Miner's Lettuce is Tasty and Free

I first saw miner's lettuce while I was taking pictures on Vineyard Drive across from the Turley Tasting Room in Templeton. It was early spring and it was along the site of the road under some oak trees. The shape of the plant was so unusual it aroused my curiosity. I finally identified it, but it was still a several years before I tasted it. It did not grow on my arid property, and when I went back to the Vineyard Drive location the next spring, the miner's lettuce had grown up around poison oak. I decided not to harvest it. Since then I have discovered that miner's lettuce is tasty and free when you can find it. 

The best place to find miner's lettuce on the Central Coast is in partial shade in a moist place. After finding it that first time, I didn't encounter it again until last year. I was exploring a back road in March and found it under and actually on a tree just off South Vine Street.

Miner's Lettuce Growing on and under a Tree, © B. Radisavljevic

On that day I did pick some. When I got home, I made a salad with some other greens I had, and it was tasty. Use it as you would any other lettuce.

Miner's lettuce got its name because miners used to eat it for its vitamin C content to prevent scurvy. Native Americans ate it raw or cooked, and made a tea of it to use as a laxative. The flavor of young miner's lettuce leaves is mild, unlike its cousin purslane, another edible weed that appears almost everywhere in my garden during the summer. You can find out more about purslane here. Older leaves of miner's lettuce can be cooked as you would cook spinach.

A few weeks ago while I was out walking I saw some miner's lettuce just outside my back neighbor's fence, along the street, in an uncultivated spot. It was growing with other weeds, and I think one of them was chickweed, also edible, that I have not learned to positively identify yet.

I know miner's lettuce and chickweed do often grow near each other, since they have the same requirements -- shade and moisture. I picked a lot of miner's lettuce and had a splendid salad that day. While lettuce in the market was sky high in price, I used free miners lettuce mixed with other wild edible plants growing in my own yard. Why go buy lettuce when miner's lettuce is tasty and free?

Miner's Lettuce Growing Near My Home © B. Radisavljevic

If you'd like to feast free on wild foods growing near you, one of the books below will help you stay safe by showing you how to  identify free food and avoid anything toxic. I personally own and use Feasting Free on Wild Edibles, but want to add some of the other books with color photos, such as the Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants by the same author.

 Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants Feasting Free on Wild Edibles California Foraging: 120 Wild and Flavorful Edibles from Evergreen Huckleberries to Wild Ginger Adventures in Edible Plant Foraging: Finding, Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Native and Invasive Wild Plants

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This is my thirteenth post for the 2016 AtoZchallenge, a Blogging Challenge for the month of April, 2016. My theme is plants, since this is a gardening blog. Here are links to the other posts if you missed them.

A is for Apple Blossoms
B is for Bottlebrush
C is for Carnations
D is for Daisy
E is for Elderberry
F is for Flowers
G is for Gazania
Hollyhocks are Edible
Irises Are Garden Survivors
Jupiter's Beard: A Mystery Finally Solved
Kale for Lunch

Lion's Tail - A Perennial Summer Burst of Orange

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• Exploring a Small County Road
• A Bicycle Built for Two on Vineyard Drive in Templeton

Elderberry: A Useful California Native Tree

Elderberry is a California Native

Elderberry is often seen growing wherever it has found ideal conditions to sprout. That's how I got this tree. I didn't plant it. I just noticed it one day and decided to find out what it was.

Elderberry and Milk Thistle, © B. Radisavljevic

Once it takes up residence on your property, it grows quickly. You could even use the old expression "grows like a weed" because it applies to the elderberry. It may also be growing right next to your other weeds, as the photo above shows.

Elderberry Grows all over San Luis Obispo County

Elderberry in Bloom and Forming Fruit, © B. Radisavljevic

Many do consider it a weed. I never planted mine. I just allowed it to grow in peace. It would not surprise me to learn that birds plant most of our elderberry trees. They love elderberries, and I'll leave the rest to your imagination. Although the gardening books indicate the elderberry tree thrives in moist soil in full sun, mine has only the full sun. I have never watered it and we don't get much rain.

 My property came with a number of fruit trees already growing in a small home orchard. I think I had been there a few years when I was walking through the orchard and discovered a shrub I had never noticed before. It was covered with light yellow star-shaped flowers. By the time I had been able to identify it, it had turned into a tree. Once I knew what it was, I started noticing elderberry trees along the sides of roads, in vacant places, at Larry Moore Park, and even beside a parking structure in San Luis Obispo. (See photo below.) I was surprised to learn the elderberry is a relative of the honeysuckle.

Elderberry Tree Beside Parking Structure in San Luis Obispo, © B. Radisavljevic

Blue Elderberries Are Edible and Are Sometimes Used Medicinally

Once I discovered I had elderberries, I remembered hearing on the Organic Gardening email list I once subscribed to that members had used used the berries to make elderberry wine and the flowers to make elderberry tea. I've seen recipes for elderberry pie, elderberry jam, and more. Members also shared their medicinal uses for elderberry. At that time, I still didn't know I had an elderberry tree. Once I  found out, I still decided to leave the berries for the birds unless the time came when I really needed to eat the berries, since most recipes use a lot of sugar to sweeten them and I'm supposed to refrain from sugar. Here is a closer look at the berries in various stages of ripeness.

Elderberry Tree with Fruit in Various stages of Ripeness, © B. Radisavljevic

If you aren't growing any elderberries, but would like to use them for food, you can often find them in public places, ready to harvest. Just be sure you have properly identified them.  You can find help with this in my favorite go-to book for herbs and their uses, Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of herbs. My 1997 edition devotes four pages of over 500 to just the identification, history, and uses of elderberry. It is equally useful in providing the information you might need on other herbs. No one who loves herbs should be without it.  it appears the book is out of print, but used copies are available at reasonable prices.

The two best books I own that include elderberry recipes are Edible and Useful Plants of California by Charlotte Clarke and Feasting Free on Wild Edibles by Bradford Angier. Unfortunately, neither has color illustrations like the books below do, but they do tell you what to do with your wild edible plants once you have identified and harvested them. Most books say you can get sick if you eat too many of them raw, so cook most of what you pick.There are some other wonderful books for foraging, identifying, and using California wild edible plants listed on Amazon that tempt me to buy more than I can afford. For elderberries, I'd probably start with the books below.

The Elderberry Supplement: Alternative Medicine for a Healthy BodyElderberries: The Beginner's Guide to Foraging, Preserving and Using Elderberries for Health Remedies, Recipes, Drinks & MoreElderberries: The Amazing Elderberry, Its Secret Healing Capabilities & DIY Recipes For Improving Your Wellness (Elderberries - Elderberry Syrup)Elderberry Croft: The Complete Collection

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Elderberries play an important role in this set of inspirational novels. Read my review of the Elderberry Croft Complete Set. 

Elderberries help the Immune System. Read my review of medicinal elderberry tea.

Do you have an elderberry tree? If so, did you plant it? Have you found uses for elderberries?