Native Edibles: Miner’s Lettuce and Diversity

A few years ago Judith Lowry Larner consulted with us about the native plants on our land. We want to support their populations, as they provide important habitat for native pollinators, honey bees, and many other animals.

As Biodynamic farmers we work for diversity, and our native plants are an important part of that. One of the tenets of Biodynamic farming is the more life on a farm, the more life the farm can support. This is true in your garden or yard too.

We discovered we have a wide variety of native grasses and plants, plants just right for this soil and climate. Some of these are delicious! One of our favorite edibles is miner’s lettuce. This green is undisturbed by birds —who shred our lettuces in the garden— and is free for the taking. No planting or tenuous germination of seeds, no weeding, just picking!  One of the most nutritious greens that we can eat, full of Vitamin C, its populations support harvest (always be cognizant of the populations before harvesting any plant). We start picking in February and are still gathering the thick leaves in April. Just add toasted pine nuts and dress with a little olive oil and good balsamic vinegar.