Spring Beauty - Claytonia perfoliata

 

Also known as Miners' Lettuce this green is having its spring flush just now.  It is an introduced plant that has escaped into the British countryside.  I have grown it as a vegetable crop on my allotment for a couple of years now. Here I am sure it has not been sprayed with herbicide.  It looks rather straggly throughout winter, as below, but then it takes off in advance of everything else. Stalks, leaves and flowers (probably root too) are edible. To my surprise it is still mild in flavour after flowering, bot raw and cooked like spinach or lettuce. High in vitamin C it is said to have been used to combat scurvy.

It is worth growing an overwintered row. Like any overwintered crop it is also worth making next year's sowing plan before sowing!

Overwinter?

 It is every allotmenteer's dream to be harvesting all the year around. With stored harvests like garlic, onions, and potatoes this can be a viable claim. But the fresh harvesting activity in winter is restricted to digging up parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes, leeks and carrots.  What we crave by this time of the year is a bit of freshly picked greenery.  The reality is that the best we can hope for is for leafy crops to withstand the onslaught of the winter chill and then spring back into new growth at the earliest opportunity. Here are a couple of candidates:

Miner's Lettuce/Winter Purslane

Seakale Beet/Swiss Chard

Last of the leeks and first of the onions

Spring Hero Cabbage

Just out of the (unheated) greenhouse are these winter survivors. They will be deployed in the open soon, probably with a bit of protection.  The pigeons are keen on fresh greens too!

August sown
All the Year Round Cauliflower
Red Drumhead Cabbage
Little Gem Lettuce