When the summer rains arrive, along with the accompanying display of thunder and lightening, there is another seasonal visitor: verdolagas.
Sometimes known as Mexican watercress or purslane to its fans or viewed as a wild weed by others, the green leafy verdolagas with reddish stems and small yellow flowers sprout in some Tucson gardens and end up in salads or sauteed on the stove.
Mai and Ramiro Romero love their summer treat.
"We love to fry them up with onions and chiles, mixed with beans and sprinkle Mexican cheese on top," said Ramiro, a native Tucsonan. "Then we eat them with warm corn tortillas."
The Romeros, along with their two daughters Arrisela and Abriana, and Ramiro's mother, found their verdolagas Thursday at the farmers market at El Mercado San Agustín on West Congress. Local gardeners and growers, including the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, sell the popular plant at the farmers' markets.
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Mention verdolagas to some Tucsonans and they happily will recall stories about harvesting wild verdolagas found along the rivers, arroyos and irrigation canals.
The 46-year-old Romero remembers picking verdolagas along the Santa Cruz River in Menlo Park and Kroger Lane, two west-side barrios.
His 91-year-old mother, Maria Santos Romero, said that for her family and others, wild verdolagas were a free and nutritious food source.
By the way, she loves her verdolagas sauteed with tomatoes and garlic. I like my verdolagas Sonora style - cooked with onions mixed with a splash of milk and a dash of flour to create a gravy. Others like them scrambled in eggs.
Mai Romero discovered the delicious taste of the naturally salty and vitamin-rich verdolagas when she came to the United States from her native Vietnam. She likes to add jalapenos or chile serranos.
Brad Lancaster was introduced to the summer plant by the older Mexican women whom he would see collecting verdolagas in his Dunbar/Spring neighborhood. They passed on their stories and recipes to him.
While some local gardeners have recently discovered verdolagas, Matt Perri, a lifelong Menlo Park resident, recalls verdolagas growing in his mother's garden.
"My mom would send me out to get some verdolagas," said Perri who still grows them in his garden and sells them at the farmers' market.
"Some people think they're just weeds. But they're a cash crop."
Verdolagas are found in other parts of the world, including Mexico, Asia and Mediterranean countries. In Tucson and Southern Arizona verdolagas, like tepary and mesquite beans, and nopales (cactus) are part of our cultural heritage.
"It's a food greatly connected to our region," said Leona Davis, education and advocacy coordinator at the community food bank.
At the food bank at 3003 S. Country Club Road, Patricia Rojas oversees the community garden. Verdolagas grow freely among the vegetables and herbs.
"They start coming up in mid June and remain until September," said Rojas, a trained architect born in Colombia.
But the days of plucking verdolagas from river banks or in low lying areas where water pools has disappeared. More of Tucson is paved over and summer rains don't linger long.
The tradition of harvesting verdolagas has gone the wayside like of collecting fallen bellotas (acorns) under oak trees in the mountains.
But verdolagas can be grown, said Rojas. They can come from seed or transplanted.
"They are easy to care for. They are good to eat and they grow like weeds," Rojas said.
Ernesto Portillo Jr. is editor of La Estrella de Tucsón. He can be reached at netopjr@azstarnet.com or at 520-573-4187.