. If you order more than this, you will receive just four packs to begin with. This is to ensure we get plenty of data in return and to keep our stocks sustainable for years to come.* 

*Community groups, seed guardians and Experienced Growers can order larger quantities, please email us at info@seedsaving.network if this is the case.

If an item is out of stock we will send a close alternative.