🍃 Winter purslane

Winter purslane, also known as claytonia or miner’s lettuce, is one of the toughest and most useful winter salad plants. The distinctive round, succulent leaves have a mild, fresh, slightly earthy flavour, and the plants thrive in cold, damp, shady conditions where little else will grow.

It is a native of North America, naturalised in some parts of the UK, and it grows happily in pots, cold frames and shady borders. It self-seeds readily, so a single sowing may give you winter salad for years.

Varieties to try

Claytonia perfoliata (the usual seed packet type)Miner’s lettuce (another name for the same plant)Claytonia sibirica (pink purslane, a pink-flowered relative)

Sow from August to October for winter picking, and again from February to April for spring. Scatter seed thinly on the surface of moist, fine soil, or sow in rows 10–15 cm apart, 5 mm deep, and cover very lightly. Germination can be slow in hot weather, so sow in a shaded spot and keep moist.

In pots or trays, use any multipurpose compost and keep in a cold frame, greenhouse or on a bright windowsill. Plants will grow in nearly any soil and are one of the best crops for a shady corner or the dry soil beneath a wall.

Top tips

• Sow in a shady spot to help germination.
• Scatter-sow into pots for winter leaves.
• Barely cover the seed.
• Resow in February for spring salads.

Winter purslane is almost carefree. Keep young plants watered until established, and weed carefully by hand. Plants grow slowly through winter, then race away in spring as the days lengthen and the temperature rises, producing small white flowers from March.

Pests rarely trouble it, though slugs may graze the tender leaves and aphids can appear under cover. Plants are hardy to about -10°C or lower. In very cold weather, a layer of fleece keeps the leaves cleaner. Remove flower stems for further leaf production.

Top tips

• Water seedlings through dry autumn spells.
• Protect leaves with fleece in heavy frost.
• Remove flower shoots to extend picking.
• Let some self-seed for next year.

Watch out for

SlugsAphids under coverGrey mould in damp conditions

Start picking baby leaves when they are about 5–8 cm tall, six to eight weeks from sowing, by snipping off leaves and stems with scissors about 2.5 cm above the base. The plants will regrow and can be cut several times. Harvest regularly through winter and spring.

In spring, the flowering stems and flowers are also edible. When plants go to seed in April or May, shake the seed heads over the bed to scatter next year’s crop, then clear the spent plants and replace them with summer crops.

Top tips

• Cut with scissors and allow to regrow.
• Eat the flowers and flower stems.
• Cut little and often.
• Shake seed heads over the bed to resow.

Eat winter purslane raw in salads, where the juicy, crisp texture and mild flavour is refreshing in winter. The leaves, stems and flowers can all be eaten, and the plant makes an attractive garnish. You can also wilt it lightly, add it to sandwiches or use it like spinach in soups.

Use it as soon as possible after harvesting. Leaves keep for two to three days in the fridge in a bag, but they are best picked fresh from the garden. Winter purslane does not freeze or dry well, but a pot on the kitchen windowsill gives you a continuous supply.

Top tips

• Use in salads with citrus and a light dressing.
• Add whole stems to sandwiches.
• Pick just before eating.
• Use like spinach in a quick stir-fry.