Plants With A Purpose

2 delicious greens that love winter

IF YOU have miner’s lettuce in your garden, you probably pull it out thinking it’s a weed. That’s what I did.

As daylight hours get shorter in autumn, the dormant seeds pop up. Miner’s lettuce grows prolifically, densely, even finding its way into cracks in concrete.

It’s a bit weedy, but very easily pulled out and isn’t a problem over summer. It simply disappears when it’s too hot and bright.

But the thick, succulent, lemon-lime leaves on this spreading ‘weed’ are a reliable source of salad greens when most other greens are scarce and many have stopped growing.

Pick the tender stems and leaves as you would a bunch of violets. The taste is crisp and juicy, with a hint of lemon. It’s so mild in flavour that children will eat it. Chickens like it too.

The leaves are rich in vitamin A, vitamin C and anti-oxidants. They also contain manganese, potassium, iron, copper and calcium. Seeds are rich in omega-3 fatty acids.

The leaves can be useful as a base for raw winter salads, or can be chopped up with the stalks, steamed and served with butter, pepper and salt. The small white flowers are also edible.

As the days lengthen, miner’s lettuce will form brown capsules which then burst, scattering its long-lived seeds. Just a few plants left to seed will ensure it pops up again next year, lying dormant until late summer when the cycle starts again.

It is worth finding a place in the garden where miner’s lettuce thrives so you can harvest this useful winter-intospring green.

It can be established in pots, in the greenhouse or anywhere moist and shady. It will form a lush groundcover producing plenty of leaves, just when you need them.