- Author: Regina Brennan, Master Gardener
Herb Study: Miner's Lettuce (Winter Purslane)
Regina Brennan, Master Gardener
Miner's lettuce gets its name from the workers who traveled to California during the Gold Rush. Needing a source of vitamin C, gold miners learned from the Native Americans that this wild growing green would prevent scurvy and other vitamin C-related issues. Miner's lettuce is native to the western coastal and mountain regions of North America and was spread to Europe in the late 1700s when it was brought back from an expedition to the new world. It grows wild in California from Sacramento to the San Joaquin Valley. It appears most often in the spring. Today, because of the availability of fruits and vegetables, scurvy is not as problematic as it was in the Gold Rush days. And, alas, this once valued wild green has been relegated to the status of yet another spring weed. It is, however, a good source of food for animals, providing a grazing source for cattle and flocking birds.
With no knowledge of the hidden health treasure of this wild green, I have been pulling it from my garden every year, along with the other abundant spring weeds, relegating it to the status of organic trash, and sending it off in the green cart picked up weekly. Yes, I compost, no I do not compost weeds.
Just as the gold miners were shown the health benefits of this abundant wild green, I learned of it when a neighbor brought me a bowl of soup she had made. The soup was tasty, but it had a very large glob of greens that had to be eaten with a fork. I asked her what the greens were, and if she had grown them. She proceeded to tell me that another neighbor had given them to her and that he called it miner's lettuce. My gardener's curiosity was peaked, and I discovered that his cover crop of delicious greens was identical to the annoying weed I had been treating with less than respect.
According to several online sources, Miner's lettuce is a native winter annual broadleaf plant in the Montiaceae family. The flowers, leaves, stems, and roots are edible. Young leaves can be consumed raw or cooked. The plant can grow up to 12 inches, but is generally smaller. It is similar to spinach and is best suited for both raw and cooked applications, such as steaming, boiling, stir-frying, or sautéing. To avoid the glob effect, I would suggest cutting the leaves and stems into smaller pieces before cooking. The leaves will keep three to four days when stored in a sealed container with a damp paper towel in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator.
What does Miner's lettuce look like? It is a small, herbaceous, slightly succulent plant. It is light green in color, and has round, disk-like leaves, which surround its smooth, tender stem. The stem passes directly through the round leaf, and this makes identification easy. After the plant has bloomed, there is a small white or pinkish color flower growing on top of its rounded leaves. Young leaves are tastiest, as older leaves can turn bitter in the summer in a hot dry location. According to a study in the journal of the American Dietetic Association, 100 grams of miner's lettuce contains a third of your daily requirement of vitamin C, 22 percent of vitamin A, and 10 percent of iron.
Who would have guessed that such a wild plant, aka weed, has such an interesting history? I hope that shedding some light on this humble plant will encourage you to look in your garden to see if you are lucky enough to find a nutritious green that is worthy of serving your family for dinner. Bon appétit!
HORTICULTURAL TERMS
by Cheryl Carmichael, Master Gardener
Allelopathy: noun: a-lee-low-pathy. the ability of one plant to produce and release chemicals that inhibit the growth of other plants either by inhibiting germination or growth; a form of chemical competition.
Allelopathic: a plant that produces toxic substances to restrict the growth of other plants.
Competition for space, water, nutrients and sunlight is the basis for allelopathy. Some plants use their chemical tools to win the competition to gain an advantage for available resources. Some work through their root system releasing chemicals that suppress or kill plants, often through interfering with another plants' chlorophyll production, causing withering and death. Some allelopathic chemicals are released as a gas from their leaves. The gas is absorbed by the leaves of other plants causing suppression of plants' vigor or death. When leaves fall from allelopathic plants they release their noxious chemicals as a way to inhibit seed germination or plant health. While most allelochemicals are stored in the leaves, allelopathic properties can be found in roots, bark, flowers, fruits, seeds, pollen and foliage.
