Meet Prickly Wild Lettuce: What’s the real deal on this “Wild Opium Lettuce”? Learn to ID & Harvest

Wild Food Health Boosters & Herbal Remedies🌿 - explore this powerful online course here: ► www.WildFoodHealthBoosters.com/ 🌱Lemon Balm Love🌿 - Calm Uplift Immune Support ► www.LemonBalmLove.com/ (my gift to you) 🔔 Never Miss a Live Show; Subscribe & Hit the 🔔 👍 Thank You For Liking And Sharing! ❤️ Meet Prickly Wild Lettuce in Bloom: The So-Called “Opium Lettuce” scientific name: Lactuca serriola. I often get asked wild lettuce questions. Right now prickly wild lettuce blooms, the so-called “wild opium lettuce”, scientifically named Lactuca serriola. We’ve created a new video lesson about this bitter wild food and herbal medicine that supports our nerves. If you've been with us for a while you may recall we've made videos about another wild lettuce species aka Lactuca canadensis. I encourage you to view those too. You can find them here on our Youtube channel. So what does opium have to do with prickly wild lettuce? Read on. Culinary Uses All parts can be eaten, if not too bitter or tough. Typically early spring or late fall basal leaf is what I find palatable. Can be eaten raw or cooked. Qualities: Bitter lettuce flavor; think escarole and radicchio . Therapeutics: Relaxant, nerve tonic (nervine) feeds / restores and calms the nervous system. Offers mild pain support. Gently sedating. Nope, it is nothing like opium though. I am assuming from the bitterness that it is stronger than Lactuca canadensis, yet milder than L. biennis or L. virosa (the most typically used medicinal of this genus). For therapeutic use, it is probably best made into, and consumed as a tincture. Prickly wild lettuce has little to do with opium chemically speaking. It is not addictive or narcotic but can offer mild pain relief and help us relax. Harvest Gather prickly wild lettuce basal leaves in early spring to mid spring and again in the fall. Gather all aerial parts when tender (stem, aerial leaf, flower bud, and flower). I have eaten this species in early spring without feeling drowsy from it. I like to put the leaves of the basal rosette or young shoots into soup and salad. For stronger therapeutic properties, perhaps you'll want to harvest it at its most bitter. Habitat Look for it in anthropogenic sites, roadsides, disturbed areas, fields and gardens; in full sun to part shade; in most soil types with good drainage & adequate moisture. A native of Eurasia, prickly wild lettuce now grows in many parts of the world and is widely distributed throughout the USA—hardiness zones 3–10. Hoping you are staying cool in this late summer heat, and loving up the blooming grandness of the landscape. In gratitude, Dina #PricklyWildLettuce #LactucaSerriola #Nervine #Foraging #WildFood #HerbalMedicineMaking #ForagingandFeasting #InTheWildKitchen #WildFoodHealthBoosters #DinaFalconi #OnlineForagingCourse #OnlineCourse #Botanizing #PlantIdentification

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