San Eli man experiments with growing food in the desert amid climate change

Lorenzo Luevano got his first taste of agriculture at a young age when his grandma introduced him to gardening and now serves as San Elizario’s agriculture manager, teaching residents in the low-income community how to grow their own fruits and vegetables in desert conditions.

By Ariel CastilloNovember 21, 2022 10:30 am

This story comes from NPR’s Next Generation Radio project:

San Elizario, Texas, is a small border city in the Chihuahuan Desert known for farming high water usage crops, like cotton and pecans, but the high heat and lack of rain from climate change is changing the traditional techniques of home gardeners.

Lorenzo Luevano was born and raised in San Elizario, which locals call San Eli, and got his first taste of agriculture at a young age when his grandma introduced him to gardening. Now in his late twenties, Luevano serves as the city’s agriculture manager, teaching residents in this low-income community how to grow their own fruits and vegetables in desert conditions. This includes one surprising plant with a lot of potential — if Luevano can make it work.

When driving through San Eli, it’s easy to mistake a highly nutritious plant for a weed growing on the side of the road. Luevano refers to these plants by the Spanish word, verdolagas, but its scientific name is portulaca, commonly known as purslane. Purslane is a type of succulent that can be used in several ways. Lorenzo uses them as a substitute for spinach.

“I use the verdolagas in butter and adding bacon, frijoles, beans, and a little bit of jalapeno,” Lorenzo said.

They grow wild in San Eli and are tied closely to the history and culture of the city. For years, Luevano has been growing purslane, along with other edible plants like cilantro, but in his most recent trial, the growth was disappointing.

Read the full story at NextGenRadio.

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