Claytonia (also called winter pursulane or miner’s lettuce) is a really useful, hardy, heart-shaped winter salad green that can be used to bulk up winter salads and stir fries, and can still be sown – even at this late time of the year. It was called miner’s lettuce after the gold rush miners who valued its high vitamin C content to ward off scurvy. In all, 100 grams of claytonia contains a third of your daily requirement of Vitamin C, 22% of the Vitamin A, and 10%of the iron. So this little leaf packs a serious nutritional punch.

Claytonia is succulent and almost meaty to eat. It will also withstand cooking (so is excellent as an alternative to spinach) and is very easy to grow. Though claytonia will grow in the spring/summer, its real value is in providing us with winter greens from October or November, right up until April of the following year.

We sow claytonia in module trays in August and September (with four to five seeds per module), though you can keep sowing until the end of October if you have a greenhouse or polytunnel. After sowing, keep it well watered. The seeds will germinate rapidly. After two to three weeks, carefully plant out each little clump of seedlings into soil either in the polytunnel or outside, allowing seven to 10cm between plants.

Claytonia prefers cooler temperatures, which is why it is ideal for autumn sowing, and it will tolerate cold winter temperatures (although it might need to be covered with a fleece or cloche during very frosty weather if grown outside). Make sure to keep it well watered if you are growing it under cover, or if you get a very dry spell outside (unlikely in the winter).

To harvest, cut using a scissors, leaving a few centimeters of the base of the plant in place – you will get at least four to five cuts off each plant over the winter. Claytonia deteriorates quickly once picked, which is why you will almost never see it available to buy commercially. It will, however, keep in the fridge for a few days. The leaves are at their tastiest when young and tender. The smaller leaves are great in salads, while larger ones can be cooked (throw into a stir fry at the last minute or boil briefly like spinach). CL

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Blackberry and apple crumble

900g apples – peeled, cored and cut in to chunks

350g blackberries

160g demerara sugar

Juice of 2 lemons

225g plain flour

175g butter

125g muesli

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C.

2 Pour the lemon juice over the apples to add flavour and stop the apples from going brown.

3 Layer the apples, blackberries, and sugar in a lasagne dish.

4 Place the flour in a large bowl and then rub in the butter until it resembles bread crumbs.

5 Add the muesli and another 50g sugar and mix through.

6 Sprinkle the crumble topping over the fruit.

7 Bake for 45 minutes.

8 Cool for a few minutes and then serve with custard or cream.