This is one of the most wonderful little wild salad greens... and it can be found in winter!
Succulent, delicious, crisp and juicy leaves, with a lettuce-like flavor. Packed full of essential nutrients... Sometimes when you find her she is growing in a huge patch! This is a favorite here at our farm.
We have eaten many a salad with chickweed as the main ingredient. (Pairs well with Autumn Olive Berries, Smoked Salmon and Red Wine Vinaigrette, such was the salad we ate when we were on top of a mountain in North Carolina so many years ago.... The Autumn Olive shrubs were growing above a blanket of chickweed!)
Stellaria Media is the latin name, but there are several other varieties of Stellaria. Her little flowers resemble stars, and she is so delicate. This plant can also be a "ferocious?" weed in some gardens...
When she is past her prime and gone to flower and seed, her leaves and stems get too tough to enjoy, and then it makes an excellent treat for the chickens...
Chickweed is a prime example of a concept that is dear to me- Food As Medicine -the idea that traditional foods are our best "medicines"; by nourishing our bodies we can avoid health problems and achieve well-being.
High in minerals and calcium, chlorophyll, potassium, proteins and carotenes, Chickweed is also a decent source of Vitamin C, fiber and other essentials...
This plant does contain saponins, such as certain beans and other foods. So I always advise people to do their own research before consuming any new wild foods/herbal medicines. Saponins may not be safe to eat in large quantities, or for pregnant women (according to some sources)
The Little Star Lady, as she is called by some, is said to have a cooling effect on the energy of a (firey) person...
Medicinally Chickweed may be supportive to the glands and may have some positive resolution for certain types of cysts and worts. I think one of the most well known uses for this herb is a topical skin application for itching, irritations and rashes.
I have a lot of faith in herbal medicines and have been using them successfully for many years for all sorts of things. I have found that herbs work best as preventative medicines, and in combination with healthy diet and adequate excersize.
Herbal Allies is a new series of posts I will be doing once or twice weekly that focus on an herb that grows here in Midwest/ Eastern North America, and it's edible, medicinal and utilitarian uses. My hope is to entertain and spark the interest in fellow Steemians about our herbal friends/allies.... I have been working with plants since childhood and using herbs extensively as a folk/lay herbalist for over a decade.
Stay tuned for my next Herbal Allies posts: Grandmother Comfrey and Black Walnut
