Claytonia perfoliata organic seeds - Miner's lettuce

Winter Purslane, or Cuban Spinach, is a leaf vegetable that is very simple to grow, ideal for diversifying winter salads in a natural kitchen garden. Grown from organic seeds, it quickly produces small clumps of thick, crunchy, and juicy foliage of a bright green colour. It is harvested leaf by leaf or through successive cuts to be used raw in mesclun or lightly cooked, in the manner of spinach. Very hardy, it provides fresh leaves in the garden when traditional lettuces are scarce.

Claytonia perfoliata belongs to the Montiaceae family. It is known by several names: Cuban claytonia, miner's lettuce, winter purslane, but also Indian lettuce, Cuban spinach, or spring beauty. Its native range covers western North America and Central America, from British Columbia and the Pacific coast of the United States down to Guatemala. It is a species of cool, semi-shaded environments, on light or disturbed soils. It is an annual, which persists in the garden by self-seeding. The plant forms a basal rosette of fleshy leaves, diamond-shaped or rounded, with an entire lamina, borne on a more or less long petiole. From this rosette, thin upright stems develop; at their summit, two opposite leaves fused together surround the stem and form a perfoliate disc from the centre of which the inflorescences appear. The clump reaches 15 to 30 cm in height and spreads 20 to 30 cm in diameter, the plants quickly join together to form a dense carpet. The foliage disappears with the heat, giving way to the next generation from self-sown seeds. Flowering occurs in spring or early summer depending on the sowing date.

To vary the pleasures in the kitchen garden as on the plate, winter purslane can easily be combined with other leaf vegetables: corn salad, cut-and-come-again lettuces, rocket, spinach or mixes of young shoots.

Very rich in vitamin C, winter purslane was used by Native Americans as a food and medicinal plant, and later by North American gold prospectors to combat scurvy, which earned it its English name of 'miner's lettuce'.

Care: Keep the soil moist with regular watering, especially in dry weather. If the seedlings are too dense, thin them out slightly. When the winter purslane clumps reach about 8 to 10 cm in height, pinch or cut the tips of the stems to encourage the appearance of new tender leaves.

Harvest: Generally 6 to 8 weeks after sowing; pick the most tender stems or the outer leaves, avoiding cutting too short to leave the heart of the plant intact and allow for several regrowths. The young shoots of winter purslane are the most pleasant to eat, both crunchy and almost melting, to be picked as needed.

Storage: Winter purslane is best enjoyed just after harvest, but can be kept for 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator, in the vegetable drawer, wrapped in a slightly damp absorbent paper and placed in a box or bag. The fleshy leaves can also be pickled in vinegar and used as a condiment, somewhat like capers.

The Gardener's Tips: Sow in situ in rows or broadcast, then thin out to leave about ten centimetres between each young plant. Water regularly to keep the soil moist, especially in late spring, to delay bolting. At the end of the season, let a few plants flower and set seed: they will self-seed and provide you with new winter purslane plants the following year.