Chickweed: Early Spring's First Humble Offering

Ah, chickweed. The common name of this plant conjours images of farm fodder, but Stellaria media is a delicious, abundant and versatile plant. It's easy to overlook, growing there in the cracks and crevaces in late winter and early spring, but this lowly plant is worth a second look for its decidedly spring-like green taste, nutritional value, and it's traditional use to sooth skin ailments.

Chickweed grows low to the ground in bushy mats, somewhat resembling a Chia Pet. From a distance, the tiny plants seem a lighter green than the surrounding grass. To collect chickweed, I recommend staying in the suburbs, as I've never found satisfactory chickweed in truly wild places. Make sure where you collect chickweed is free from pollutants, foot traffic, and is well away from roads. Simply put, use your best judgement. If you see chickweed under a pine tree in an out-of-the-way place and you feel comfortable, go for it. I recommend taking scissors, as it is easiest to just trim off the tops of the chickweed into your bag. Chickweed prefers moist, rich, soil and cool weather. The chickweed season ends around the same time that dandelions become proflific, so gather chickweed before May if you in the tri-state area. Chickweed grows almost everywhere in the United States so chances are, there's a patch waiting to be found. Don't worry about over-harvesting chickweed, snipping off the tops helps the plant grow back even bushier. Once you find a nice patch of chickweed, gather a lot because it reduces by at least half when you cook with it.

You can use chickweed in any way you would use spinach. In soups, lasagna, pesto, pasta dishes, stir-fry, or just plain in a salad. It's a great, free replacement for other greens. While it doesn't have a very complex taste, it isn't bitter like some wild edibles can be. It's very nutrition, high in vitamins A, B and C, and contains iron and calcium.

When you think you've found chickweed the first time, don't gather it. Take a picture and do some research. If you are new to foraging, you cannot afford to take a chance. The poisoning risk while foraging for chickweed is low, but you must be stringent and diligent as a rule with foraging. Get several reputable field guides (such as the peterson guides), and any other books you can to be sure of your identification. Chickweed has very distinct white flowers, but you may or may not be foraging when this plant is in flower. Learn how to identify all parts of the plant, during the entirety of its season. If something doesn't jive, move on. One final word of caution: don't use the internet for identification research. It's a great tool for the curious, but if I had a dollar for the number of times I found mislabeled, misidentified plants on the internet... but I digress.

Okay, so you've gathered your chickweed and want to use it for more than just a delectable nutritious green? Let's try making a skin salve! This is great for rashes, excema, dry skin, dermatitis, etc.

Materials for chickweed salve:

Beeswax (try an arts & crafts store in the candle making isle)

Chickweed

Olive Oil

fine-mesh sieve, or collander with cheesecloth

Stock pot or crockpot

Mason jar or other container for finished salve

You can get the blocked beeswax or the pellets, natural or white. Doesn't matter- get whatever's on sale. You can use any oil you have on hand, but olive oil is the best. It doesn't have to be extra virgin, in fact, use the cheap stuff.

Spread the chickweed out on a screen, or even just on a cloth to dry a bit after harvesting, especially if the chickweed is wet. Make sure you move it around periodically so it doesn't get moldy. I got impatient and used a cool hairdryer to dry off the surface water and shrink it down a bit. If you are using a crockpot, turn it on high. If you are using a regular pot, you'll be using the lowest burner setting you have. Put the chickweed in the pot and pour in enough oil just to cover. Let this warm up until the greens cook down and the oil is green. You don't want the chickweed to burn at all, so make sure you remove it from the heat when enough of the chickweed essence has been extracted into the oil. Strain the chickweed out through a collander and reserve the oil. Return the oil to the pot, turn up the heat to medium (or high on the crockpot), and start adding the beeswax in one tablespoon at a time. After the first tablespoon melts into the oil, get a plate and drip a bit of the oil on it. The beeswax-oil mixture will thicken as it cools. Add beeswax until the drops solidify to a creamy, but non-liquid texture. If you add too much beeswax, add more oil, but try not to dilute too much.

Once you've reached a satisfactory viscosity, let the oil cool a bit. Get out a mason jar, or other container that you've put aside for the finished salve. I've used baby-food jars, washed out sauce jars, whatever you have on hand, just make sure it's food-safe.

Let the mixture cool on the counter and resist the temptation to move it. Let it gel. After a few hours, you can put it in the fridge. Keep it refrigerated and it will last for a very long time.

Viola! You've just learned how to make your own herbal salves. The possibilities are endless...