Unintended discovery.
Yesterday I was walking through the plant section of Walmart looking for a few new plants with which to adorn my place. I've been also looking at growing more edibles... Dwarf fruit trees etc. I'm very lucky with the light in my place. Anyway I was looking at a huge fern when I noticed a tiny plant, about an inch and a half, growing out of the drain hole of the fern. I'm not a plant expert and didn't recognize it. I was curious enough to want to find out. So I gently pulled it out leaving just a tiny bit of root on it. I didn't have anything with which to keep it moist so I tucked it in the soil of a small starter plant I already had in my cart and promptly forgot about it.
Once home, I set my live purchases by the window and got busy with other things. When my friend called to chat, something she said made me remember the plant. I went to check on it and it still looked very healthy. I told my friend about it and she suggested I Google lens it, so I did. She was actually familiar with this plant. So when I told her Google id'd it as Common Purslane she started telling me about how it was edible. Apparently it's considered a weed but Google also confirmed that it was not only edible but nutrient rich in the omega 3s, folate and magnesium among others. It is used in soups and salads. According to Google it grows very fast and soon (like 2 weeks) I should be able to harvest it often. What's more...it takes very little maintenance and thrives in very poor soil.
I just wanted to let others who didn't know about this amazing 'weed' know that if things get as bad as we think they might, this is a food option they should definitely know about.
And this strikes me as a good time to ask...What edible, easily grown plants that are not commonly thought of as food do you know about or have experience with?