Allelopathic plant pairings can operate as herbicides and pesticides in agriculture. There are numerous crop pairings that can provide weed and bug suppression in order to reduce herbicide and fertilizer use. For those of you who plant vegetable and fruit crops, a new, well-regarded book is available outlining pairings that can be useful to you, with good explanations for choices.
Walliser, Jessica: Plant Partners: Science Based Companion Planting for the Vegetable Garden.
Sources
Reza, Shamim (2016). “Plant Allelopathy”. Permaculture Research Institute.
Walliser, Jessica (2020). Plant Partners: Science Based Companion Planting for the Vegetable Garden.
- Author: Morris Lacey, Master Gardener
Pests of the Season
Morris Lacey, Master Gardener
Spring is either here or just around the corner, dependent upon your Hardiness Zone (those of you in the foothills still have a little longer to wait). In San Joaquin County, gardeners face the peskiness of our new “normal” warmer weather which wears on our patience and urges us to plant in early February - despite our data-based knowledge which keeps telling us to be prepared for frost as late as March 7 (Zone 9b, Old Farmer's Almanac). I remember my wife and I living in central New York and trying to be patient for May 31 to arrive to get us past the potential last date for frost. Our neighbor warned us our first year there as we began May with temperatures in the 70's. Everything was jumping out of the ground, and that fooled us into believing we had struck the lottery and could plant tomatoes in the garden early and unprotected. We found out different on the last day of the month. You guessed it, a hard freeze - with snow!
FROST can be pesky and, while it is not a “pest” per say, it should be dealt with simply enough by planning and staying the course of your Hardiness Zone recommendations. When in doubt, listen to your neighbors who have lived in the area for years – they should provide sage advice regarding frost and your plantingtimeline.
LAWN DIEBACK - Lawns should be thriving at this time of year, coming off late winter moisture in the form of rain, fog, or dew. Even without said moisture, the ground has yet to give up all the wet of winter as the weather continues to provide cool nights keeping the ground damp below the reach of the short hours of daylight warmth. Invariably, lawns may have a large spot or two of browned-out dying grass which begs the gardener to question “what is causing that?” Good question! But don't jump to conclusions – investigate scientifically and identify the cause.
The reason behind this “pesky” situation may be as simple as dog urine (small circles) or too much water too soon for a season still cool for the type of grass planted or not enough water because the rain expected didn't come! Our recent windy days did pull the humidity out of the upper portion of our yards and grass may be living on short roots from previous seasons of light watering as opposed to long roots from a good soaking. If you don't find any of these options plausible, look for grubs around the roots. If there are less than 6 cutworms or white grubs within one square foot, no treatment necessary. Conduct a soil drench test to identify possible other insect pests which may be causing the dieback. If you do not find insects in significant amounts, do not treat with pesticides. If you do find insects in significant amounts, identify which insect is doing the damage and modify the environment to discourage the insect if possible. As a last resort, choose an insecticide which targets your pest.
In the photo above, the area of lawn die-back exhibits a carpet of dead grass and soil which is damp to the touch with no evidence of insects. A healthy border of shrubs is between the lawn and the front porch of the house. This portion of the lawn has been in shade all winter and a sprinkler system watered the lawn all winter as the owner lost a loved one late last year and is just now getting around to the former tasks of the deceased relative.
Identify the aphids as the cause of the leaf curl and remove the curled leaves by hand (good method) and squish the aphids or use a good stream of water (better method) to wash off the aphids or use soapy water (best method) to knock them off and “suffocate” the little beasts.
Visit http://sjmastergardeners.ucanr.edu/index.cfm or call 800-555-1212 with your questions regarding specific issues you may encounter in the pursuit of gardening enjoyment.
