Stasia and Miner's Lettuce

Several years ago, I began what has become a long-term project: replacing all of our windows. Depending on how you count, there are either 16 or, if you count the triple unit as three individuals and the double as two, there are 19. In any event, one boon is that I have lots of old windows that can be used for cold frames, and in one of them, I've been growing hardy salad greens, such as winter spinach and Marvel of the Four Seasons lettuce. These have hung on through sub-zero cold—I blanket the frame with about a foot of leaves—but one of my experiments has actually prospered, filling half the frame. This is Claytonia, a California native known commonly as Miner's Lettuce. The 49ers of Gold Rush fame foraged for this ubiquitous green, and it helped them ward off scurvy. Stasia discovered the Claytonia and used it as her personal salad bar.