A hardy winter salad with a mild flavour, per the crop database's own description, and one that self-seeds so prolifically it can genuinely naturalise in a garden once established. Also called miner's lettuce, it's one of the most distinctive-looking crops on this whole site.
Water need
Genuinely low water need, especially through its cool-season growing window -- part of what makes it such an easy, self-sustaining crop.
Calories at a glance
200 kcal/kg -- grown for its cold hardiness and self-sustaining habit rather than calorie density (scale is log-based across all 55 core crops in the calculator).
Temperature Range by Month
Month on the bottom, temperature up the side. The pale green background is what the plant can survive at all -- fatal above or below it, labelled directly on the chart where that applies to your zone. The coral band is its ideal range, and only fades in during the months this zone would actually have the crop in the ground -- reusing the exact same sowing/harvesting data as the calendar further down the page. The blue line is real monthly climate data (not a modelled estimate) for a representative rural/agricultural location in this zone -- a small farming town or agricultural research station rather than a major city, to avoid the warmer bias city weather stations have. For the actual verdict on how well this crop does in your zone, see the badge at the top of the page -- that's based on the site's own researched yield figures, not this chart.
Quick Start: Sowing to Storage
- Sow direct in a shaded or cool spot. Sow direct -- claytonia genuinely prefers cooler conditions and tolerates part shade better than most leafy greens.
- Thin if growing for larger leaves. Thin seedlings if you want larger individual leaves; leave close together for a dense baby-leaf patch.
- Harvest whole rosettes or individual leaves. Cut whole small rosettes at the base, or pick individual leaves as needed -- both are genuine, valid harvest approaches.
- Let some plants self-seed. Leave a few plants to flower and drop seed naturally if you want the patch to return on its own next season.
- Expect volunteer plants the following year. Once established, don't be surprised by claytonia reappearing unplanted -- its prolific self-seeding habit means this is completely normal.
Sowing & Harvesting Calendar
Pick your zone under "Temperature Range by Month" above and this updates too. Most zones show autumn and spring windows either side of the hottest months, matching claytonia's genuine preference for cool conditions.
Calories & Yield
Tropical, Subtropical and Mediterranean zones tie for the best yield here, and every zone shows at least a challenging window.
| Climate Zone | Yield per plant | Calories per plant | Viability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tropical / Humid | 1.5 kg | 300 kcal | Viable -- best yield |
| Subtropical | 1.5 kg | 300 kcal | Viable -- best yield |
| Mediterranean | 1.5 kg | 300 kcal | Viable -- best yield |
| Temperate Maritime | 1.2 kg | 240 kcal | Viable |
| Temperate Continental | 1.2 kg | 240 kcal | Viable |
| Cool / Boreal | 0.48 kg | 96 kcal | Challenging (60% yield) |
| Arid / Semi-Arid | 0.48 kg | 96 kcal | Challenging (60% yield) |
| Highland / Alpine | 0.48 kg | 96 kcal | Challenging (60% yield) |
Figures per plant sown, from the site's own crop database. Boreal, Arid and Alpine already reflect the 60% penalty applied to challenging zones.
A note on varieties: claytonia (miner's lettuce) is mostly grown as a single undifferentiated type -- real named-cultivar diversity is genuinely thin.
Seed Saving -- Quick Guide
Claytonia self-seeds so readily that crossing risk is barely a concern -- the real challenge is catching the tiny seed pods before they pop open and scatter on their own.
SERVINGS, NOT DAILY CALORIES This works out plate-sized servings of claytonia from your seed during its fresh harvest window only, not your group's full daily calorie needs. For that, use the main calculator.
Estimated for your selected zone above, using this site's own germination, loss and yield figures for claytonia -- a helping is roughly what you'd put on a plate as part of a meal with other veg. Treat it as a planning estimate, not a promise.
Storage & Preservation
Fresh leaves keep for about a week refrigerated -- similar to most tender salad greens.
There's no meaningful long-term preservation route for this crop -- it's best treated as a continuously self-renewing fresh salad green rather than something to store or bank.
Growing Claytonia Without Bought Inputs
Genuinely one of the most self-sufficient crops on this entire site -- once established, its self-seeding habit means it can carry on with almost no ongoing input at all.
Slugs are about the only real pest risk, especially on young seedlings.
Hand-picking slugs at dusk while plants are small is a simple, genuinely effective input-free measure.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does claytonia look so unusual?
Because its upper leaves genuinely fuse around the flower stem into a round, saucer-like disc -- the source of its species name, perfoliata ("through the leaf"). It's a real, distinctive growth habit unlike anything else on this hub, not just an odd-looking variety.
Does claytonia cross-pollinate with anything else on this site?
No -- claytonia belongs to its own family, Montiaceae, with no other crop from that family grown on this site. There's no cross-pollination partner to plan around.
Why does claytonia self-seed so readily?
The crop database says it plainly: self-seeds prolifically. Once established, claytonia can genuinely naturalise in a garden, with volunteer plants reappearing from dropped seed year after year without deliberate resowing.