Welcome back to an entirely new year of LITFM! We took a long hiatus to get our YouTube channel's second season completed and now this blog is back in action. So to get things rolling and at the request of some folks who visit the Farmer's market, I am posting a new series covering forage foods. Given the current geopolitical situation some of this information may come in handy in the not-to-distant future. Today’s forage specimen Wild Lettuce, a common garden weed that is quite available this time of the year.
 |
| The long leaves of Wild Lettuce are often mistaken for those of a Dandelion, but the latter is more angular than the former. |
 |
| Note the different root structure, no central taproot and a lot of support roots. |
Common Name: Wild Lettuce
Other Common Names: Prickly Lettuce, Milk Thistle*, Compass Plant, Scarole.
Botanical Family: Asteraceae (The Aster family)
Botanical Latin Name: Lactuca serriola (aka L. scariola)
Season to Harvest: Spring.
Habitat: Wild lettuce is commonly found in disturbed sites such as fields, by the road side, vacant lots and inevitably in your garden.
Parts to Harvest: The younger leaves are preferred as they are less likely to be bitter. You can eat the mature leaves if you have something to mitigate the bitter flavor like another leaf green in bulk or a decent dressing. Be mindful of this plant’s milky sap.
Poisonous Lookalikes: None known.
Related Edible Species: Canadian Wild Lettuce (L. Canadensis), will grow side-by-side with Wild Lettuce, lacks the prickly parts on the leaves and is more preferred.
Description: Wild lettuce is an annual or biennial herb that can grow to a height of almost six feet by the summer. It is related to Common Dandelions and Chicory and can be confused for either of them before it starts gaining height. The flowers of this plant are very similar to those of Dandelion but they are smaller and more numerous and borne at the top of the plant. Unlike Dandelion or Chicory, Wild lettuce does not for a singular primary taproot and instead forms a number of fibrous roots and a few short but supportive taproots that aid in keeping its eventual stalk steady.
How to Harvest: Harvest young leaves individually and wash as needed to clean them. I recommend sticking them in a bath of water for ten minutes to dilute out the milky latex sap that may come from the wounded side of the leaves.
Recipe: You can use this plant alone or with other greens in a salad, but you will need a robust-flavored vinaigrette. You can boil the leaves in a small amount of water for 2-3 minutes and then serve them with butter and seasonings of your choice. You can also make a field Vinaigrette that pairs well with these cooked leaves by doing the following;
Ingredients:
4 slices of bacon
¼ cup of Feta Cheese (if available, and preferably the Greek type)
½ cup of Vinegar
2 Teaspoons of Sugar (honey may also work)
1 Teaspoon of Salt
Preparation:
1. Fry the strips of bacon into a crispy state.
2. Heat the Vinegar.
3. Crumble the bacon up and add it, the sugar and the salt into the hit but not boiling vinegar.
4. Add the Feta cheese (if available) to the hot mix.
5. Pour over unseasoned but cooked wild lettuce.
*Not the same plant as the actual Milk Thistle which is Silybum marianum.
With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but by booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog. In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said, if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the Hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.
For those of you wondering what plants are going to be at the market this weekend here is the list.
Produce:
Garlic Bulb, $1.00
Soup Kit – Parsnip, $6.00
Soup Kit – Turnip, $6.00
Seasoning Packet, $2.00
Houseplants:
Assorted Succulents, Plastic Pot - $5.00
Assorted Succulents, Round Resin Pot - $5.00
Assorted Succulents, Square Resin Pot - $5.00
Assorted Succulents, Hexagon Resin Pot - $10.00
Assorted Succulents, Lattice Resin Pot - $12.00
Assorted Succulents, Bomber Resin Pot - $15.00
Assorted Succulents, Clay Pot - $9.00
Garden Stuff: ($3.00 each)
Elephant Garlic
Softneck Garlic
Lettuce – Parris Island Romaine
Lettuce – Cherokee Red
Lettuce – Five Star Lettuce Mix
Beets – Bull’s Blood
Mustard – Red Giant
Coming Soon
Kale – Ragged Jack
Kale – Dinosaur
Kale – Tronchuda
Kale – Redbor
Celery – Tango
Kohlrabi – Grand Duke
How to stay in Contact with Us!
Our group’s online presence has migrated to Nextdoor.com. All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.
https://nextdoor.com/g/ybvdm226x/?is=nav_bar
Also please take a gander at the Youtube version of this blog:
The Videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/curacaovexxor/videos
>Newest videos (5): Chinese Money Plant, Red African Milk Bush, Pencil Cactus, Desert Rose, ‘Prehistoric’ Devils Backbone.
Meetings still going on! We now meet at LeClairs General Store on the First and Third Thursday of every month. Our next meeting is on March 16th between 5:30pm and 7:00pm. We are in the back room so come on in and join us for a fun garden chat.
No comments:
Post a Comment