You’d pay big bucks for Miner’s Lettuce (see photo) if you could even find it in a store like Whole Foods or similar upscale grocery. Eating “wild foods” is trendy right now and folks are shelling out $9 per pound for things like dandelion greens.
Well Miner’s Lettuce (Claytonia Perfolita) tastes a whole lot better than dandelion greens and the good news is that it’s very easy to grow in pots and is winter hardy. And yes, it is a weed; It’s a low growing one that originates in the Pacific Northwest and Southwest Canada. The leaves are round or heart shaped. Apparently, the plant is named "Miner’s Lettuce" because during the gold rush miners ate it to ward off scurvy. (Or perhaps, having a nice salad was a pleasant change from a lifestyle of drunken hooliganism and gold-panning.)
Anyway, you can buy Miner’s Lettuce seeds at Territorial Seed Company. Plant the seeds in containers at a depth of ¼” and they will germinate in 2-15 days. The leaves are very succulent and taste like bib lettuce to me. Miner’s Lettuce is said to be high in vitamin C, but I can’t find a source to confirm this or provide other nutritional information.
For fun, please respond to this post by letting me know if you would consider trying Miner's Lettuce, or not, and your reasons.
Hi, I've considered it but never gotten around to growing it.
What other salad green would you say it most tastes like?
Posted by: pat | 02/01/2010 at 04:21 PM
Hi Pat:
The texture is somewhat crunchy and the flavor is mild. To my taste, bibb lettuce comes closest if I had to compare. Others say it taste like spinach, but frankly I just don't think it's that strong. My kids like it and eat all the time. I do recommend that you give it a try. However, consider putting it in a pot because it can be a very aggressive grower.
Posted by: Mark Delman | 02/01/2010 at 04:57 PM
Mark,
Yes I would certainly try it and would love to grow it but we are sun-challenged on our property and in our house. I've thought about trying to put a new roof over our front porch to hold a potted garden, but I'm not quite ready to bite off that project yet. Even though we live in DC, we have a lot of huge trees in our neighborhood, and I don't want to ruin the beauty and habitat by cutting them all down. So for now, I'm still buying my spring mix lettuce from the grocery store.
Posted by: Dawn | 02/02/2010 at 06:16 AM
Hi Dawn:
Its tough if you dont have light. Here are two ideas that occurred to me:
Plant inside your home in containers and add grow lights. If you are interested in this, I can point you in a couple of directions. But you will be burning electricity and one of the reasons to grow your own is to be more sustainable. Adding power kinda defeats this.
Another option is to approach a neighbor that has a sunny space that they arent using and offer to do a small garden in that space on behalf of both of you. You give them some share of whatever your produce and you keep the rest. Not only would this benefit you both, but you would have the distinction of being the only share cropper in America with a Masters
Degree.
-Mark
http://www.PlanterTomato.com
Posted by: H. Mark Delman | 02/02/2010 at 08:45 AM