Word of the Day: Claytonia
The botanical name for spring beauty.
Home Vegetable Gardening: Growing Claytonia
Although this salad green is not well known, it is very tasty and grows well in cooler climates, making it a perfect addition to your fall, early spring or even a winter garden.
It is also referred to as miner’s lettuce. The name comes from the 1849 gold rush of California where claytonia was used as fresh salad greens.
Here is how you can add claytonia, this tasty salad green, to your home vegetable garden.
Like most other vegetables claytonia prefers a neutral soil pH. Test your soil and adjust accordingly to a pH level of 6.5 to 7.0. You can pick a pH soil testing kit at any home or garden center for a few bucks.
Claytonia likes a cool environment. The seeds are best when planted in soil where the temperature is fifty to fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit, although can with stand up to sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit, which makes claytonia the perfect fall, winter and early spring vegetable for the backyard. (more…)