Miner’s Lettuce

Claytonia perfoliata

Story: Miner's Lettuce received its name after the California gold rush. Historically, the miners who were in great need of nutritious food sources, would harvest this wild green due to its high Vitamin C, A and iron content. Miner's lettuce grows as small rosettes of tasty green leaves that slugs don’t tend to touch. Let them go to flower and they will self seed all over the garden – a very welcome weed indeed as they grow throughout the winter when very little else is growing.

Seed saved by: Omved Gardens

When to sow:  July-Oct - direct

Requirements: Miner's lettuce will grow almost anywhere but prefers nutritious soil and  full sun in the cooler months. We sow it in mid - late summer for an overwintering crop. 

When to harvest for food: Late summer through to early spring.

When to harvest for seeds: As they are ready - usually autumn or the following late spring/summer. 

Need to isolate: No, these are wild and mostly stable in terms of cross pollination. They will mostly self-seed in abundance but if you wish to save seed, wait for the seed heads to develop and dry on the plant, then collect the dry seed heads to store

Seed Saving: To save seed from miner's lettuce, simply let it go to seed where it is growing. Allow the seed heads to form on the plant and begin to dry out a bit, turning from green to black. Snip off the seed heads, bring them inside and allow to dry fully then crumble the seeds from their casings. Winnow this to remove as much chaff as possible. Package, label and date and save lots of seed to share with family friends and of course seed saving networks. 

Number of plants to save seeds from: 5-10 minimum 

Pollination: Self and insect pollinated

How to send back seed: Please label all seed with variety, type, date and your name and contact. If you didn't get a chance to fill out our online data collection form, you can also send us a few lines about how it grew for you/flavour etc. Please aim to send back 1 tablespoon of dried seed or more so that we can continue to share with network members. Send to: The Seed Saving Network, Omved Gardens, 1 Townsend Yard, N6 5JF.

Please remember, if you’re an individual grower you can order up to 4 packets of seeds. If you order more than this, you will receive just four packs to begin with. This is to ensure we get plenty of data in return and to keep our stocks sustainable for years to come.* 

*Community groups, seed guardians and Experienced Growers can order larger quantities, please email us at info@seedsaving.network if this is the case.

If an item is out of stock we will send a close alternative.