Pest Notes Publication 7404 Aphids, Pest Notes Publication 7476 Lawn Insects
UCANR – U.S. Hardiness Zone Map
- Author: Lee Miller, Master Gardener
Plants of the Season
Lee Miller, Master Gardener
SHRUB: Chinese fringe flower (Loropetalum chinense) is a shrub that blooms profusely with spidery pink flowers in early spring and more modest repeat blooms later. It is native to woodland regions of the Himalayas, China, and Japan, Flowers are lightly fragrant. It is a relative of witch hazel with fine textured, evergreen foliage and leaves that change color through the season from green to burgundy or purple. Leaves are oval and 1-2.5 inches long. It has a layered branching habit, and the height can be as large as 15 feet and spread can be up to 10 ft. depending on the variety. It does best with 6 hours of sun but can do with light afternoon shade in hot climates like ours. Prefers slightly acid soil but where I live it seems fine with a soil of pH 7. It is easy to grow and requires little maintenance and is good addition to an easy-care landscape. Loropetalum blooms on old wood so best to wait until flowers are finished in spring before pruning which consists mostly of trimming out dead and diseased branches or lightly shape as needed. Moderate watering is advised until it is established. It is drought tolerant once well established. Mulching is good practice. All parts of Loropetalum are non-toxic to pets and children.
/h3>Some Good News for Western Monarch Butterflies…maybe
By Susan Mora Loyko, Master Gardener
There was more than turkey to be thankful for last November at the 25th Annual Xerces Society's Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count held in Pacific Grove. After several years of the butterflies' declining numbers, the final count was about 250,000. The 2020 butterfly count marked an all-time low of less than 2,000 Monarchs.
Monarchs living west of the Rocky Mountain overwinter in California along the Mendocino Coast and are known to gather in giant clusters of Eucalyptus, Monterey Pines, and Monterey Cypresses, as far south as Baja.
While scientists, volunteers, and lovers of the Monarchs were thrilled in the increased butterfly numbers, there was also concern the rise could be a fluke. The migratory butterflies had a steady decline for the last several years with populations at more than 95% below those of the 1980s.
The decrease began in 2017, a year of unusual heat at critical times of the year with long periods of temperatures more than 90°, unfavorable to butterfly eggs according to Dr. Chip Taylor, Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, and Director of Monarch Watch. He said the recent rise in temperatures across the country have been linked with declining butterfly populations, particularly on the West Coast where temperatures have been rising 0.7 degrees per decade since 1975.
Monarchs also have many natural enemies. Predators such as spiders and fire ants kill and eat Monarch eggs and caterpillars. Some birds and wasps feed on the adult butterflies. Monarchs also suffer attacks from parasites, organisms living inside their bodies.
Data from the annual butterfly count, along with monitoring twice during the overwintering season, allows researchers to observe how Monarchs are using overwintering sites: some sites host Monarchs all winter, while others are transitional sites. It's important to note they continue to face threats and require more monitoring to better understand their risks and what conservation efforts are still needed to recover.
Why should we care about the health and future of the Monarch Butterflies and other pollinators? Their flight across the country (along with bees and other small insects) are essential to our ecosystem to pollinate flowers, fruits, and vegetables and ultimately our larger food systems.
Each spring, Monarchs leave overwintering sites and disperse across California first, and eventually migrate to all western states, searching for milkweed plants on which to lay their eggs. It is the only plant Monarch caterpillars can eat to develop into adults.
Milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) are required important host plants for Monarch caterpillars in their life cycle. The loss of milkweed plants in the Monarch's spring and summer breeding areas across the country is believed to be a significant factor contributing to their reduced numbers in California/Mexico overwintering sites. Agricultural intensification, development of rural lands, mowing, and herbicides to control roadside vegetation also contribute to the milkweed loss.
Here are Xerces Society recommendations to help the Monarchs:
- Plant native milkweed in your backyard, workplace, or school. If outside of native milkweed's historic range, Xerces recommends planting fall, winter, and spring blooming nectar sources INSTEAD of milkweed.
- Plant a diversity of native flowers. Monarchs need nectar to provide energy to migrate, breed, and overwinter. Nectar plants can be planted anywhere.
- Support organic and GMO-free agriculture.
Avoid using pesticides. These may kill butterflies, caterpillars and plants used for nectar or breeding. - Get involved in community science projects.