Having a garden in your backyard means you always have access to fresh vegetables and medicinal herbs. If you’re looking for a medicinal plant with pain-relieving properties, try growing wild lettuce!

What is wild lettuce?

Wild lettuce (Lactuca virosa) is related to the common garden lettuce (L. sativa). Also called bitter lettuce or opium lettuce, wild lettuce was once native to Europe but has since been introduced to North America.

Fresh wild lettuce leaves can be added to salads, but they’re more bitter than typical salad greens.

Wild lettuce is a versatile plant and it can be used to make sleep tonics, tea and even soap that help address several conditions like anxiety, breathing issues, joint pain and poor sleep. The plant offers various health benefits and its rich in flavonoids, proteins and vitamins.

Wild lettuce has bright green leaves that grow from a green stem. Scratching the plant produces lactucarium, a milky, white substance.

When dried, lactucarium resembles opium, a pain-relieving agent extracted from the unripe seedpods of the opium poppy. From ancient times until the 19th century, opium was used as a pain reliever and sedative.

Lactucarium has similar effects as opium, but without the latter’s side effects.

Tips for growing wild lettuce

Once established, wild lettuce is a hardy plant. Wild lettuce can be moderately difficult to germinate and will require extra steps to ensure germination.

The plant prefers full sun and will tolerate partial shade. Plant wild lettuce in moist, fertile, well-draining soil with a pH of around 7. Always use sterilized potting soil to start your seeds.

Use compost or a mixture of black earth and peat moss for the garden bed and water the soil thoroughly before sowing the seeds. Soak wild lettuce seeds for 30 minutes before sowing to soften the outer shell and improve the germination rate.

Wild lettuce seeds should always be surface sown. Press them slightly into the pre-watered potting soil.

Wild lettuce seeds need to be exposed to light to stimulate the germination process. Keep the soil moist but don’t let it become soggy. If the soil dries out, your seeds or seedlings might die.

How to start wild lettuce indoors

When starting wild lettuce seeds indoors during the colder or dry months, cover your pots with plastic to help raise the temperature and moisture level of the seeds. The optimal temperature to germinate wild lettuce seeds is around 70 F (21 C).

Don’t let the plastic touch the soil or seeds. When the seeds start to sprout, remove the plastic.

Wild lettuce seeds will germinate from one to four weeks. Once the lettuce seedlings have at least three sets of leaves, transplant them outside after the risk of frost has passed.

Wild lettuce and bacon soup

Once you’ve grown wild lettuce in your home garden, try this recipe for savory wild lettuce and bacon soup!

Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups of wild lettuce, chopped
• 2 cups of milk
• One large onion, minced
• Two cloves of garlic, minced
• 4-5 Yukon gold potatoes, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 5-6 slices of bacon
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• Basil
• Paprika
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Rosemary
• Salt

Preparation:

1. Mince the onion.
2. Melt the butter in a pot, then saute the minced onion until translucent. Add the minced garlic.
3. Add the bacon to the onion and garlic, then cook until crispy.
4. While the bacon is cooking, add the potatoes into the pot and saute briefly.
5. Cover the mixture with water and simmer until the potatoes are cooked.
6. Pour in the milk then add spices to taste.
7. Heat up the mixture and add the chopped wild lettuce. Cover the pot with a lid, and once the greens are steamed slightly stir them in.
8. When the lettuce is just wilted, add the lemon juice and taste.
9. Add more spices if you wish before serving.

Learn how to grow wild lettuce in your own garden so you have access to a nutritious vegetable with natural pain-relieving properties!

Sources:

Seed-Nursery.com

Healthline.com

AForagersHome.com