Harvesting Wild Miners Lettuce, A Springtime Adventure!
Miners Lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata), or also called: Winter Purslane, Indian lettuce, Spring Beauty, are all names that reveal a bit about this amazing wild edible green.
Miner's lettuce is the most common name I have heard used. It tends to grow prolifically between temp's of 60-85 degrees, particularly in shaded regions of your nearby forest or hillside.
It is native to Western mountain and coastal regions of North America, Canada, Alaska and Central America but has also made its way all over the world.
I have loved spots that I like to visit. One actually is growing wild off the coastal Northern Ca. hills where my mother lives, so I always make sure to go for a hike with my harvesting supplies when I'm in the area.
Many people will recognize this soft, rounded green as familiar to many local hikes and walks in just about every town, city, local park, or backyard and, of course, wild hills where there are cool, damp conditions needed for it's growth.
Wild edible plants are an important source of concentrated vitamins and nutrients that were the original plant medicines and food before hybridized varieties.
As the name "Indian Lettuce" suggests it was a common food of many Native tribes throughout the U.S. The name "miners" lettuce refers to the CA goldrush miner's who ate it for its high Vit C content to prevent scurvy.
Our Wild Spring Harvest!
My husband Ken and I were out on a hike while traveling through Central California and this beautiful patch of miner's lettuce showed up before us. We felt blessed by it's beauty and magic that called to be harvested as our dinner salad. What a treat!
When wildcrafting wild plants it is always good to make sure you are at least a 1/2 mile from any major road to prevent contamination from exhaust fumes.
This bountiful patch was in it's prime with lot's of rainfall from the days before! I just love the rounded cone-like shape of it's leaves that tend to collect the water and dew. It is my custom to drink this energized liquid and take in the natural essences of this hardy, wild plant.
It is often common to see little white or pink flowers shooting up from the center of miners lettuce. It is all edible. The leaf is just tastier, much like the taste of spinach. The entire round leaf in addition to the flower can be eaten, raw or steamed slightly.
It is succulent and delicious in a salad or mixed with sprouts. A fun little thing I like to do is place a small spoonful of sauerkraut and seed cheese in the center of the big leaves and roll it up as an appetizer.
Tips For Harvesting Wild Miners Lettuce:
1) To harvest miners lettuce you pick the stem as close to the leaf as you can get. I usually place my thumb on the stem and pull off with my index finger. Once you get the technique down you can harvest a big bag very fast using two hands in rotation.
2) I like to pick the big ones and when harvesting with kids it is super fun to make it a game to find the biggest. Most children at a young age love to wild-craft wild foods, from wild fruits and nuts to wild edible flowers. It brings back a primal nature that connects us to the earth and it's natural cycles and harmony.
3) Make sure to pick out the grass and other non-edibles that might make it into your bag of greens.
4) You do not need to wash your lettuce, because you will wash away all the beneficial organism that are present on it's surface. So make sure you choose areas that are clean and free of dust or dirt.
